Read how other New Dreamers are spending Buy Nothing Day
(or the rest of their holiday season)
How Will You Be Spending Buy Nothing Day? |
Submitted by |
| Cook and eat at home together instead of going to a restraunt;handmade gifts,old-fashioned homemade gift wrapping; more small,less big. | Dolores -NC |
| Dinner and Movie at home on Xmas, just the two of us. No shopping for Xmas after Nov. 25th. Gift wrapping in old newspapers with jute baling cord bows. | Charlotte McCabe - Graham Va |
| For many years we have shunned the cheesy "Black Friday" shopping push and focused on sharing our time together. This year, as we live an hour's drive from Hovenweep National Monument, we will spend the day hiking with our dog and share a picnic. We will reflect on everything we have to be thankful for, and ignore the commericalization of American holidays. | Doug and Jan Parker - Cortez, CO |
| For years our family of seven, six married have bought only for the children. I buy fair trade for the children. | Mark Burwinkel - Cincinnati, Ohio |
| I am making gifts like crocheted scarves and fleece blankets. Giving special pictures with personalized pictures frames that I did myself. Seriously limiting the dollar amount of gifts to no more than $20. Baking and making instead of buying. Giving to childrens charities in a family members name. Writing to soldiers a letter of thanks. Decorating with only what we already have and not buying more. Calling family and friends instead of sending cards. I am going to spend time with my almost 2 year old grand daughter reading books and playing. The possibilities are endless and it is fun to think of ways to return to the simplicity of the past. Turn off the TV, sit by the fire place, light some candles and be with family and friends. And as I think of it right now after what I have shared... I would rather get a hand written note instead of a present expressing what they can give thanks for. I would love to have a Thanksgiving and Christmas that truly lives the meaning behind it all. With Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas to all! | Heidi Blanchester - Ohio |
| I climb the mountains to receive their good tidings. | Rob Stockstill - So Cal |
| I decided to stay home and skip the traveling this year. Saving money, sanity and fuel. | Suzanne Reiss |
| I have been picking up little gifts at thrift shops all year (which I consider recycling). In January last year I bought drastically reduced holiday printed yard goods. That's what I'm wrapping presents in. The hope is that my children and grandchildren will keep the wrappings and re-use next year | K.D. New Hampshire |
| I love the fact that Buy Nothing Day is on my birthday this year! I stopped participating in the holiday shopping madness years ago, being disillusioned by all the commercialism, corporate greed, and gluttonous, consumer lemmings. While it is troublesome that many folks are out of work and struggling to pay their bills (myself included), it may be a good thing in the long run - this episode in American financial history may help remind people that there are more important things in life than all the "things" we think we want to buy, just because they are the latest and supposedly greatest gadgets. I used to go for the cheap, instant gratification fix of buying a bunch of things just for the sake of buying things, not considering the consequences of my purchasing choices. I now shop mindfully, buy items that are higher quality, environmentally and socially responsible, and American-made whenever possible. I buy a lot less junk and actually spend less money in the long run because what I do choose to buy, lasts longer than if I had opted for the quicker, cheaper alternative. We buy too much cheap imported crap in this country, and it's time to start demanding more American-made, environmentally and socially responsible products. Sure, they might be more expensive than the junk being shipped here by the boat load, but keeping much more of our money here in America may be the only way to fix our crumbling economy | A. Guastavino - Sonoma County, CA |
| I quit buying gifts for Christmas years ago. Now the holidays are full of time with friends, parties and getting outside and doing sports. I never understood how people could spend so much time in a mall and buy so much junk they don't need. | Cathy - Orlando |
| I stopped buying a long time ago. For the holidays I will share with family and friends the most valued commodity that I have.... my time. | JR, Marcel, CA |
| I won't be shopping on Black Friday because I will be among the millions of retail workers depending on the generosity of shoppers that day. As much as I might support boycotting Black Friday in theory, it affects me and my family's bottom line. If shoppers do not spend money, I am possibly out of a job. It's a catch 22. What about retail workers? | GAW |
| I'll catch up on my reading, get outside for some walks, check out some free online lectures, experiment with inexpensive recipes, practice my Tai Chi forms and something new for me-get together with other locals for an Amnesty International Global Write-A-Thon. I have lots of time since I'm unemployed, so I really must do my best and stay positive. | Johnj66 - Lehigh Valley, PA |
