You may have noticed on my sidebar, a button that reads “Buy Nothing Challenge, August 2009“. If you click on the button it will lead you to the Crunchy Chicken’s August challenge, which is (you’ll get this if you’ve been paying attention) not to buy anything for the entire month of August 2009.
The rules are (from the Crunchy Chicken herself):
* No new clothes
* No new gadgets
* No new furniture or housewares
* No salon services
* No makeup
* No tools
* No whatever the hell else people buy
Food is an exception, as are canning and preserving supplies, and I’m assuming bills are okay to pay. And there’s a weekly “confessional” if you either break down or if you have something planned ahead of time, like a trip (as we have planned for the first weekend in August). Other stuff, you might want to plan ahead, though obviously going crazy in the weeks beforehand would kinda counteract the point of the challenge.
So yeah, I’ve pledged my name in there as a non-consumer for the month of August. I’m a bit nervous, though I’ve been putting in a whole lot of Zero-Dollar Days lately (where I spend absolutely nothing for a whole 24 hour period–no exceptions). I don’t know how I’ll do with the challenge: will I panic and rebel against it? will it make me super paranoid about spending money afterwards?
I predict that in many ways it won’t be hard. I predict that I will be faced with challenges of the “want vs. need” variety, possibly regarding craft or kitchen supplies. But that just brings me back to working through my stash. As someone wrote in the New York Times reader-submitted Survival Strategies for the Recession, “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.”
So if you’ve got a birthday in August, I hope I either remember it this week, or that you enjoy home-made stuff because that’s what you’ll likely be getting. I’ll update you on how it’s going. Let me know if you join the challenge too!
Frugal + Urban 
I would love to join this challenge, but my kids have to go back to school this month. So maybe I will modify the challenge. Maybe I will go for a no spending August, except food, bills, and school supplies (those which I cannot salvage from last year and cloths, although we prefer the Salvation Army to the mall). Good luck with the challenge and I will be reading to see how you do.
Good Luck!!