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Archive for category A Year Without Spending

A Year Without Spending – Day 9 – Home Entertainment

Jan 17

Posted by John Large in A Year Without Spending, Frugality & Organisation | No Comments

 

Home Entertainment - The Key to saving money

Home Entertainment - The Key to saving money

 

Day 9 of they year without spending and the questions are coming in quick and fast. One of my friends Rachel, who is really interested in this whole project has asked tons of questions, and I’m glad she has because it is raising thoughts and concerns that I’ve yet to even consider.

For example Rachel raised the important question of Home Entertainment, more importantly my unquenchable thirst for movies. In my student days, and even whilst I was working, I was a pretty hardcore downloader. I got greedy with the whole thing to the extent that I would download anything and everything I could get my hands on. I estimate I spent weeks burning various CD’s and DVD’s, but when you can’t afford anything, free is a good price. Now I can’t say I’m proud of what I used to do, in fact looking back it was obscene, however what is done is done and we move forward. Nowadays I may download the odd TV programme because it airs in the USA before the UK, but thats more like watching an advance showing than stealing as technically it will be shown on my TV in the days following the download, so its more cheeky than wrong.

This brings us onto the subject of movies. The problem is, the year without spending includes digital media (cd-r’s, dvd-r’s etc). If I can’t burn it, then there is little point copying or downloading stuff to watch. This leaves me a few options however. Film4 and the various other channels on Freeview in the UK show tons of good movies. All I have to do on the 7 day programme guide is select the movies I want, and hit the record button on the PVR. This means I always have a ton of movies stored on the PVR which is ideal. I also found a 320GB IDE hard drive in Vicki’s old PC doing nothing, so I’m going to upgrade the 160GB drive already in the PVR to double the storage capacity, will post with the progress, I digress…

If not watching pre recorded Digital quality stuff on the PVR, I can choose to view old movies out of my substantial DVD collection, or indeed trade movies with friends to keep things fresh. We are also holding a Movie night every Thursday to which people bring the popcorn and drinks, and we supply the hospitality, warmth and of course a big ass TV. Depending on the numbers of people who turn up, this saves a fortune. What’s more we can pause the movie half way through to make tea and go to the toilet, now that beats any cinema. We aim to do this every thursday so over the course of the year, if you assume with snacks and a ticket the cinema costs £12 a head, we are saving around £2k a year on cinema visits between us all. Movie night is a nice calm social event and fun is had by all.

Now onto various other things besides TV. I’m also an avid Xbox 360 user. Regular readers of this blog will remember I cancelled the Xbox live subscription which was costing me around £60 a year, and was never used. With regards to games, i have an abundance of games. I’m one of these people who needed to buy the latest games on their release date (past tense). As such the current title I was playing was shelved in my Man Cupboard in favour of racking up achievement points in the latest title to hit the shelves. This means that my cupboard is chock full of half completed games (honestly around 70 titles, I know thats disgusting and I’m sorry in advance, the Xbox is my Achilles heal!). So the task for this year is to ignore the latest games (of course until a friend completes said latest release and sends it my way on loan) and concentrate on completing the library of titles already in my possession.

Finally books. I never used to be a book person. During my degree, I would always read a journal, or a website, or even a newspaper article (and even, heaven forbid, cite wikipedia, shameful!) but would only use a book as a last resort. Doing a Computing degree meant that as soon as the book hit the shelf on any given computing topic, it was out of date. This out of date material may have been suitable for some lecturers but not me.

I only really got back into reading in the summer after finishing my bachelors degree. For a time I was unemployed, and would spend hours in the park in Manchester, reading in the sun and waiting for Vicki to finish work. Those days feel like a long time ago, it feels like forever since it was warm enough to wear only a t shirt and read in the sun. Sorry I’m getting all gooey and romantic, perhaps a little too Jane Austen!

Anyway, this period really got me back into reading. At the time I loved the books by Jeremy Clarkson & James May. I’m not really one for novels, i like journalistic writing, real life stuff and text books.

During this next year I’m determined not to buy books. I’m heading down to St. Helens library this week to re-activate my youth Library membership, in the hope that I can find stuff in there which is relevant and not out of date. We also have an abundance of books on our bookshelves as Vicki is a hard core readist (I would say reader, but she is a little more hardcore than a reader, so a new word has been coined to describe her). I’m going to raid the bookshelves for inspiration. I already have my eye on the copy of George Orwell’s 1984, and may even give some of the Penguins Banned Books selection a go.

