Mother goes entire year without buying new things for her children for second year running

‘We've still bought food and everyday essentials, but we use charity shops mostly’

A mother-of-three has gone two years without buying anything new for her children aside from food and basic essentials, such as nappies.

Katie Musgrave pledged in December 2016 she would no longer spend money on new clothing, toys and equipment for her family, given so much of it went unused.

Now, the 34-year-old is committed to living almost exclusively by using pre-loved items, explaining she makes most of her purchases at charity shops.

Even at Christmas, when most people are rushing to the high street to buy presents for their families, Musgrave said she encouraged her family to be frugal by giving each other homemade presents.

“This Christmas we’ve been making presents which we will give to family members and friends,” the GP registrar from Loddiswell, Devon said.

'We've mostly stuck to nothing new, my daughter started school so we had to buy a uniform' (SWNS)

“The children have been making gifts and things for their bedrooms, things don’t have to cost a lot to have meaning.”

As for presents for her three kids – Eliza, five, Ariadne, three, and Daniel, 11 months – Musgrave said she found everything she needed from second-hand shops.

“I bought both daughters a puzzle, and one of them got a microscope and the other has a spirograph,” she said.

“They’ve also got clothes and shoes, all pre-loved. My newborn has got a push walker – a little dog with a jumper on.”

While Musgrave has managed to stick to mostly buying nothing new, there have been occasional exceptions to the rule, she admitted.

“My daughter started school, so we had to buy a uniform,” she said.

“We’ve still bought food and everyday essentials, but we use charity shops mostly.

“It’s a habit we’ve got into, you can find pretty much anything in charity shops or on eBay, you don’t need to buy things new.”

Additional reporting by SWNS