I inadvertently participated in somewhat of a No Buy July. This month was quite overwhelming with a lot going on in my personal life. I went to dinner and drinks with friends a few times, I even went on holiday twice (once to Cornwall with friends and once to Wales on a surprise trip planned by my partner for my birthday); and while I purchased a couple of plants, I stuck strictly to my plant wish list. I ended up not thrifting at all this month and not really even thinking about it. So all in all, without realising, I followed similar rules to my last no spend month.
We rescued an unwanted blind left behind by someone moving out of our apartment building and installed it in our office. It's a little tatty but it works and convinced us it was worth investing in another for the bedroom. It feels really good to make use of something someone has discarded and although it's far from perfect, it works and has saved us money.
July has made me realise how great rescuing and repurposing unwanted things can make you feel. Many of us want to buy something that is new and perfect, as if a dent in the box or mark on the fabric makes an item useless. This fixation on buying pristine items means we overlook the joy of making use of what we already have or what someone doesn't want. Thrifting helps us to get over the little scratches or marks on items, which are unavoidable and happens to everything over time. There's real pleasure to be found in bringing things into ours home that other people don't want, giving them a new lease of life and saving us money in the process.