So there we have it. How to entertain yourself for a year without spending on new stuff. i think we all forget how privileged we are. I’m lay in bed typing this, with Vicki by my side enjoying a good book. I’m typing away on my iBook over my wireless network in a nice warm bed. This experiment in the few days I have been doing it has already made me feel slightly more humble, and very motivated. It’s almost as if now it would be harder to spend on stuff than to not spend. I’m in that zone of proving it can be done and proving I can do it, and the last time I got into that zone I got into £4k more debt and ended up with a Masters degree. Time to clear some debt and live a little more honestly.

Thanks for reading this entry, it has been quite an epic. Please feel free to comment at the bottom, your comments mean a lot.

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A Year Without Spending – Day 8 – Shoes & Views

Jan 16

Posted by John Large in A Year Without Spending, Frugality & Organisation | No Comments

It is now the 8th day of my ‘year without spending’ and I’m still having a lot of fun. Granted so far  I’ve been able to dodge shops & shopping in general (it is, believe it or not easy to spend a week without going into town), but I feel that not shopping is actually far more fulfilling than going out and spending a fortune on new stuff.

One of my big worries for this year was running out of shoes. Seeing as though I’m a 25 year old guy, and I tend not to wear the type of shoes that can be easily repaied (I wear skate shoes as they are tough as old boots, but still look modern and young), so keeping my feet in shoes for the year was going to be a real headache. Repairing old shoes is out of the question, and sourcing cast offs from family and friends would be almost impossible as nobody I know is a size 10.

To quash this fear I decided to search the house for old pairs of trainers and similar footwear, and I’m ebarrased to say the problem is solved. I found no fewer than 6 extra pairs of trainers I’ve been hanging onto in various states of distress, from scuffed uppers to slightly worn soles. I reckon from the 6 pairs alone I could easily get a years worth of wear.

Amongst the footwear found was a brand new pair of Chuck Taylor Converse boots, an almost new pair of Walking boots, a few pairs of Osiris and DC’s and a really old pair of Osiris (too badly battered to wear or pass on so they have been trashed).

Now finding all these shoes has come as quite a relief, I really want to keep this year a spending free year, and shoes are kind of a necessity so I was dreading trying to source new footwear. Whilst I’m glad that I was able to source so many pairs of alternative footwear by simply  scouring the cupboards, I also feel quite embarrassed.

Now before everyone jumps on the hate wagon for my excess, I need to point out that this cache of shoes has been building up for many years. I, like most consumers, buy shoes when they are on sale, or when my old ones show the first signs of aging (or are too tatty to be socially acceptable!). This is the cornerstone of consumerism, by making it socially unacceptable to have worn out clothes, and older mobile phones, and slower computers, the corporations are able to pedal the same crap to us over and over again. The shoes are a prime example.

Take the Chuck Taylor boots. I bought these in New York years ago. They where very cheap and I’d wanted a pair in a size 10 for a long time. This was before they where a major fashion statement in the UK. I’d tried to get a pair in Manchester, London, Liverpool & Leeds without success. I got back to the UK and realised that I couldn’t wear them with my baggy jeans as the denim dragged on the ground, and since then they have been cast aside in a dark corner of the wardrobe. What a pathetic excuse!

So I now have a pile of shoes for 2009. I’ve cleaned up most of them to the extent they could be worn out to parties or nights out, and I bet I can get at least 2009 out of my current selection, if not right through to the end of 2010.

The lesson learned from this little escapade is that we all have a lot of stuff which is replaced, often without any reason. We all have a habit of clinging onto stuff that has been replaced because the original item was too good to throw away. How about we use the original item until it is no longer functional before ringing in a replacement? Or if we must replace an existing item which is still perfectly fine, we find a new owner for the old item instead of hoarding it away!

This project has taught me a hell of a lot so far, and I hope to learn more as I go on. I have received a lot of positive feedback from readers of this blog about my project, but have also come in for a lot of criticism. People saying things like ‘How can you do a project like this when you sell a product yourself?’.

Incase you didn’t know, My wife Vicki & I have a small craft business selling hand made badges. We make a modest living from doing this, which in no way matches what we earned when living and working in Manchester. Granted we sell a product, which in itself relies on Consuming, however, we sell a small hand made product in very small quantities which keeps a roof over our heads and food on our plates. We have NO hobbies which require money (with the exception of our internet connection) and we live a very simple life. Our business is very low key with only ourselves to support, and as such is no different than say basket weaving or knitting. We carefully produce our own products by hand and sell them on the internet. We have a very low impact, don’t commute to work, and are not employed by one of the many huge corporations which are taking over the planet.

