Have you heard of the Buy Nothing Project? A couple of years ago, a few different friends mentioned their local Buy Nothing Facebook groups. At the time, I had no idea what it was so I did some research. Through joining, I have discovered various ways that my Buy Nothing group helps me simplify my stuff and my life.
The Buy Nothing Project mission:
“We offer people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of hyper-local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors.”
The basic premise is to build a gifting economy where people give away items in their local group. You can’t barter, trade, or accept any form of payment. The point is to build community and give generously expecting nothing in return.
You can find out further information on their website here. After watching their video and reading the group rules, I searched on Facebook and found my local group on Facebook and joined it.
I love the mission and purpose of this group. Community building and saving money…two of my favorite things!
Here are the ways my Buy Nothing group helps me simplify my life:
Borrowing items
While many of us may not know our neighbors like people used to, this group encourages meeting people who live near you. If you were at home baking and your baby was sleeping and you realized you needed a cup of flour, you could post a request for flour on there.
I can’t speak for all groups, but in mine, you’d be likely to have someone respond fairly quickly maybe even bring it to you.
In some instances, you may want to borrow something like a pressure washer, but not have the need or desire to purchase your own. The Buy Nothing group is a great place to ask community members to borrow them. This saves you money and storage space.
Saving money
As mentioned with borrowing items, you are able to save money by not buying things you may not want or need to own. I have also received clothes for all the members of my family at different times through Buy Nothing.
Many thrift stores are completely overwhelmed by the number of donations they receive. Using your local Buy Nothing group helps save community members money as you freely give away items to others who can use them.
We’ve had years with a very tight budget where we didn’t have much to spend on Christmas or birthdays. I was able to get great second hand books and toys for my kids via Buy Nothing and that was such a gift to our family.
Help with decluttering
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What is clutter to one person is not the same as what clutter is to another. It feels great to make a personal connection and know that something you are no longer using can be used and loved by someone else.
It also has helped when I have been passing along more sentimental items. Knowing someone else is going to love my grandma’s bedspread made it easier to let go.
Similarly, personally giving the bedding my babies slept on to a newly pregnant mama felt a lot better than putting in a pile for a truck to pick up. Buy Nothing helps me simplify by allowing me to finally let go of clutter I was hanging onto.
Connecting to people I may not otherwise meet
My Buy Nothing group has allowed me to meet many people in my community that I likely would not have met otherwise. I have met people of various ages and backgrounds.
I have gotten to know various neighborhoods in my city that I had not been to before. Friendships form out of these groups and it is lovely to see people helping each other out and caring for their community.
Ways Buy Nothing may not help you simplify
Overall, I really love my Buy Nothing group and the ways it helps with simplicity, but in full disclosure, I need to also mention the ways it may not lend to simplifying:
You may experience flakes
Sometimes life happens and people can’t show up and communicate that ahead of time. And sometimes they don’t and you feel like your time has been wasted. Thankfully that has been a small minority of the time for me, but it is worth mentioning.
Not every interaction may be a positive one
For the most part, I have experienced really positive interactions with the people in my local group. There are so many kind, generous, and grateful people out there.
That said, no group is perfect and no people are perfect so you might catch someone on an off day. Occasionally, there are louder people in the group who aren’t as kind but again this has been the exception, not the rule.
Obtaining more items than you really need
Confession time. I had this problem when I first joined Buy Nothing. I’d drive around picking up various items that I didn’t really need. I thought I needed or could use them at the time, but in the end, I was wrong.
Some of those things piled up only for me to donate them to someone else in the group later on as my garage was filling up with my gifts.
If you find getting things for free to be addictive, use caution. I am still in my local group, but I took it off my newsfeed so I wouldn’t be tempted by all the items I saw being posted.
Keep in mind that free items are not truly free. They still cost you in the gas and time you use getting them. Then they take up space and require cleaning and maintenance. Be careful with cheap and free and remember they’re always costing you something.
The possibility of not being in great shape
While givers are encouraged to be honest and upfront with the condition of the items they are giving away, not every person is.
Once, I went to pick up a couple of bags of clothes for my girls. Upon putting the bags in my car it became immediately clear that the previous owner was a smoker.
I was then stuck with the dilemma of what to do with the clothes now. I didn’t want to give them to another unsuspecting person, so I washed and washed them with vinegar and whatever else Google told me to.
It ended up being a lot more trouble than it was worth. I just wish it had been disclosed from the outset that it was coming from a smoking home and I would not have asked for it in the first place.
Be wise
If you do join your local Buy Nothing group, use discretion when meeting people. Don’t post your personal information and meet up in public places. Many communities have set up safe meet-up areas.
Our local police department offers their lobby as an option for people who want to meet up. Also, I encourage you to read all of the rules before joining as the rules and expectations are different than being on a buy/sell page.
I shared the ways Buy Nothing helps me simplify. I hope you find that it does the same for you. If you are already a part of one, have you found that it’s helped you? I would love to hear about your experience!
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