Mum who saved £400 giving up buying new clothes for family of five in 2023 even made dresses from duvet covers

A mother of three who saved £400 by giving up buying new clothes and underwear for her family of five in 2023 has decided to continue the challenge indefinitely, even turning duvet covers into dresses.

Kezia Arbuthnot Neusch, 37, a content creator from West Sussex, began her ethical journey at age 12, committing to only eating ethically sourced chocolate after learning about “unfair working conditions” in the industry.

Over the years, this commitment expanded to buying only sustainable clothing, and in 2023, she challenged herself to purchase only second-hand clothes; a goal her family, including her husband, Jared, 38, and their children, Clayton, eight, Rosemary, six, and Isla, three, fully embraced.

The challenge extended into other areas of their lives, from composting to requesting pre-loved gifts, leading Kezia to realise that she “does not need new things.”

Finding the experience easier than expected, the family plans to continue this lifestyle and Kezia has even started turning pre-loved duvet covers into dresses.

Kezia told PA Real Life: “For my kids, it requires more conversation – explaining, in an age-appropriate way, why we’re doing this and that there’s a story behind everything that comes into our home.

“If we have the privilege of money to buy clothes, we want to use that privilege not just for ourselves, but to ensure we’re taking care of others in the process.”

Kezia has been environmentally conscious since childhood – at age 12, after learning about the “unfair working conditions” in some chocolate production companies, she committed to eating only ethically sourced chocolate.

This mindset carried through into her teenage years and adulthood, leading her to seek out ethical and sustainable clothing whenever possible.

She explained: “It led me down this rabbit trail of realising that there’s a story behind everything, including clothes, and before it enters my home. I want to know what that story is.”

Over time, Kezia recognised how many clothes already existed and decided to shop second-hand as much as she could.

This commitment continued throughout motherhood, and in 2023, she challenged herself to buy only second-hand clothes.

When she shared this idea with her husband, explaining that it “really mattered” to her, he was “completely on board”, as were her children.

Whenever Kezia or her family needed something, she would visit charity shops, browse sites like Oxfam Shop, and use apps like Vinted.

Kezia believes that taking on this challenge as a family made it “easier” because they were all in it together.

She added: “It made it easier to talk to (the children’s) dance instructors and say, ‘We’ve made a family commitment to source uniforms differently, so let’s find a solution’.

“But I think there’s now so much online and on apps that haven’t even been opened, which makes some things, like underwear, actually easier to find because you can search for ‘new with tags’.

“But if it’s in a charity shop with tags, it’s obviously devastating from a sustainability viewpoint.

“So, my husband loved Oxfam online – he recently needed to buy suits for a new job, and he went to Oxfam online because it worked for him – you can even return items from there.”

Throughout 2023, Kezia discovered a newfound confidence in her personal style, no longer relying on trends.

Kezia explained: “It’s about finding the pieces that bring me joy, that make me happy, and styling the pieces I can find second-hand and looking at what’s available to me and how can I find style and confidence through that, rather than building this picture of what my wardrobe should look like and then shopping until I achieve that.”

Although the cost of living crisis wasn’t her “primary drive” behind the decision, Kezia noticed a decrease in her outgoings – she spent around £400 less in 2023 compared to 2022.

Kezia isn’t “particularly interested” in designer labels but has found some hidden gems, like special occasion dresses that she is “completely in love with,” and a child’s £2 Levi’s jacket that all three of her children have worn and which she plans to pass down as an “heirloom.”

For Christmas and birthdays, Kezia focused on finding meaningful second-hand gifts her loved ones would appreciate.

From September 2023 to December 2023, she bought one gift for each child’s stocking from charity shops per week, and for the items her children really wanted, she searched on Facebook Marketplace, where she managed to buy each of them a bike costing around £20 each.

She spent around £300 on the entire family in Christmas 2023 – around half the amount she spent in previous years.

When her children had birthday parties, Kezia would reassure other parents that a gift was not always needed.

“We always include a note on the invitation saying no gifts are needed, but if they’d like to pass on something from their own home or a pre-loved item, it would be so loved in ours,” Kezia explained.

Kezia has extended her “principles around clothing” to other areas of her life.

She shops locally whenever possible, composts, buys Abel & Cole vegetable boxes and minimises her use of plastic by using Abel & Cole’s plastic pick-up bags.

After successfully completing the challenge in 2023, she has decided to continue it indefinitely.

She said: “I discovered that year that we don’t need new things, and so far, we haven’t encountered anything we’ve had to buy new.”

More recently, Kezia has begun repairing clothes to avoid throwing them away, and over summer 2024, she managed to sew matching dresses for her two daughters for a wedding, using a £25 second-hand duvet cover.

She said: “I’m really not a sewer, to be honest… but I convinced myself I could follow instructions and make the two dresses.

“It was an exhilarating sense of achievement because it was what I’d envisioned.

“Each dress took me about 24 hours, and I just put my head down and did it.

“It’s really opened my eyes to what’s possible – I want to make a nice quilted jacket for winter now.”

Kezia has shared her sustainability journey on Instagram under the handle @the.whole.home and on her blog for the past 12 years.

She has amassed 61,900 followers on Instagram, where she shares videos and tips for sustainable living.

She said: “I wanted to create a space where we celebrate the small wins and recognise that small changes do count—they’re part of a larger journey.”

To those interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle, she advises: “I think beginning to look more at what’s available to you and what’s available locally, rather than basing what you want based on social media is a good place to start.

“I think start with something that feels manageable and then celebrate the small changes.”

Abel & Cole is a sustainable food delivery service that provides customers with easy ways to help the planet with schemes such as Plastic Pick-Up – the UK’s first doorstep recycling scheme for hard-to-recycle flexi-plastics – which helps prevent tonnes of waste from entering landfill each year. To find out more, visit www.abelandcole.co.uk.