With prices rising much faster than incomes, a pandemic not going away, and her first baby with all its expenses coming soon, Mt Keira mum Monique Velasco decided to try to not buy anything new.
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A year later, it's worked - pretty much - to the tune of thousands of dollars in savings and many kilograms of avoided waste to landfill.
With baby Ronan on the way, Ms Velasco and her husband made a decision: they would try to avoid the expensive first baby purchases by going second-hand wherever they could.
"Knowing how quickly kids grow and go through things, I knew going in to having him I wasn't just going to be able to afford things outright, brand new," Ms Velaso told the Mercury.
"I thought it's a bit of a waste buying brand new when he's only going to go through it so quickly."
Ms Velasco said her decision was made for both financial and environmental reasons - with inflation rising, prices jumping for myriad reasons, and limited space for storage.
"I didn't want to be buying heaps of stuff that I was only going to have to throw out or not have enough space to store them," she said.
"Financially as well - I was leaving my job to go on maternity leave, and my husband was only just starting up his own job, so we knew going into it that was going to be the best step for us.
"There was no way I was going to be able to afford a $1000 pram and only have it for a year or so until he grew out of it. We live with my in-laws - we're trying to build an extension underneath their house for us to live in, so right now all of us are living in a two-bedroom house.
"I've been pretty lucky. A couple of my friends have tried to buy things second-hand and they've had a few dodgy experiences. But I've been really lucky with what I've tried to buy. I usually go through Facebook Marketplace, and look around locally, and I've picked up some amazing things for next to nothing.
"My favourite one was his Bugaboo pram, they normally retail for well over $1000, we got it for $300 in really, really good condition. His little bassinet, instead of a few hundred dollars, we got that for about $100.
"A lot of his clothes, a lot of designer brand clothes that you can spend $10-20 on a onesie - I think we bought 10 of them for $20, all in really good condition."
It works both ways - parents who don't want to throw out their little-used baby gear can also feel good about passing it on locally.
The stylish 30-year-old also has favourite op shops - the Salvos stores in Unanderra and Wollongong City in particular.
"I don't drive so I haven't been able to get out to op shops much, but I used to go a lot with my husband and his mother," she said. "We're big op shoppers, love finding good bargains there - in the past I've picked up quite a few designer dresses for next to nothing."
There was no way I was going to be able to afford a $1000 pram, and only have it for a year or so until he grew out of it.
- Monique Velasco
Ms Velasco admits she wasn't able to buy everything second-hand - as well as the car seat which can't legally be sold second-hand, she also bought a toy box and a climbing frame new.
"But they were really cheap ... the ones I was looking at second-hand, they just didn't fit the need that I have, because we are quite constricted for space right now," she said.
Ms Velasco's approach to her own surplus goods shows she believes in passing goods through multiple families.
"I've passed on a few things for free because I knew there were a lot of people who were in need, and I had some stuff that I didn't need at that time, so I thought I won't sell it to make a little bit of money. There are people that need it, so they can just have it."
She can't be sure how much money she might have saved over the year, but estimates it is significant.
"If I bought all these things new through the year, well I think I have saved maybe two grand ... probably more - I think I've lost count of what I've bought and how much I've saved on it all," she said. "The only thing that I needed to buy new was the car seat, and even then I waited until there was a sale."
And with Christmas almost here, what about the unspoken taboo on giving second-hand presents?
"Absolutely - I think more people should be doing it," she said. "There's so much waste going on in the world when people get stuff and they have it for a bit then we get rid of it. We really need to think more about buying and giving second-hand things. It should never be about the money, it should always be about the thought."
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