Do you really, really need it?

Boom. I did it I got the first of my new experience vlogs filmed, edited and uploaded. It is pretty terrible and I think I’ll need to go on a fairly steep learning curve, but hey, I got it done and I feel really good about completing it. Go check it out here – Three Men in a Boat

Okay back to today’s blog.

Every since our daughter was born last January, my wife and I have been more acutely aware of the world that she will have to grow up in. Obviously it is easy to talk about some of the very topical concerns, such as, war and climate change, but what really bothers me is the selfish, consumerist, wasteful society she will grow up in. .

The TV channels are rammed with shows about getting bigger houses, having more space, owning TVs the size of ping pong tables. The ideological message that is continually perpetuated by the mainstream media despite, the poverty rife in developing countries and environmental damage caused by excessive consumerism, is that bigger is better. Seriously how much longer can this go on?

For a while now we have been obsessed with the idea of self sustained tiny living as seen in shows like Tiny House Nation and are adamant that we would ultimately like to reduce our physical footprint. At the moment this is not really possible for us, although our apartment is already pretty small, so we decided that we could at least begin preparing for this future fundamental lifestyle shift.

As a result we took a decision back in June last year to embrace the Buy Nothing New (BNN)movement. Our own subversive little protest to opt out. Now this is not new or revolutionary – check out a blog from back in 2012 here. The central premise is to obviously buy nothing new. ‘How can you survive?’ I hear you cry. Well first of all let me explain,

this is not quite as drastic as it sounds and we decided early on that we would not become slaves to this idea, but use it to inform our decisions. A life guide if you like. Our mantra is ‘Do we need it or do we want it?’ and to this end we have tried to stick to this fairly religiously.

Let me try and give you an idea of how this looks. Food products are fine to buy, although where possible we try to buy things in containers that can be reused, jars and the like. Washing products again are fine, no-one is asking you to use secondhand toothbrushes. And lastly stuff we genuinely need. So far we have only broken the rules twice, both times were to buy shoes, a pair of running shoes for my wife, who is a fairly serious runner, when her old pair literally fell apart. Unfortunately, there is not much in the way of secondhand shops in Kuala Lumpur, where we live, so despite some effeort it was impossible to find anything suitable. Second time was shoes for my daughter, who has just start walking, and we were unable to otherwise obtain any shoes to fit her. Both of these I would constitute as a need.

I would like to give a special mention about my daughter. Like many people we were incredibly fortunate to receive loads of hand-me-downs from friends, most of which had really only had a few wears. Likewise, with toys, it is amazing how many people are selling expensive toys that their children have grown out of for practically nothing. Factor into that presents from grandparents who will not be swayed into our way of thinking and continue to indulge and spoil her, at no point in her first year has she gone without or been hard done by.

In fact, none of us have gone without really. They say ‘necessity is the mother of invention’, now I don’t know about that, but just as we think we will have to cave, the planets align and something falls into our laps or comes up on a website somewhere. Maybe it is luck, but maybe we are just better at spotting these little gems.

Now I should be clear that this is not really about saving money, we are not a family of freeloading spongers, living off handouts. The ethos at the heart of this, for me at least, is about not producing more junk that will ultimately end up in a landfill somewhere. So for example it took a while before I was able to satisfy myself that ebooks, or downloaded films did not constitute a break in the rules.

In fact, we have saved very little money, the money we don’t spend on accumulating more junk gets spent on meals out, holidays and experiences. When I look back over the last 10 years, I honestly do not think I can remember any of the birthday or Christmas presents I received. On the other hand, I can happily tell you all about every holiday or interesting experience I have had. It is an very revealing exercise, try to name three gifts and three holidays, which gave you the greatest pleasure and memories.

So that’s it really, over the last 8 months, an experiment has become a way of life. Honestly, I really don’t miss all the stuff. From being an avid consumer, the lack of pressure to consume and amass possessions is a genuine relief. In my head I envisioned a huge spending spree in June when we had finished the year we had set ourselves as a target, but truth is, I might get a new pair of jeans, maybe a couple of shirts. It is amazing how little we really need, yet sadly so many of us are obsessed with having more.