| I'm doing what I always do: I shop all year 'round for gifts -- have a special bureau for stockpiling them. Plus which, I do my shopping at thrift shops, church bazaars, yard sales, etc., where I find really cool things that I wouldn't get, otherwise (too expensive; can't go to foreign countries the way the first owners did, and so on). Everyone is always pleased with the gifts they get, because sometimes they're unusual -- and always cost much, much more when they were new! | Judith Mitchell - Midcoast Maine |
| I'm not buying gifts this year. Celebrating by sharing homemade, locally produced food, a poem, or short story. | Marion - Tacoma, WA |
| I've always believed in treading lightly on the Earth, and try not to give in to rampant consumerism. For many years I've chosen to bake a variety of goodies for the holidays rather than buy a multitude of gifts for my huge family -- it's my way of showing my love without filling their homes with items they don't really need. For my closest family & friends I usually bake or buy healthy foods for gift bags -- after all, everyone has to eat, and I know the bags will be reused. Shopping throughout the year and taking advantage of seasonal sales allows me to avoid the Christmastime crush, too. | N Moy - NYC |
| Last year me and my wife gently explained to our immediate and extended family that we would no longer be participating in the traditional "buy a bunch of stuff the other people do not even like" Christmas. As a 23 year old entrepreneur the wife and I were limited on funds. so I made beef jerky for the guys and my sweat wife gently designed and built home made jewelry for the ladies. A couple days ago the the wife was out on her daily walk when she spotted an over loaded pear tree with the biggest sweetest pears I have ever tasted. after accumulated around two 5 gallon buckets full of pears, we devised a plan to cut the pairs up cook them and make pie filling. After they are the perfect consistency they will be canned and ready for distribution. I will then type my grandmothers pie crust recipe on a small card and and tie it to the jar. I hope to see more of this kind of giving B/C it is truly extending Love to our family and friends. | Robert A Reeves - Mabank TX |
| My husband and I do not participate in the commercialization of Christmas. We stopped 5 years ago. We do not accept gifts or give gifts. We have made it about family. | JR - Louisiana |
| On Black Friday this year, I plan to gather up a lot of my gently used stuff and donate it to Goodwill. | Lisa B - San Jose, CA |
| On Black Friday, this year our family will drive home from an overnight Thanksgiving visit with family and get to work preparing a traditional Jewish Friday Night/Sabbath Meal. The kids will help me bake challah and we won't set foot in a store or watch TV all day. In fact, I have a rule for myself -- no entering stores (food store OK) between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Also, we've eliminated our junk mail and catalogs and just a lot less EXPOSED to the holdiay commercialism. This year my goal is to MAKE Chanukah candles -- I haven't made candles since the '70s! | L. Mackler Pittsburgh, PA |
| Only buying five presents | Marie |
| Reducing the amount of presents bought. Spending less time shopping and more time being together with family and friends and relaxing. | Holly - Elk Mound, Wisconsin |
| This year, instead of shopping until I'm dropping, I am staying at home and catching up on what has been going on with my parents. I'm in college now, and set to move across the country this summer, so it's important to me to spend time with my parents rather than trying to find a gift for them (which, if they actually needed it, they already bought it). | JVH - Columbus, OH |
| We have successfully avoided Black Friday for 3 years running! While some family members love the hype and frenzy, we have taken a hike in the woods that day with a a PBJ picnic lunch! It hasn't rained yet but we're ready with a Board Game Tournament if it ever does! | Laura Pavlides - Maryland |
| We never buy anything on black fri. We do usually buy one thing to our parents but nothing for each other. This year will be the same for our children. She is 6 mths old. | JB -
Williamsburg |
| 100 % organic and local foods. | Michael J. Masley |
| Are you aware of the group Make Something Day? It has been established as an alternative to Buy Nothing Day with a positive twist. http://www.makesomethingday.org/ We are having a party at which all of us will make something I plan to make Lavender Lotion for next year's garden days as well as for gifts I posted the recipe on my blog http://godspace.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/make-something-day/ In fact we plan to make all our Christmas gifts this year. | Christine, Seattle |
| Buy nothing on "Buy Nothing:" day; send no Xmas cards except those I make out of Xeroxed New Yorker cartoons or pictures found on the 'Intertubes' via StumbleUpon; send no presents except to family members under 18; prepare food, sing carols, and do dishes at the Little Brothers Xmas Day dinner. | Barry Pegg
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