How long could you go without buying...........?

[veggiechicken]

Have you ever wondered how long you could last without spending any money at all?

Could you last a week without buying any food, eating from your garden and cupboard/freezer?
Could you last a month/year without buying clothes? Toiletries? Household items?
What about gardening items like seeds, compost, tools?
Or my weakness, 2nd hand books.

I've been looking in cupboards and wardrobes to see whats lurking there, unused and even unloved and doing some soul searching along the way.

Too many unworn clothes, unread books, stockpiled food and a stash of spirits and liqueurs that I don't drink.

As you can tell, I'm working up to challenging myself to spend less and use more of what I have.

Anyone else have these thoughts?

[greenishfing]

Food. Milk and butter I need to buy fresh. Meat and fish? Plenty in the freezer along with veg. I rarely buy clothes these days. Books! I 've got a stash which I will never allow to drop below 40 or 50 (comes from living in non English speaking countries and being frightened of running out of reading material), most of the books I read come from the library.
I have plenty seeds stashed.

[nickdub]

About 2 weeks - would be down to UHT milk though, at the end of that period.

I usually plan on being cut of from the shops for a week or so in the winter. Got some bread dough proving at the moment so hopefully that will be ready to bake tomorrow :-)

One year I fed all of my stored apples to the birds as the ground where they usually feed was covered in snow for a week - were about 30 blackbirds and thrushes feeding together at some times.

[Thelma Sanders]

I usually have enough food in cupboards, fridge and freezer to last at least a month, but that would be dried milk after the first week or so.
When I was younger I went through a period with very little money and 2 young children to feed, so have made sure ever since that there is always food in store.
It may not always have been what they fancied eating, but nobody went hungry and the same applies today...

[Chestnut]

I also tend to buy bread, milk and eggs fresh (milk and eggs from an honesty shop 100yds fom home), but I could survive for a good few weeks on the contents of allotment, freezer and cupboards if I had to - albeit with an ‘interesting ‘ menu.
Seeds, compost and garden gloves I tend to buy at least some new each year.

[Snoop Puss]

Got a lot of dry staples in stock, so as far food is concerned we could probably go for a few months. Mind you, I don't have much in the way of fresh veg in the garden at the moment and cabbage would start to seem very boring quite quickly.

That said, we would have to do something about water. We're not on mains water and our rainwater harvesting cistern isn't finished yet. One year we got cut off by snow for a few weeks and started by melting snow and then did a Jean de Florette style outing to a nearby spring every few days, carrying water back in rucksacks. But that's not possible now due partly to drought and partly to the fact that we're eleven years older. Petrol might be an issue as well if we had to run a generator because the weather was poor and the solar panels weren't producing much.

But apart from water and petrol, we could go a long time without shopping. Especially if I bought a leg of cured ham (OK, I know that's cheating) for added flavour for the cabbage!

Edited to say: I'm talking a load of nonsense. How could I forget the animals! We'd have to buy cat food and dog biscuits every couple of weeks or so.

[burnie]

I fail badly on this one, we don't grow in quantities to last for long, mostly we eat fresh in season and then raid the farmers market, I don't have enough room for growing enough tatties so the coal man delivers those(he's actually a farmer who diversifies). Clothes I don't buy unless for fishing, so I am still wearing rugby shirts that are 20 years old(the ones with holes are banned when SWMBO is present lol). I'm quite good at going into garden centres and coming out empty handed, never happens in the whisky shops though(and I'm not allowed to make my own, some law or other they tell me).

[veggiechicken]

Edited to say: I'm talking a load of nonsense. How could I forget the animals! We'd have to buy cat food and dog biscuits every couple of weeks or so.

That was my thought too - I could make do with all sorts of back of the cupboard items but the dogs and chooks would have to be fed with something suitable.
Unless we were living completely off grid in a tent or summat, there will always be the cost of utilities, gas, electric, water, oil, petrol, logs, whatever - even phones/internet. Then there are domestic rates that we can't legally avoid. So I think we should accept that we spend money on these consumables.

Rest easy, Snoop.

[rary]

As has been pointed out, gas, electricity (though I have solar panels which provides some power) and rates need to be paid but apart from that I could survive for a fair time without spending any money, there are 2 freezers full a number of cans especially baked beans several packs of oats, and still a number of different veg in the garden, a wood burning stove which had been used in the past for cooking, on a more personal note which I am sure VC you will find hard to believe, I have went a fair time without spending any money

[Snoop Puss]

That was my thought too - I could make do with all sorts of back of the cupboard items but the dogs and chooks would have to be fed with something suitable.
Unless we were living completely off grid in a tent or summat, there will always be the cost of utilities, gas, electric, water, oil, petrol, logs, whatever - even phones/internet. Then there are domestic rates that we can't legally avoid. So I think we should accept that we spend money on these consumables.

Rest easy, Snoop.

Phew!

In that case, easily three months, I'd say, given how well stocked my seed box is. And the only thing I'd need then would be rice, flour and seed potatoes if we went vegetarian.

[veggiechicken]

Let's turn to Clothes now.
When was the last time you bought something to wear and what was it?

Mine was 2 pairs of £5, multi-pocketed trousers from the Asbo sale rack. Good for gardening but tidy enough to wear in public too.
Bought 3 months ago.

Confession time - Worn a pair once but they were too tight in the wrong places - so they're still in the wardrobe, waiting for me to shed my winter blubber. If I don't I'll send them to the charity shop and ease my conscience.

I'm not going to buy any more clothes for at least 3 months so shan't even look at sale racks.

[burnie]

My wife and daughter keep buying me clothes in an attempt to smarten me up, needless to say they are not having much success...………………………………….lol

[Thelma Sanders]

I bought 2 pairs of jeans about April time, for tidy days, which meant I could choose between 4 tatty pairs for gardening/decorating.
Last month I bought another silk mix thermal base layer to replace one that was shredded by the w/machine and a multi- striped poncho thing to hide all my other old jumpers when I want to be warm and look tidy haha!
Ooh, I mustn't forget my new cork-soled clog slippers.

[Snoop Puss]

I bought a dress for my brother's wedding in mid-October and some trousers in Sainsbury's while I was there. Other than undies and socks, I have no idea when I last bought something myself. The last pair of shoes I bought was two and a half years ago. My mum keeps giving me all her cast-offs, but as she does that simply so she can fill the empty space in her wardrobe with new things, I don't know that that counts for much.

What I have bought outrageous amounts of this year is kitchen equipment. Which reminds me, where's Nannysally? I haven't seen her about for ages. Hope everything is OK.

[ESBkevin]

We do stockpile dry goods and tinned food when on special. These sit atop the freezer in the garage a slong term storage.

I've estimated that we could eat without starving for about a month or so from the cupboards/freezer and spares. It would get boring about half way through because things like bread and milk would become a memory, however I suspect we would be much better off than many of our neighbours.

Interestingly we have just returned from visiting friends in Portugal. They said they shop daily for perishables, I assumed it was because they were abundant in markets, but it's because electricity is so expensive and they don't run fridges or freezers!