Buy Nothing New Challenge - Update 2

After my early fail last weekend with the flowers (see Update 1 here), I have managed to stick to the rules of my Buy Nothing New Challenge.  However, this week, I feel that the stakes are starting to edge up a bit:

St Valentine's Day

The first challenge of the week has been Valentine's Day, coming up on Wednesday.  Luckily, my partner and I have never really bought each other gifts, so that's one shopping dilemma out of the way.  But we do send cards.  Normally, I'd head to Paperchase as I can be fairly certain of finding a card I like there.  But this year I couldn't, as it would break the rules of my challenge.

Fortunately, I've been able to sort this one out quite easily.  I have a box of random unused cards that have accumulated over the years.  For some reason, I've bought these cards but never sent them, and now I can't even remember who they were for. 

So at lunchtime, I went to the box and picked out a card would make a reasonable Valentine's card - my partner dislikes 'traditional' Valentine's cards, so I often customise a bit anyway. The card has been sent off in good time for Wednesday - job done....!  (My partner works away during the week, hence the need to post the card.)

Birthday present No 1

This Saturday is an old friend's birthday, and also my brother's birthday.  They were born not only on the exact same day but in the exact same year, which I always find a little strange for some reason. 

For my brother, I got a Lumie Bodyclock.  I've had one for years, and I'm always going on about it to anybody who will listen, because it has genuinely revolutionised my winter mornings.  My brother is no more a morning person than I am, so I thought I'd share its life-changing powers with him.

But could I get hold of one without buying new?  Indeed I could.

At New Year, I had an email from Lumie to say that they had various refurbished clocks and lamps for sale at discounted prices on their website.  These are items that have been sent out for a trial period, but people have then sent them back for a refund.  The company checks that they are in good condition, and re-sells them for quite a bit less then the original price. 

So I got a refurbished model for my brother.  Technically, I bought it last month, but still, that's one birthday present achieved within the challenge rules.  And I also have a birthday card from the stash to send with it.  Success!

Birthday present No 2

My friend is easy to buy for as she is perfectly happy with thrifted items, or, say, a book I've read that I know she would really like.  This is a reciprocal arrangement, as I am just as happy to receive the same sort of gift from her. 

This year, I'm going to send her some nice handcreams.  I acquired two or three through my TVK beauty subscription box, but I don't really use handcream myself.  She uses lots, so it makes sense to send mine off to a good home.  So that's another good result for the challenge. 

Looking ahead...

So Valentine's Day and two birthdays have been successfully negotiated this week.  But there are a couple of things about the house that are going to need repaired or replaced quite soon, and these will take a bit of thought if I'm going to stick to the rules.  I mean things like the cat's scratching post, which she has worn through.  Also, the washing machine has developed a fault, and I need a new pair of boots. 

I'll let you know how I get on in the next update...