My sister has decided to take Buy Nothing Month one giant leap forward - she is pledging to not buy anything new for the year.  She has some rules, here they are from her website:

1. I cannot buy any new durable goods.
2. I cannot buy any clothes. Period. This does not include shoes. (Why shouldn’t it include shoes? That’s bullcrap. They are still something new! I guess if I run out of ALL my shoes in a year and can’t wear any of them and need something to protect my feet, then I can buy a new pair. But I’m unlikely to get to that point.)
3. I can continue to use non-durable products I already own, but once I run out, I need to find the most environmentally friendly replacement. (Unless she’s talking about cleaning products and shampoo, I’m not buying it.)
4. I can spend money on experiences- concerts, plays, museums, etc.
5. Presents are exempted from my ban on new goods, but I try and make a good faith effort to buy something either from a small independent artist or producer, or to buy my friends experiences.

She goes on with “I will not buy anything new, unless it’s food, cleaning products, etc. I am NOT doing this to save money, so my shampoo and soaps will continue to be made from natural products with very little packaging—if that means spending £5 for a shampoo bar from Lush, I think that’s a good option.”

Now, I think that this is a really, really good idea.  And if I plan on living in a little house, then I certainly could use some practice on not accumulating any junk.  I think that I could do it… I don’t buy any CDs, get all my books from the library, and I can’t really see  that I would need to purchase anything else.  The only thing I would be worried about is clothes.  I’m going to go on my internship soon, and I would just be worried about not having enough work clothes.  I could go to a consignment shop, or GoodWill, or something like that.  That’d be cool.  The other problem will be in September, when I need a new school planner.  That can’t be bought used.  I could forego, but I’m worried that with my internship, I’m going to have a lot of stuff to write down.

So far this year, I bought a 2009 Harry Potter Calendar, and last night I purchased my two books for class, totaling $95 (I bought them from Amazon.com Marketplace).  Do I see any other purchases I have to make in the coming future?  Not really.  Oohh… yarn from Michael’s, to knit my blanket.  I have a gift card from Dylan that will cover some of it, but probably not all of the purchase.  I have knitting needles, so I wouldn’t need those, but that is something that I’ve wanted to buy.

Do I think I can join Megan in her Buy Nothing New year long quest? Yes.  Do I want to? I’m not sure.