According to disgruntled retailers, we are buying less new things. Unless gas and food is "new." For better or worse, we are a consumer society. The goods we buy, even the durable ones, are designed to wear out and breakdown. When I had to replace a broken globe for a coffee maker, the cost was so high that it made more sense to buy another coffee maker. Want to get an i-pod repaired? The company will fix it for a minimum $100 plus shipping. A new product cost about $150. When my VCR needed repair, the nice man wanted $60 to look at it. I threw the darn thing away and got a combination VCR/DVR for $70 at WalMart. I am all for recycling and making the most of the stuff we have. But if corporate manufacturers make it impossible....

I've done "nothing but necessities" many months over my life, particularly when a "starving student" in graduate school. I suppose it helps that I have several shop-a-holic family members who are constantly begging for money, so I've got great examples of how consumerism can go wrong that remind me to be wise with my purchases. I'm going to have to go back into "nothing but necessities" mode for a few months now to pay off the veterinary bill my cat ran up over the weekend.

I couldn't do very much of this since I'm always buying stuff to install in other folks' houses, new tools, etc.  I also go through clothes like crazy in my work.  If you take the work part out, I could do this pretty easily.  Well, once I buy the Wii I've been meaning to pick up.  :)

Shoot, I won a $50 Visa giftcard in May.  It's still in my purse, unused.  No problem!  I hate to shop.

No problem, leaving aside food & cleaning supplies, etc.  Although I have bought some new stuff recently--but from Goodwill.  Does that count?

Spam Code:  iTUSK.  Apple brings out the new Walrus (who was Paul).

New to you isn't "new", RF.  And thinking about it, don't think I could do it for books either, but I do pass all my books around when I'm done with them, so while I am buying them, I also provide a steady supply of books so others don't have to.

I buy almost all my books used.   Spent an hour in the last used-book store in Beautiful Downtown Burbank last Friday night.  Nine at a buck a book.

Drat, I also bought an Obama poster yesterday.  I'm worse at this than I thought.  It's a pretty sweet poster though.  I was at a little corner liquor store and the guy had one up in the window.  It's made by a local artist.  And they were selling it at a liquor store!

I feel no guilt about my purchase.

Bring it to DL, Tom.  Like to see it.

RF, I've got a friend who runs a used book store so when there's nothing new out, I take everything that no one wants and trade them in for other stuff from her.

Will do, RF.

Not a chance. No. Uh uh.

Now, I have shifted away from buying every new Khador figure for Warmachine (although I recently picked up Fenris and will get Beast-09 the day it comes out) to buying every new rulebook for the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons (they can't put out the Draconomicon fast enough). So, I'm focused. Or something.

I'm buying new things, as long as they're cool.

James, you're a dork.  We should totally hang out sometime.  :)

That's waaaaaaay too easy. I seriously hate to shop.

I have about 700 DVDs and nearly 1000 CDs in my collection (mostly bought on eBay) and enough clothes to last me the rest of my life. I haven't bought a NEW book in about 5 years. The last new purchase I made was 4 months ago, I bought a new printer and office chair to complete my home office. Even the desktop was put together with cannibalized parts, I run a Franken-Dell.

Food and gas are all I need. If retailers are waiting on me to spend my money on new crap they might as well shut their doors now...

Steve Swenson plays golf and smacks 250 yard drives, and James Geluso plays fantasy computer games. Be careful James, and don't strain your eyes. 

random, Burbank is home sweet home for me and I know it well (well, at least I used to know it well). Lived on Lutge  Street across from the  equestrian center. We kept show horses stabled in the back yard. Flashy Trash was one of my 3-gaited favorites. Our neighbors were wacky idealistic types that will forever be engraved in my memory.

Disney was hot in those days though I was against the Disney Stores, just thought it was too aggressive but oh well, marketing types rule when it comes to tactical bottom lines. Besides that, Will Bottfield's barn was a favorite hangout for the rich, rich and useless, and the rich and fabulous.

The centerpiece of his barn was the "hay room." This was the last remnant of Mickey Cohen's speakeasy. Will used to have some of the best Halloween parties there and if you were inebriated enough you could brave the secret passageways or if you were imaginative enough you could recall to the mind the glory of bygone crystal chandeliers and gaudily sumptuous wealth passing hands on the roulette wheels.

It made me laugh when you wrote about the used book store because those are places where we can find the most unlikely stories imaginable.

I have a feeling you enjoyed your perusals immensely.

Those old book stores are rich with memories.

i'm sick to death of my "stuff".  I want to get rid of it not add to the heap.  Anybody want my junk????

Yes I could easily go a month without purchasing anything (except crochet thread #10).   It's my hobby you know.

I don't need anything.......I don't need anything but this ash tray.... this ash tray and this paddle game ...this ash tray, this paddle game and the remote control.............yeah.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Those old book stores are rich with memories.

I remember six I used to visit on San Fernando.  All gone but one, which is closing (temporarily, they say) end of this month. 

Grenadier with the military history/gaming, the one with the conspiracy-theory bent, the cookbook-specialty store where I bought my late wife her first Christmas present...all gone.

Bonnie's Bookworm on Chester was my hangout.    I could always find the book I was looking for in there.

