Comments on: The impact of the idea of “Buy nothing new month” and what it’s really about

By: The conscious way of giftingExpat Since Birtha blog by a multilingual expat-since-birth, linguist, researcher, mum of three, living in the Netherlands and writing about bilingualism, multiculturalism, parenting abroad, international life...

Sun, 25 Nov 2018 10:37:21 +0000

[…] hell” and become more conscious about the way they gift. – I have been practicing the buy nothing new for years now, not only in October, and in my family we are all more conscious about the marketing […]

By: Repair instead of buying new | Expat Since Birth

Repair instead of buying new | Expat Since Birth — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 15:41:08 +0000

[…] a few years ago, in our family we tend to expand this month over the whole year. It’s not about not buying anything at all – we all need food and items for our household that we still need to buy. It’s more about […]

By: expatsincebirth

expatsincebirth — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 17:46:34 +0000

I know that it’s a challenge, Jonathan. I guess that trips, workshops etc. as a present should be given from people whom we’re really close – because usually they come with us… Offering activities, outings etc. means giving time and memories. – Personally, I can remember all these kind of memorable trips, workshops etc. I received, but I must admit that I don’t recall all of the other presents I got 😉

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 17:26:42 +0000

It is a bit of a challenge in a lot of ways, but I reckon that I might just be able to get through it as long as I leave starting my Christmas shopping until November. That said, sometimes days out or activities are a good option (…especially if they have a meaning for the people you’re giving them to). One of the main Christmas presents that my wife got me last year was that she’d booked a weekend away in Liverpool for us, which was great. It wasn’t all that far away but it was nice to have a little trip away, in fact our last one before becoming parents. On our anniversary of meeting each other, I think that what I got her was the promise that I take her out for an afternoon tea at a place that we’d visited on our first date. I guess this sort of thing works best with close friends and family, but perhaps some of the general principles can be applied to others.

By: expatsincebirth

expatsincebirth — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 06:36:51 +0000

Of course everyone is free to buy what he want and when (if he can). It’s about living more toughtfully. Epecially this time of the year, with several festivities where people use to exchange presents, and get in a buy-mode (or buy-stress…) and don’t realize that all this not only costs a lot of money, time and energy, but it’s also affecting the environment. I think it’s important to show this to our children too – they will be the future buyers. We’re living this way since last year – with some exceptions like I mention in this post (shoes, mouth guards 😉 and underwear and some clothes), but even those exceptions are never impulse buys but carefully thought out. We use to say the same as your mother for when we see an item we like.