Here's my complete Buyer's Archive for the year, every item of clothing, every pair of shoes, and every accessory I purchased in 2019.




There are so many purchases that I really like and enjoy wearing from this year. The burgundy boots have barely been off my feet since I bought them. The brown leather bag has been in almost constant use. Both of my check coats have been worn a number of times already, and the floral shorts I purchased in September will be the first to grace my legs next time the temperature allows.



And the jumpers, it's been a good year for jumpers! I purchased 13 in all, with the first and the last both being gorgeous shades of green.



I've found five footwear items in charity shops this year, which is a lot for me as I rarely find footwear I like. Yes, one of those was a hideous pair of Crocs, but they have their place, acting as the perfect garden shoes.

There have been a few items that didn't stay in my wardrobe, for various reasons, but I made a huge effort to list these items on ebay, and made a small profit in some cases.

It feels like a really successful year of shopping. I purchased fewer items than last year, and kept within budget. Also, for the first time ever, I quickly identified the not-so-great purchases and either sold or donated them, instead of keeping them, trying to convince myself that I'd wear them at some point. It freed up valuable space in my wardrobe, which is something I need to continue to do, starting with a wardrobe purge...

And this concludes the fourth year of keeping track of my spending on clothes and accessories with A Buyer's Archive.

It also concludes my blogging for 2019, which just leaves me to say 'Happy New Year', and to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2020!

I was certain that I wouldn't buy any clothing this month, but when my trusty black jumper moved from being 'smart enough to dress up' and into the realms of 'has seen better days', I decided to buy another one.

This is the kind of thing I look out for when rummaging in the charity shops but I find simple black jumpers in really good condition hard to come by, so, on this occasion, I decided to bypass the second hand option and go straight for new.



I don't know exactly how long I've had the old one, but I know it was purchased before 2016, before I started my Buyer's Archives. It's lasted well and will continue to be worn, just not for anything requiring me to look smart.

My old one came from Next so that was my first port of call to find a replacement, and of course they had something to fit the bill.



Then I nipped into a local charity shop with a friend, she wanted to peruse the rails, I had no intention of buying anything, but I picked up a blue long sleeved t-shirt to wear as a pyjama top (£2.00), having just demoted a few to the rag bag.

Then my friend picked up a jumper, handed it to me and said 'you have to get this, it couldn't be more you'. I looked at the soft green jumper (£3.75) and knew I wouldn't be leaving it behind.

As I stood at the counter to pay I wondered how I would manage my Just One shopping challenge next year...


LAST YEAR



Everything I bought last year was secondhand.

The pink scarf was picked up for £1.00, but didn't stay in my wardrobe as it made my neck itch. However the large and incredibly soft spotty scarf (£3.00) remains and has been worn a lot.

My bargain find of the month was a brand new ASOS coat, with the original tags still on for a mere £6.50. I'd been looking for something like this for a while, and it's been worn many times.

The next item was an H&M knitted top for £3.50. I sold this on ebay in the summer as it turned out to be a little on the snug side, but I did make a few quid.

My final purchase of 2018 was a mink bolero, originally from Nougat, for £3.00. It's been worn once or twice. It's the sort of thing that sits in the wardrobe untouched but every so often turns out to be just the thing I need.


Total for December: £20.75

Total for 2019: £400.10

Total at this time last year: £559.18

Left of £500.00 budget: £99.90

Items purchased: 66 (pre-loved: 58 / new: 8)
Buying three items this month does take me over my lowest number of items purchased in a year, but as my shopping challenge for next year will drastically reduce the number of items I buy, I'm not worried too much about these 'extra items', I see them as my last hurrah before my spending challenge starts next month.


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

I have far fewer options in my wardrobe for this time of year than in the warmer months. Jeans and jumpers dominate my autumn / winter wardrobe. Skirts appear on occasion, but most days I'll be clad in denim and wool.

Once again trying to wear every seasonal item in my wardrobe has reminded me of the many, many items I'd forgotten about. I've selected a few that can be donated to charity, and a few to be sold on ebay.

It's hard to believe I started the season wearing shorts, it didn't last long of course, and it seems like such a long time ago now, but we're nearly at the shortest day, so it can only get better...

Work has been busy! For the last few weeks it feels like I've spent far too much time at my desk. A fellow freelancer and I were working on several projects together and as he was off on holiday on the 12th we had a lot of work to get done in a short space of time. But we did it, and with a little time to spare.

It does feel good to be really busy, but I was already busy doing other things outside of work and something had to give. So I was unable to make a number of things I'd planned to make for a Cake & Craft stall I was helping with this week.



We had our first Christmas Cake & Craft stall a few weeks ago, which went really well, and I'd hoped to create some extra handmade Christmas cards, and knitted tree penguins before our second sale this week, but as work was busy I had to make do with what I could squeeze into the evenings. Which wasn't a great deal.



Nonetheless we still had lots to sell, and had another successful day. Over the two sales we raised £1,850 for the radiotherapy department at our local hospital. These have been our most successful sales to date, and I think this is partly to do with having invested in a nifty little machine so we could take card payments. People seem to spend more when they don't have to hand over cold hard cash, which is all the better when fundraising.

I did find time in the week to pop into the village, I needed to go to the Post Office to send off several ebay parcels, which was a nice little boost to my Christmas fund, and I stopped in at my local Sue Ryder shop whilst there.

I'm not meant to be buying anymore books but got more than a little bit tempted!



I justified my purchases by telling myself that a) I'd have enough time to read One Day in December before the month was up (time will tell), b) Domenica De Rosa also writes under the name of Elly Griffiths and I've read a few of her books recently, so I needed to read this too, c) Summer at Skylark Farm was one in a series I'm reading (albeit in completely the wrong order), d) the cover of Old Baggage was too beautiful not to buy, and e) I've seen Normal People all over my Instagram feed with rave reviews, so clearly this is a book I need to read. I really am beyond help when it comes to my book addiction.