Let's see, the latest "big ticket" new items I've purchased are clothing to replace worn out items (getting down to just one pair of usable shorts set that shopping trip off), a vacuum for my hard floors (old vac was sounding like a jet engine and I felt silly wearing ear protection just to vacuum) and the computer (still feeling guilty about that, but the old one had dying capacitors and I did go for a "budget" approach).

So you can see why it's relatively easy for me to go into "necessities only" mode since I don't really have the urge to buy many luxuries. This just means I'll do things like live with the broken handle on my computer chair and do more loads of laundry to deal with only having 4 good work slacks instead of buying new stuff. My biggest expense category this summer has been "Pets" because I've had two cats with urinary problems, one with a split molar and a feral female had 5 kittens in my back yard. Makes me wish pet insurance was a viable option for more of my cats, but they would probably only insure two of the six given that pet insurance is really bad about "pre-existing conditions". Seems like if your pet went to the vet for anything other than vaccines, they won't cover it.

Craigslist, The Bakersfield Californian classifieds and Freecycle are great ways to find cheap, used items, or get rid of stuff you no longer want.

Catpaw, I just did a quick Craigslist  search for dvd players and found a vcr/dvd combo for $20 and a Sony 5-Disc DVD Player  for $65.

Tom W, I also found several listings for Nintendo wii, including a couple for $200. (I see they're selling for $250 at Best Buy).

AudreyB, Craigslist and the classifieds are great ways to get rid of your stuff.

Think someone wouldn't pay money for some of your junk?  Rather than throw it out, list in the Craigslist "free" section. Last time I moved, I got rid of  a broken lawn chair and a weathered, junky outdoor coffee table that way.  It feels good to know that someone can find a use for these things rather than having to stuff them in the dumpster. Freecycle is also another great way to get rid of stuff or find stuff you need.

Just some ideas!

Barring a major appliance going out, I'd have no problem going an entire month without buying anything new.  I priced a baby jumper spinner thing at WM and Target that cost about 70 bucks.  I found one at Goodwill for $10.75.  Got the pallet thingy with the arches and toys hanging from it..looked brand new..for $4.75.  If I desperately need clothes I'm sure I could find something there and bought all the Henley type shirts I used to wear to WM there.  When I waitressed I got all my work clothes there as it's as easy to get gravy on a 2.00 shirt as it is a 20 dollar one and it's a lot less expensive.  I don't look at it as "used", I look at it as "recycled."  You environmentalists should love that.  LOL.  I also have a theory that if I buy it new and throw it in the washer, it is now "used."  Kinda like driving your new car off the lot.

Goodwill has a stand alone book store on Rosedale Highway that has acres of books cat alogued by genre.   I also get books at the Goodwill near me.  Couldn't tell you the last time I bought a new book...other than local history books as gifts that is.

I have never been the type to splurge on new stuff.  I like to fix things when they break but sometimes that is so much more expensive than buying new.  When I was a child there were places you could take the things that stopped working and they could be fixed.  Also at Goodwill they actually had a training program where they taught clients how to reupholster furniture or to fix things that were broken.  This seems to no longer be the case.  I did just rebuild a floor lamp my friend was throwing out it now works great.  Lamps are easy but once I replaced some little internal parts in a coffee maker that stopped working. After about a week of using it I heard it making lots of noise out there in the kitchen.  I guess I soldered the pieces in  backwards or something cause the darn thing was on fire.  I'm never "fixing" another coffee maker again.  My dad who is 84 years young just replaced the motor in his 25 year old Kenmore washing machine.  Every week I find a new home for the things, mostly clothes that my boys have outgrown.  I try hard to make the things I have last.  I would rather spend my money going on a nice trip than buying new furniture or new clothes.  All the books I buy are used.  I also go to the Kern County Library and borrow their books for free.     

 To echo The Dirt ...Freecycle is cool.   http://groups.yahoo.com/gro...     That is  a site where folks offer for free things they no longer want and  other folks issue a request for things they are seeking.  It is like Craigslist only the rules are everything offered has to be FREE.  I think you have to have a Yahoo account before using it.  It is a good way to get rid of stuff you no longer want around the house.   

Stacey, being a recent Bay Area transplant, I'm totally spoiled in my Craigslist and freecycle experience (Even had a "Craigslife" for a while).  I did buy a bunch of stuff for my new place on Craigslist, but I just don't use it like I did up north.

You did inspire me to sign up for Mobile Alerts so that every new Wii listed in the Californian gets sent to my phone instantly.

Been a fan of goodwill type stores for..well i started at 18 and with todays prices ,we need a "second" googwill . I bought 2 new things for my trip to Mexico,both from catalogs and both "on sale". We buy the "needs",but are saving for some new front porch work.My last major purchase was my PC ,over 4 years ago now. I try to live cheap and simple.

"Nothing but necessities"  is a term that my husband and I do not interpret in the same way.  I am perfectly happy to keep using the same things I have owned for years.  He on the other hand needs all the new latest and greatest stuff all of the time.  Last Friday he bought another new car.  That makes three in the last 16 months.   He says each new one was a necessity.  Because twice he was replacing cars that were "too old".  They were  9 and 13 years old. This latest one he needed because it gets better gas mileage than his diesel truck.  Our car Insurance guy loves us.  New cars mean higher insurance fees.   My goal is to be extra green so that I can make up for his non-green habits.

...the cookbook-specialty store where I bought my late wife her first Christmas present...all gone. 

Such memories are palpable, vivid, and resemble to me, a kind of sanctuary.

Thanks.