Things I don't buy.

My Lenten challenge this year was NOT to spend money. I've realised that I was buying a lot of stuff, from shoes to notepads and it added up to a lot of money. So, for over 40 days, I've decided not to spend money on anything other than bare essentials, that is food and travel. I've actually purchased a book (£2 in an antiquary bookshop) and a toothbrush, because I managed to leave my old one at Mr Magic's, but apart from that, no shopping for me.

This was such a positive experience, especially coupled with decluttering most of my possessions. There is actually not that much that I need to be happy and content with my life. And it made me think of the things that I used to buy but no longer need, not only because of my Lenten challenge, but also because of the choices I made last year to improve the quality of my life.

Here are 7 things that I no longer buy in the following categories: entertainment, personal care and kitchen.

ENTERTAINMENT

Video streaming subscriptions

My experience is that if you have a Netflix or Prime Video subscription, it is so easy to completely lose track of time spent watching your favourite series, because you've already paid for that month and you can stream whatever you want whenever you want. I binge-watched nine seasons of Big Bang Theory in about two weeks in summer. Did I enjoy it? Oh yes! I love Sheldon. Was it healthy? Most definitely not. I've found that unsubscribing from Netflix meant that I relied more on freely available material that often had more educational value. Youtube is full of really good TEDTalks for instance. Also, there are other options if you want to watch something specific. Google, Amazon and YouTube allow you to purchase or rent specific films or TV series without subscribing. And this actually makes you really think if you want to watch that specific thing. Because I now only pay for films I really want to see, I actually watch less of them. This means more time spent doing other valuable activities, like reading or baking. I sort of treat this like going to a cinema, but without leaving my house.

Stationery

This one is a challenging one, because I really like cute notepads, different coloured pens, sticky notes in various shapes and sizes, stickers and other accessories of this sort. But I have so much of it already, I won't have enough time in my life to use all of this up. So if anybody is in need of some stationery supplies, please get in touch, I will happily part with most of it. My problem with stationery is twofold: most importantly, an environmental one, because not so much of those items are actually made of recycled materials; but secondly it's such a drain on your wallet. These things are really expensive.

PERSONAL CARE

Nail polish

I had this idea a few years ago that I will do my nails, paint them with beautiful rich colours and be this really neat looking young lady with nail polish matching my outfit. In reality, I simply don't have time for that, painting and drying your nails is too much of a hassle plus I don't like the chemicals contained in nail polish. There are plant-based alternative, but I was never committed enough to actually invest in those (it's over £10 per item, so compared to around £3-£5 for a regular nail polish, the difference is insane), so a month or so ago I discarded the only nail polish that remained in my cosmetic bag, admittedly a beautiful shade of red, but I wasn't using it, so it had to go.

Female sanitary products

No, I didn't stop having my periods, but I switched to reusable cloth pads last summer, and never looked back since. They do require a bit of an upfront investment, but will last for a good few years and you will not create waste throwing those products straight after use. This is what really bothered me about female products, that you would spend a lot of money on those each month, but you would actually only get a few hours of use out of them at best and then discard that item, never to see it again. The advantage of cloth pads is that you can use those again and again. It does require a degree of organisation, having a wash bag ready in your bag and you need to do an extra low temperature wash, but I found it so much more comfortable both in actual physical terms and in terms of my psychological feeling of doing something good for the environment, that I simply got used to functioning a little bit differently.

KITCHEN

Teabags

Most teabags are sealed with plastic, which contributes to plastic pollution given how much tea I drink and many people in the UK drink. I used up all the teabags in the house now, invested in a tea strainer, and now I only brew loose-leaf tea which is less convenient, but the taste is far better and it avoids all the plastic contamination that I was contributing towards, albeit inadvertently, while drinking five or six cups of tea a day.

Kitchen towels
I have one more roll under my sink, but it has been there for ages, probably since summer and I can't see it being used any time soon, I'm still on the previous roll from that pack. It's just such a waste, because you use a piece and then it ends up in the bin straight away. It's like throwing your money away. Instead of paper towels, I have bought a set of cloths that can be used to cleaning, wiping, dusting and drying. They can be washed in the washing machine with kitchen towels. No brainer!

Single purpose kitchen gadgets
Think nutmeg grater, cheese grater, waffle maker, spiraliser, ice cream scoop, crepes pan, smoothie maker, tiered cake pans... I love cooking, but I've realised that most of the dishes calling for some special equipment can be made as successfully with standard utensils. I've decluttered a lot of items and left those essential ones. When I think about it, our grandmothers managed to cook without all these fancy single purpose gadgets. I can do without the too. Especially that storage space is precious in my kitchen and I would rather not take it up with a multitude of items.