Uh, hi.
You wondering what the hell is going on here? I mean, even after reading the preamble above the (currently non-existant images) you're still a little confused, maybe? Maybe you're wondering where is the regular geekent.com that you (all 16 of you) have come to know and love?
Well, that's so over. That's so... 2003 - 2007-ish. This is sooo 2008. Focussed, determined, erm, verb.
The old stuff is still kicking around: the blogstuff is all resting at the blog archives while the reviewstuff is residing at the Ent. Etc. archives, and chances are the odd thing might be added to them here or there over the next month (works in progress posted for preservation sake), but for the time being, Buy Nothing Year is my focus.
I've actually been posting here since the end of August (the first post just before getting married in fact), about 40 posts so far, so you have a lot to catch up on... The objective was to get the site all pretty and perfect for January 1, 2008, but as you can see that didn't happen. Let's just say, there will be a header image shortly, and a much prettier version soon thereafter (my man Toasty had a lovely design ready for me but unfortunately lost it all in a compy crash). Oh, and comments will be up soon. I hope.
Meanwhile I'll be tweaking the presentation from time to time but regardless of aesthetics, the focus is 100% me and my spending habits.
So, how's it going so far?
Well, I'm 17 hours into Buy Nothing Year, and I can say proudly that I've bought nothing!
Of course, I had a plan last night to do some 11th-hour purchasing (primarily to buy the Flight Of The Conchords DVD, but I guess it's going to have to remain on my Amazon wishlist until, say, my birthday), but I managed to stave off that impulse... mainly by gorging on my various moratorium foods (one last hurrah before '08: booze, chips, chocolate bars, cookies).
So, you might be wondering, what are the rules?
The Rules
Rules, goals, plans and objectives.
1. no out-of-pocket spending on DVDs, CDs, Comic Books, Action Figures, Statues, Books (this means no spending cash, debit or credit card spending.
2. no using credit cards for purchases (wherever possible)
2(a). any credit card purchases have to be accounted for in advance and paid off ASAP
3. the plan is to sift through existing collections and sell what I can, putting the money towards the house fund. I understand the markets for used DVDs, CDs and comics are pretty crappy and I won't get much for what I'm selling, and that I may be given the option to sell-in-trade. While the temptation would be to take the trade, it really has to be worth it (at least 50% more in trade than cash) and the store must have enough that I actually want.
4. I can work for trade.
5. (yes, this is a little early, but) no pre-buying/pre-ordering things for 2009 before 2009
6. I can receive gifts/gift certificates for BNY items, but shouldn't encourage them
7. acquisitions will be tracked
8. I can buy BNY items for other people (wife, stepson, friends) but only as gifts (birthdays, Xmas, etc.) and it will have to be something they *actually* want. I should strive to find gift items other than the BNY items.
9. Video/library rentals are okay, as are movies and theatre performances ("non-acquisition spending")
10. no substituting with pirate downloading (videos, music, comics)
These are the basics, the ten commandments, but I'm sure I'll need to narrow it down or expand it in the coming weeks.
BNY starts today.