Selfsufficientish.com

About 2006 a group from San Francisco calling themselves the Compact were all over the internet with Their original idea listed the following:

Where you can shop:
1.Second-hand stores (Charity Shops of any sort)
2. Craigslist
3. Freecycle.org
4. Local food markets are preferred (for instance farmers' market, local bakery)
5. Garage sales
6. Estate or house clearing auctions
7. Other ways to get what you need: Borrow from a neighbour, share what you have, make it yourself or even barter with someone.

Exceptions:
You are allowed to use services such as movies, theatres, museums, massages, haircuts, and music downloads.
1. Underwear.
2. Socks.
3. Food.
4. Pillows.
5. Household cleaning supplies.
6. Health and safety items.
7. Automotive essentials (like oil).
8. Home repairs.
9. Necessary medical supplies.

I think a lot of people make necessary tweaks to suit their lifestyle. For me, massages aren't even on my list of normal purchases and shoes are essentially new as my feet don't fit the high street sizes. Some people have ways of getting their hair cut free. I'd include seeds for the allotment as not necessary to be bought new if they appear in second hand shops, local charity events, plant swaps or I'd been seed saving.

How much of it could we do for a year if we really tried for a year?

I lost two clothes sizes last year and all my replacements came from Ebay (I didn't bother replacing the in-between size, just when my clothes got really too big). I have to confess that I was really excited to be able to get into more fashionable clothes, even though I'm hardly a follower of fashions. The best thing about buying secondhand, apart from the obvious environmental benefits, is that I can get better quality clothes that I wouldn't be able to afford new (or would have great difficulty justifying that sort of money). Anyway, I'm hoping to do the same thing this year.

We get a veg box grown locally (with some bought in stuff from further afield) and our milk, cream and butter has to be sent up from England - it's illegal to sell raw dairy in Scotland. We're hoping to grow much more his year now the house is more or less done.

We've just bought a new 2 piece suite for our newly finished sitting room - we worked flipping hard getting that done so I'm happy to replace with new, plus it's replacing a rather grotty secondhand suite and it will complement my Granny's old rocking chair perfectly.

Other than that I don't think we need much and local(ish) charity shops and Ebay usually provide.

Reading back, some of the folks involved back in 2006 found it hard going. Can't understand why. Perhaps they'd never had to think that second hand might be good. Perhaps they weren't even the people who offered what they had of decent standard to any of the second hand sites.

Nowadays with the advent of Primark and it's low priced items (you want to see people with bags of stuff from there), second hand clothing is a bit thin on the ground here. The supermarkets started the downward slope mind with regard to clothes and household items.

That doesn't mean that I don't have a second hand sofa with it's fire tickets attached here. And an upcycled Welsh dress (polite term for second hand, refurbished and painted up but a lovely bit of furniture till you look inside).

There's a sudden dearth of second hand furniture round here with the one charity shop up road no longer having a van and driver. The unit that did upcycling of furniture moved because of lack of footfall - only to find there was less where it moved to so that's gone. There's a fairly active selling group locally on Facebook that sometimes has stuff. Skips never have anything locally.

And the BBC reports that the export of second hand clothes is wrecking the economies of some other countries.

Since we got rid of the van there's no chance of buying secondhand furniture - no-one will deliver up here. Or collect for that matter - although we do have a little unit in the village for smaller items - just not sofas, which seems to be all folks want to offload.

Ah the old sofa! People are now trying to sell their old soggy bottomed ones on Facebook or offload on Freecycle. Not sure I'd want a second hand 10 year old Ikea chair or sofa but never mind.

The unit that upcycled things was a good place as it did take and work up ugly old wooden units - not the ones with character and made of decent wood but the utility stuff that was plain ugly but came up quite well with a bit of tarting up. It's a long way to a British Heart Foundation shop that does second hand. And like you, it's the lack of transport.

Just a passing thought as I do have second hand furniture here. A decent sofa, Welsh dresser type thing (which was ugly before it was worked on) and a small coffee table thing. Still it's just a passing thought in the scheme of things. I'm just hoping that the washing machine lasts a bit longer - it doesn't want to spin on some programmes which are the ones I use most. Don't think I will be taking second hand electricals somehow.

I try not to buy new, but I have trouble with clothing, as I will not buy anything unnatural. Trying to find women's tops without elastic/lycra etc in can be hard going. I had to give up and get men's top in Primani (Primark). There seems to be some strange clothing rule that says women's tops must be figure hugging (which I do not want as my bust is generously sized) and that they must have funny neck lines (wide, slashed, v necks) or attention drawing patterns (again avoiding because of my bust!). I also wear long skirts...so you can imagine how hard it is to find natural ones of those. Sometimes just finding a long skirt can seem nigh on impossible.
I'm secretly from the late 1800/early 1900s, disguised as a modern day 30 something woman...

Due to my lack of transport and not so central location, I also find it difficult to source second hand electricals. So many charity shops won't sell them because they don't have anyone to test their safety.

Yep that applies to me too AmalWarrior with regards to the electricals. And as for figure hugging clothes - hey but you don't get too far on the allotment if you can't move for the tightness of the clothing. With me it can be finding something that allows across the back rather than the front in shirts and tops.

Although we have gumtree over here, it's not that well used, as it is in England. Plus in England I could get public transport to other places easily. Can't do that here. One bus every 4 hours!

I really want to try this, see how long I can last. Bathing items come under health and safety items, I guess? But I wonder if I could get mine only from charity shops, as they always seem to stock that sort of thing. I wonder...

Yep hygiene is considered essential - a lot of people have to go to paid work and the unwashed hippy is not really acceptable. As most of us would appreciate.

I'd like to try making my own hygiene products too. Soap bars and toothpaste to start. I do the unshaven hippy, but I do use soap, deodorant and shampoo. Never really bothered with conditioner.

I'm lucky. There are lots of second-hand stores in my area, pawnshops also with lots of furniture and electronics.

Grandson moved recently - long journey and new house didn't have as much in the way of furnishings as the previous one. There was a British Heart Foundation shop within walking distance and the parents with the removal van were still around. They moved a perfectly good four seater sofa to new house at a cost of £75. Apparently there's a slight fade on one arm but other than that it's a most comfortable seating arrangement. Good thing one of the parents is a handy man as they had to take off 2 doors to get the thing in mind.