A few days ago I convinced my husband to spend £160 on toilet paper.

"Has this got something to do with reducing plastic?" he asked.

 "Yes"

"Gimme numbers" he said "don't come at me with a half baked idea"

"Well, the one we have now costs 17p per 100 sheets, if we buy in bulk this one is 13.5p per 100 sheets, it's recycled and has no plastic packaging, it has over 4,000 five star reviews, and 50% of profits go to non-profits to build toilets and stuff"

*short pause*

"OK, get them ordered" he replied.

That was somewhat easier than I expected.

You can read a more eloquent explanation about the 'toilets and stuff' here. The company I'm speaking of is Who Give A Crap - a most excellent name - and now I can go back to not giving toilet paper a second thought, which is exactly how it should be.

So summer arrived a few weeks ago, but with one thing and another I didn't get around to posting this. Here are a few things I'd like to do over the summer...

1. Tucking in
I want to eat in a restaurant every day for seven days, be it for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. This is something I tried to do during the week of my birthday last year. I failed, partly due to lack of planning, and partly due to eating waaaaay too much on day one!

2. Getting crafty
Make use of the bag of fabric scraps I've been collecting. I have a plan, I now just need to execute it.

3. Going Coastal
Spend a day at the beach, I'm talking 9 to 5 - fish n chips followed by ice cream, a morning stroll on the promenade, and an afternoon reading on the beach, interspersed with a little paddling in the surf.

4. Rocking it
I found @stonesofjoy1 via Ann, who's recently joined Instagram - Welcome Ann! - they paint stones with pretty things and write inspirational messages for people to find, and I want to paint my own stone to be found. Maybe I'll leave one on the beach...?

5. Day tripping
Take a trip to Snape Maltings and Marlsford Mill. Snape Maltings have art exhibitons that are always worth a look and Marlsford Mill offers a collection of furniture, antiques and curios that I always enjoy perusing, I don't buy something every time I go...

6. Finishing off
The bedroom redecoration needs to be finished, the time it's taking has gone beyond ridiculous.

7. Visibly mending
I have some jeans, a parasol, a picnic blanket, and a large bag that all need attention. I want to put my hours of scrolling through the #visiblemending hashtag on Instagram to good use.

8. Baking goodies
Make a giant Jaffa cake, and Bourbon biscuit brownies

What's the summeriest thing you can think of doing?

I signed up to Slow Fashion Season last month, it's a pledge to avoid purchasing any new items for the summer, to encourage shopping your wardrobe, shopping secondhand, and making do and mending.

I knew it'd be easy for me to do as I buy brand new items so infrequently these days. It's for this reason that I decided to make it more of a challenge for myself and take the 'shop your wardrobe' idea to it's extreme. I've abandoned my usual capsule wardrobe and plan to wear a different outfit everyday if I have enough clothes, which I suspect I do.

It feels a lot like my Wearing It All challenge of 2011, remember that? I wore all of the clothing items I owned and wasn't allowed to wear anything twice. I still have a handful of those clothes in my wardrobe. This challenge is a little different though as I will allow myself to wear items more than once, as long as it's in a different outfit.

It's a good time of year to do this as I have more summer clothes than anything else, so as long as the weather behaves I'll be able to wear a good portion of them. I'm actually rather enjoying it. I'm rediscovering things that I haven't worn in a while, and finding new outfit combinations by teaming new-to-me purchases with old favourites, and long forgotten items.

Here are the first outfits of the challenge.



Do you think you could avoid buying new clothes for three months?

You've seen this skirt many times before. It's appearing on the blog today because it's earned it's #30Wears Badge of Honour.

Given that I purchased this in January 2018 I'm surprised at how long it's taken me to reach #30Wears (40 at the time of writing), especially as I wear it all year round.


One of the reasons for keeping a tally was to find out how long it would take me to wear an item 30 times. It's almost impossible to predict. It doesn't sound like a lot but it can take a while if you don't wear something on a weekly basis.


It only took me two months to wear my new jeans 30 times, but that's not surprising as I live in jeans during the colder months, and skirts are worn less often.

The point of #30Wears is to ask yourself if you'll wear something 30 times before you buy it, and to only buy it if the answer is 'yes', but unless you keep count you'll never know for sure. I was interested to find out, especially as this skirt was new and not secondhand.

It still has a lot of wear left in it and I know I'll continue to step into it periodically. My favourite way to wear it is with any of my 3/4 sleeve jumpers, they make great outfits for the autumn and spring seasons. If it's on the chilly side I can add tights and boots, or stick to bare ankles and brogues if the weather permits.

This skirt was most definitely a good buy!

June has been my spendiest month so far this year. I made a few carefully considered new purchases but these will be my last new purchases for a few months as I signed up to the Slow Fashion Season. I don't think it'll prove to be too much of a challenge for me, as in the last six months I've only purchased five new items.

THIS YEAR

We booked a short break away and that prompted the purchase of a red tropical print Warehouse swimsuit, £28.50 from £36.00. I don't think I would've paid full price for it - shopping secondhand has made me a bit stingy when it comes to parting with cash for clothes - I did look in the charity shops, even though the thought of a second hand swimsuit does make me cringe a little, I'd hoped to find one with tags still on. But our break was booked at short notice so I didn't have time to wait for a good one to turn up in a charity shop.

I've had my last swimsuit for so long I think it pre-dates Andy, which would make it over a decade old. I certainly hope I can repeat this timescale with this latest one.