Another criticism faced so far is why am I doing this whole year without spending thing. Is it because I want to take the moral high ground? Is it that I want to preach to those nasty consumers about the error of their ways? – The fact of the matter is, when I started this project the only thing that motivated me was saving money and stopping the frivolous spending. I didn’t mean to influence anybody nor did I mean to make consumerism out to be the bad guy. Our economy is based on Consumerism, and if we where all to stop spending it would be catastrophic for the economy. This experiment is a personal thing and is a way of testing myself to see if I can go without spending for a year.

The fact that so many people have emailed me to say I have inspired them to look at what they spend and cut back is brilliant. If I can inspire even one person to try this, and feel the personal benefits of such an experiment that would be excellent. Also if people want to read the blog without carrying out the experiment or implementing anything I say that is also great, remember this is an experiment I am carrying out and one in which you are all welcome to join in or choose not to be a part of.

Right I think that is enough of a rant for today. I just had to get it of my chest as for every 10 nice emails and comments I get, I always get one sarcastic, malicious or pessimistic email.

If you are joining in, in a small way or in full, please feel free to leave comments on these entries.

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A Year Without Spending – Day 7 – One week in & Recycling

Jan 15

Posted by John Large in A Year Without Spending, Frugality & Organisation | No Comments

How many phones go to landfill? Why not recycle them for free!

How many phones go to landfill? Why not recycle them for free!

That’s correct folks. I’m now a whole week into the challenge. Only 51 weeks left to go.

I’ve found that by not wanting to spend on items, I’m freeing up a hell of a lot of time for other things, which in turn distracts me from looking at things to buy. Today, as I still sort out the huge piles of junk accumulated over 25 years as an avid consumer, I’ve decided to recycle stuff which will not sell on eBay or would otherwise find it’s way into the dustbin (trash can for any American readers).

Essentially I’ve taken a look at the amount of packaging which adorns everything we consume, and frankly it is quite frightening. Vicki & I at one stage where wheeling out 2 giant dustbins every week for collection. This mostly consisted of polystyrene packaging and plastic. One of the positive side effects of this experiment is that we have hardly any packaging, with the exception of the odd food wrapper.

Our current council is very good at recycling. All our plastic, paper, glass and tin can be recycled on a biweekly basis which instantly frees up a lot of space in the dustbin, and now that we consume less it looks like a monthly collection of our rubbish will be more than sufficient, so long as it doesn’t smell. This in turn saves me the job of carting the thing to the end of the street for collection, and then dragging the empty bins back (see by removing consumerism, you get time back in more ways than you would think possible).

Another by-product of consuming is the collection of Mobile Phone handsets that we have lying around in various cupboards and drawers. Mobile phones are strange as we often upgrade a perfectly good handset for no apparent reason, and because there was nothing wrong with the initial handset we hold onto it as the handset is ‘too good’ to simply throw away. I had around 6 handsets lying around, and all but 1 spare have been disposed of. However I chose not to simply trash the things but seek out environmentally friendly disposal methods.

Enter Envirofone.

Envirofone will allow you to send in your handset for recycling or resale, and if the handset is desirable will even give you a few quid for the thing. This was perfect, out came one of the recycled jiffy bags and in went the old handsets, addressed to their free post recycling department. I didn’t want any cash for the things, I just wanted to know that they would be reused or recycled instead of finding their way into a landfill site.

Next on the recycling hit list was the vast amount of Epson ink cartridges we have amassed. We use Epson printers for our business and go through so many cartridges it is unbelievable (we buy third party cartridges a £1 each instead of the expensive £20-£30 official cartridges). A quick google search revealed that whilst many recycling companies would accept other manufacturers cartridges, the Epson cartridges where too cheap to begin with, and as such nobody would take them. A little more googling revealed that Epson themselves would take the cartridges off our hands and recycle them. Terrific!

A quick web form later and I have a bunch of free post envelopes being sent out to me for the recycling of my old cartridges. This is superb, even less stuff to go in the bin.

Now this bin theory is really appealing to me. The less we fill our giant brown wheely bin, the less we must be consuming and the more we must be recycling & reusing. What a terrific indicator of consumerism, I must come up with a name for this measure, perhaps the trash-O-meter or the dustbin bloat count… Any suggestions?