I'm now looking forward to the pace of life slowing a little, and hope to have a relaxing weekend, before the Christmas chaos sets in. With lives getting busy at this time of year I was unable to book a table to go out to dinner with friends this month to celebrate a birthday. So, we've opted to wait until the new year, it'll be something to look forward too. I always find January to be a long and uneventful month.

With a little luck we'll get our Christmas tree on Saturday, and I can spend several hours getting the decorations to look just right. I might even watch The Holiday whilst I do so.

I hope you've had a good week, and have a lovely weekend.

When I started looking at ways to cut the amount of plastic packaging I generate in my home, I noticed that natural deodorants were cropping up in my Instagram feed with increasing regularity, I took it as a sign and investigated further.

I was worried about the effectiveness of natural deodorants, but thought if the occasion called for it I could go back to my tried and (thoroughly) tested Dove antiperspirant for a day if necessary.

But the more I read about it the more I began to discover that once you switch, you need to stick with it. There's a whole thing about detoxing your armpits, riding your body of the build up of pore clogging nasties from mainstream products.

Despite the fact that I wasn't looking forward to this detox period, I decided to just go for it. My chosen natural deodorant turned up just as the hottest weekend of the summer was about to kick off. Nothing like throwing myself in at the deep end!

I bought the Your Nature Natural Deodorant Stick in cedarwood and grapefruit. The scent was pleasant enough. I did feel a little damp under the arms on a few occasions, I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't an antiperspirant, nevertheless I was impressed with this from day one.



I was paranoid about odour, but a few quick secret armpit sniffs set my mind at ease and I stopped worrying about it. I couldn't believe I'd been lucky enough to find a natural deodorant that suited me so easily, some people have a reaction to them and have to try loads of options before finding one that suits.

The stick lasted a decent amount of time. I think I finished it in early November, so about four months.

I decided to try a different product, this time opting for a solid deodorant from Lush, mostly because I could pick this up instore locally. This had no packaging at all so I was hoping that I would love it. But I didn't. The scent wasn't all that pleasing but I could've forgiven that if it had worked. I felt smelly on several occasions, and became really self conscious. After a time my armpits became red and felt uncomfortable. Bearing in mind that I was using this in cooler temperatures than the first product, it really didn't do well in comparison.

After about three weeks I gave up and decided to try something else.



Next I purchased a We Love The Planet deodorant stick in mighty mint. I love the smell of this, and so far I've really liked it. I don't think I would've gone for a minty scent before, but this is really unusual. I sometimes catch a whiff of mint and it's actually rather pleasant.

I would've preferred a solid deodorant, without any packaging at all, and I'll keep looking (please leave any recommendations in the comments), but for now I'm happy that I've found a few natural deodorants that work for me, and that have fully recyclable cardboard packaging - better for me, better for the environment.

I purchased this jumper back in December 2017, and last week I wore it for the 32nd time. It's something I reach for when I fancy an injection of colour, normally on dismally grey days.

It's earned it #30Wears Badge of Honour, despite my early prediction that it wouldn't last long enough. It pilled very early on in it's life, but then stopped, and never got any worse.

Even though I washed it according the the care instructions, it's shrunk a little and now has sleeves that finish just above the wrist, which is a bit of a pet hate of mine. I like my sleeves to be long, resting on the backs of my hands, or to be 3/4 length, not flirting coyly with my wrists. That said, it's not annoying enough for me to discard it, when worn with longer sleeves underneath, or on days when sleeves can be pushed up, it's more than wearable.



I really like wearing it over my blue shirt, to my mind it works really well, and to be honest this is how I wear it more often than not. This little pink jumper will definitely be around for a while longer.

I've rambled on about the #30Wears campaign in other posts, so I haven't really explained it, but you can read more about it here if you wish.

To see other items that have earned the #30Wears Badge of Honour click here.

I share all of my charity shopped clothing purchases in my Buyer's Archive posts, but I rarely share all the other things I find. There's a wealth of loveliness to be found on the charity shop shelves.

Here are a few items that came home with me recently.



Stoneware Pot
When we moved in and realised we didn't have a single drawer in the kitchen I purchased a wicker cutlery holder to put on the worktop. After eight years of daily use the base was broken and full of holes. I had a rummage in the pantry to see what I could use as an alternative.

I found a utensils pot that once belonged to my Mum and Dad, I think it was one of their wedding presents, and a large stoneware pot that I'd sometimes use as vase (purchased from a charity shop some time ago). Both were perfect for larger cutlery items but my teaspoons needed somewhere to live.

My next charity shop rummage offered up this ideally sized little stoneware pot, decorated with a rather attractive looking cow. To keep them all together I put them on a round wooden tray we'd been given on our wedding day. I rather like the overall effect.



Teddy
I'm not really a teddy bear kind of person, I just have two soft toys from my childhood, and a giraffe that Andy gave me for my 40th birthday. But this little chap just looked like he needed to come home with me, he cost all of £2.00. He sits in my office, surrounded by books. He seems happy.



Glasses Case
I lost the case I'd been given free by my optician, I wasn't too bothered as I'm not known for putting my glasses away anyway, but on occasion I do need something. I picked up this pretty zipped case for just £1.50. 



Ceramic Bird
At the beginning of the summer I went to The Suffolk Craft Society Summer Exhibition with my Dad. A collection of these little birds by ceramic sculptor Mary Wyatt were on display, and I so very nearly parted with £25.00 to bring one home with me. A few weeks later I spotted this one on a low shelf in a charity shop for £5.00. Needless to say I didn't think twice.

What have you found recently?