The Pledge

Compacting, aside from the choice not to buy any new items for a given period of time, is deeply personal and that's why no single pledge fits all. Indeed there's few hard and fast rules when it comes to your Compact.

Your best bet, in taking the pledge, is to examine the pledges of others who've been compacting and tailor that to fit the needs of your family. Your compact might look quite different from someone else's compact who has different needs. For example, though the Compact doesn't restrict food in any way, someone might wish to also pledge to abstain from chain restaurants during their compact. Alternatively, many compacts have exemptions. For example, say you're an avid crafter and will need to purchase new materials you might make an exemption for those.

Most pledges consist of four parts:

1. The commitment not to buy new for a specific period of time.
2. The reasoning behind your decision to join the Compact.
3. Your plan for maintaining the Compact.
4. Any exemptions.