I gave the purchase of a pair of Havaianas flip flops, £24.00, some thought. Yes, it's a lot for flip flops but I didn't want to buy another cheap pair, and I've already worn these so much, and will continue to do so until sock weather comes around again. I'm hoping these will last for a few summers at least. I had an ebay search set up but it turned up nothing except pink ones or ones with diamante detailing, neither of which appealed to me.

My first secondhand purchase of the month was a cornflower blue Escales Paris clutch bag for £6.50. When I got home, I Googled the brand and discovered that these retail for over £200 (I'm tempted to stick it on ebay!) It only had a wrist strap but I found a woven yellow shoulder strap that I can use that does the job nicely. I love the contrast.

My second pre-loved purchase came in the form of this ASOS embroidered dress. I really didn't need another dress but this was only £5.00, and I kept going back to it every time I tried to leave it on the rail, it's just so pretty!

Towards the end of the month I signed up to the Slow Fashion Season, which is a pledge to buy no new items for three months. They wanted 10,000 participants, and an encouraging 14,487 people signed up.

It seems like an easy challenge for someone who already shops secondhand a lot. But as you can see I do buy something new occasionally. My move to secondhand has come about gradually, and can be attributed to keeping a list and running tally of my purchases since 2012. Looking at where my money was going was a real eye opener, and yet it still took a while for my buying habits to change (and there is still room for improvement).

They say unless you analyse and question the things you do, you'll keep doing the same things over and over again. It's the analysis that brings about change - certainly for the better in this case.


LAST YEAR

All of my purchases in June last year where secondhand.


Oasis floral ra-ra dress, £6.00. This has only been worn twice so far. It's a casualty of owning too many dresses (she says having just purchased another one). It'll get worn again soon I'm sure.

Mink maxi skirt, £3.50. Again, this has only been worn twice. It's a tad too long and tripped me more than once. I'm dithering over altering it or donating it back to charity.

The pink v neck top, £3.25, hasn't been worn at all. It's a lovely shape, very flattering, but as it's a synthetic material it's not good for hot days. I keep it for evenings out, of which there aren't many, evidently! I'm keeping it though, I like it too much to part with it just yet.

The white shirt, also £3.25, is only classic white shirt in my wardrobe, it's 100% cotton and very soft but has only been worn four times so far. Even though I've recently decluttered my wardrobe, donated a lot of items to charity and listed a load of things on ebay, it's clear that I still have too many clothes. Further thinning out is required.


Total for April: £64.00

Total so far for 2019: £219.25

Total at this time last year: £224.22

Left of £500.00 budget: £280.75

Items purchased: 32 (pre-loved: 27 / new: 5)


For the fourth year running I'm keeping track of my spending on clothes and accessories with A Buyer's Archive.

1. See the bluebells
Aim: get outside and do nice things
Every year Andy and I take some time out to visit the bluebell woods near us. Here are some photos from our visit this year.

2. Finish decorating the bedroom
Aim: focus on one thing at a time
I had three painting projects that needed doing before I could call our bedroom 'complete'.
1. Stain the mirror frame
2. Paint the freestanding shoe shelf
3. Paint the chest of drawers

I did none of these things! I have all the paint, primers and brushes required, just not the inclination. Other things just seem to have taken precedence over this.
 
3. Finish decorating the downstairs loo
Aim: keep up the DIY momentum
1. print to frame and hang
2. loo roll and towel holder to be fitted
3. track down a nice soap dish

I might've failed to finish the bedroom but I did make progress here - the towel rail and loo roll holder have been fitted. It's amazing how much more finished the room feels with just these two little additions.


4. Hit the beach
Aim: do nice things, get some me time
Andy and I went to North Norfolk for a few days and went to both Heacham and Snettisham beach. The tide was out but it didn't matter, we could still fill our lungs with sea air and take a brisk walk along the sandy, pebbly beach.

5. Mend my old jeans
Aim: reduce the mend pile
I had two pairs that needed repairing again. And I still have two pairs that need repairing. I've been following #visiblemending on Instagram and I now want to unpick the mending I've already done and start again...

6. Have a wardrobe cull
Aim: declutter and get organised
I was feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of clothes in my possession, so I knew it was a good time to get rid of what was no longer serving me. It feels really good to have more space and a clearer picture of what I own.



7. Attend an exhibition
Aim: do nice things
Whilst away Andy and I visited Houghton Hall to see an exhibition of Henry Moore's sculptures. They didn't disappoint.


8. Plant up the hanging baskets and sow seeds in the greenhouse
Aim: get outside!
I planted up the hanging baskets in late March, kept them in the greenhouse to protect them from frost and hung them up in April. I went for a purple flowers this year and they're looking really pretty.


The seeds I planted are doing well. I have lettuce leaves, spinach, and potatoes. I've planted a pot of cat grass for Socks and Tink, and some violas, forget-me-nots and nasturtiums for colour and prettiness. And I have some marigolds for my Dad.


My brother gave me loads of strawberry runners that are doing well, some of which are in a hanging basket by the back door. He also gave me some tomato plants and some cucumber, neither of which I've grown before - any tips for these would be welcome.

9. Eat the pantry
Aim: declutter and reduce waste
I had no idea that I'd amassed so many baking ingredients! And I have no idea why I thought we'd need five tins of pineapple chunks. I've managed to reduce the amount of food we had sitting in there, and now that I write a meal plan every week it shouldn't, in theory, fill up again with items that we don't need or use.

10. Carboot or ebay
Aim: declutter
I put aside a morning in my diary in April to get as much listed on ebay as possible, I continued listing items throughout May and into June. I also have boxes full of stuff waiting to go to a carboot sale one day soon. The stuff to sell pile is going down, our takings are going up...