Between eBay, charity, reuse, recycling and passing things on (remember hand me downs?) we seem to have come a long way in a matter of days to reusing old ‘stuff’ without simply disposing of it like good consumers.

A Year Without Spending – Day 6 – A Quiet Day

Jan 14

Posted by John Large in A Year Without Spending, Frugality & Organisation | No Comments

At least the hoarding isnt this bad

At least the hoarding isnt this bad

Well today has been a quiet day on the ‘year without spending’. I’ve almost finished my first week of the project and I’m suprised how fast the week has flown by. It seems like only yesterday I was considering this project. Not a lot to report today. With the exception of sorting out the house (more importantly the office) and selecting items to keep/trash/charity/sell on eBay, it has been a very quiet day indeed.

I’m really suprised at how much time I seem to have at the moment. This could be thoroughly unrelated to the ‘year without spending’, however I beleive it is directly related. I’m not seeking out things to buy, I’m not even entertaining the idea of going into the city to browse and I feel somewhat content at the moment. I wonder how long it will take the contentment to turn into despair and angst? Anyway, I said I would post an entry to this blog everyday, not matter how dull. Hopefully I will have something more to report tomorrow :)

A Year Without Spending – Day 5 – Recycled Jiffy Bags & eBay

Jan 13

Posted by John Large in A Year Without Spending, Frugality & Organisation | 3 Comments

My box of Recycled Packaging

My box of Recycled Packaging

Well it’s day 5 of my ‘year without spending’ and I’m already surprised how liberated I feel. I received a newsletter from Aria this morning, with whom I have spent many thousands with in the past. In said newsletter was all the indispensable kit that I surely needed, a spanking new 24″ monitor along with a 500GB External Drive, a 16GB flash drive for pennies and all the other shiny gadgets which I drool over every time the newsletter lands in my Inbox.

But today for the first time, instead of drooling and sweating and wondering how I could afford all the shiny things on the screen, I looked at the email and thought ‘all nice but I’m not spending’, and promptly deleted the email. This felt very liberating and freed up a lot of time this morning for getting stuff done. I paid my taxes, paid my credit card bills (one of the major drivers for this experiment), and carried out various other house keeping tasks instead of pondering what to buy, how to fund it and how to tell Vicki that I absolutely NEED it.

We also had a fairly big order to send out today. This thing about Consumerism has been floating around in my head for a while, and the fact that I tend to buy what I need online instead of in the city, means I made a concious decision months ago to save packaging that goods arrived in (most notably bubble wrap and jiffy bags). This means that instead of going and paying 60p-£1 on a jiffy bag to post an order, I can simply stick a label over the old address and reuse the jiffy bag. I now have a collection of recycled jiffy’s for this very purpose and I recommend everyone do the same. Not only do you save money on buying new jiffy bags, but you always have a selection of various size bags to hand when required, Priceless! And our big order went out in a nice USED Jiffy bag.

The Jiffy bags are also coming in handy for eBay. As anyone who knows me will be the first to tell you, I’m a gadget & Technology geek. If my monitor is 17″ I NEED a 19″, then a 24″. If I have a terrabyte of storage, I NEED two or three terrabytes. This obsession over the years has managed to fill my man cupboard (that place where you keep your wires and batteries and other useless crap instead of giving it away/selling it/throwing it away) to the brink of bursting, and as such a clear out was in order. This has led to an obsession for selling old stuff rather than hoarding new stuff, and it feels great. So far I have sold off various PCI cards of indeterminate usage, a dehumidifier, a lawnmower, various wires and even a box full of old (and I mean really old, Pentium and Pentium 2 processors, old hard drives, ISA cards etc) computer components. Not only does this free up vital space in the man cupboard, but it allows me to know exactly what I have and where I store it, and the extra money is going towards paying off my credit cards. Everyone’s a winner!

So to distract myself from not buying, I am selling and sorting, and saving Jiffy Bags – Gosh do I sound like the saddest 25 year old on the planet? Saving Jiffy Bags!

But seriously, the experiment is going well, I’m enjoying not having to worry about how and when I will buy a new iMac or pay for that flickr pro account. Living honestly and simply again, it feels very liberating and I advise you all give it a go.

I know I have a mini tripod somewhere (perhaps in the attic). I will dig it out and start uploading video entries shortly.

Ebay - Sell your crap and pay off some debt!

Ebay - Sell your crap and pay off some debt!

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