IKEA, famed for its low cost home furnishings, recently caused ripples in the business world when one of its bosses declared that we had hit ‘peak stuff’.

His message was that in the west we just have enough home furnishings.

While some wondered how this might fit into the Swedish furniture giant’s long-term business plans, one Southampton woman was just pleased that the conversation was being had.

Claudia Friend, from Shirley, has felt that we hit ‘peak stuff’ some time ago. And she certainly doesn’t spend her weekends cruising the aisles of furniture shops, stocking up on storage solutions and chopping boards while contemplating her next soft furnishing purchase.

In fact, it’s her policy to buy nothing.

While she does spend money on consumables, such as food and toiletries, she manages to meet almost all of her other needs without spending a penny.

“I’ve always lived out of jumble sales and charity shops,” explains the freelance art facilitator.

“I had a brief flirtation with buying new things but once you start to find out more about things like Freecycle, clothes swaps and the food waste movement, you realise that there is so much stuff out there that people throw away that you don’t really need to buy anything.”

Claudia is also helping local people to avoid buying new things unnecessarily by running a Facebook group, “I need a whisk”, along with her friend Debs Wilkes, where people can offer unwanted items for collection and ask if anyone has something they need or want, either to keep or borrow.

Thanks to the group, everything from coat hangers through television sets, toiletry gift sets and white goods, to washing lines has found a new and grateful owner, all without any money being exchanged.

In fact, Claudia says that far from being a minimalist lifestyle, the buy nothing way is one of abundance.

“You can end up with more, kind of accumulating things that people throw out and you think ‘oh no, that can’t be wasted!’ “There’s so much stuff out there and you can get kind of a block on seeing it go to waste. If you see something left on the street or someone’s getting rid of it, you think you’ll have it for yourself or to pass on to someone else, so it isn’t being thrown away. You could find so much, it can get a bit overwhelming, really!”

She adds: “Once you become aware of it, you see more and more where people are just throwing things out.

“Students dumping things at the end of term, is a huge problem, even though both universities have schemes to try to stop it from happening.

“One day last year a friend and I went round to see what students had left and there were vacuums, tins of food, clothing – some of it washed and folded, loads of bedding, cooking implements, ornaments and so on.

“I don’t think people think about where things were made, how they’ve been shipped, delivered by lorry etc. I’m not saying I’ve always thought about that either, I haven’t.

“I think it’s quite easy not to see certain things, sometimes it takes a little nudge and you see things differently.”

The last thing Claudia can remember buying was a camera around a year ago, when she and her 17-year-old son pooled some vouchers they had been given and previously she has had to buy some things her son and daughter, now 22, have needed for school and college.

But Claudia says that almost everything in her house was free. Recent acquisitions have included a sofa bed, a garden shed and some “lovely furniture”.

“I think this lifestyle did grow out of ethics but I don’t give myself or other people a hard time about it,” she says.

“It’s the way I want to live and I accept that it may not have a huge impact. But buying nothing is fairly accessibly and I think it’s valuable to take time to reflect on what you really need and what you could use instead.

“It’s a question of how you want to live and what you’re comfortable with. I think it frees you up to be satisfied with what you have. I think you learn to treasure things more if you repair them too – giving them your time gives them more value.”

“When my children were young, some people said ‘how do you stop them from wanting all this stuff?’ But they just never really had it. It hasn’t done them any harm and they’re balanced individuals!”

Claudia says that one of the advantages of her low cost lifestyle is that she doesn’t have to work as much as she otherwise would.

This gives her time to pursue interests such as volunteering for local community groups, including a community garden, which also provides some of her food, and Tiger Yard, a pop up community space, which has previously been located in East Street.

“The main thing about this lifestyle is that none of it is meant to be anything like hard work,” she adds.

“If it were, I probably wouldn’t do it! But buying nothing just seems a really obvious choice to me.

“I think if you analyse it, no one really needs that much.”

Daily Echo:

Do you fancy trying the buy nothing lifestyle for yourself?

Here are some of Claudia's top places to get you started:

  • Freecycle: This international network allows people to give away and request free items in their local area. Visit https://uk.freecycle.org/
  • Books for Free: Free Books Southampton is based in the Third Age Centre in Bevois Valley. The project diverts books from waste and gives them away. Search for Free Books Southampton and Books for Free Romsey, on Facebook. Also, don't forget to use your local library!
  • I need a whisk!!: Claudia and Debd are keen to maintain a sense of community in this Facebook group so to become a member you need to be Facebook friends with someone who is already in the group. If you're not, you could always think about starting a group of your own.
  • Transition Southampton: this local social and environmental group produces a Sustainable Living Guide, with lots of top tips, including where to get things repaired, and also holds a monthly repair cafe, which aims to keep everyday items away from landfill, save resources, give people the opportunity to learn new skills and build community. Visit transitionsouthampton.org or search for Transition Southampton, Transition Town Romsey, New Forest Transition or Transition Town Fareham on Facebook.
  • Jamie's Computers: The Society of St James set up Jamie’s Computers as a computer recycling social enterprise with the aim of providing education and work experience for its service users and a valuable service to the community. The Society of St James was founded to address poverty, sickness, hardship and distress, with a focus on homeless and vulnerable people. It offers computer repairs and also sells refurbished laptops and pcs - not quite free but a lot cheaper than buying a new one. Visit jamies.org.uk or call 023 8063 2198.
  • Curb: The Real Junk Food Project Southampton runs pop up cafes and shops with food diverted from the waste stream and operates on a 'pay as you feel' basis.
  • It is part of a national network. Visit https://curbkitchen.wordpress.com/ or search for Curb: The Real Junk Food Project on Facebook.
  • Southampton clothes swaps: get rid of your unwanted clobber and pick up some new clothes for free. Search for Southampton Clothes Swaps on Facebook