Use, Wear, Make, Do

A year or so ago I saw a quote that is attributed to originating during the Great Depression:

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

How simple and genius is that? How did we ever move away from that mentality without feeling at least a smidgen of guilt? I'll admit that I've been more than guilty of not following this motto especially since having children. It's hard sometimes to not give in to those puppy dog eyes when they're asking so sweetly for the ball they found in the bargain bin at the store.

But I do feel guilty. How often have I given in to the pleas of my children? Or listened to that voice in the back of my mind that convinces me I need another notebook or set of pens? I'm pretty good at keeping true to the motto when it comes to my own clothing, but if I see a good deal on kids' clothing, I snap it up. Sometimes it's for down the road when what's already in the closet is outgrown, but far too often it's clothing they already fit in even though they don't need it. I do make up for it by donating the outgrown clothing to those who need it and save anything that I truly loved for the baby. I've even got a tote of outgrown clothing that will become a quilt in the future. But what about the toys? The books? The miscellaneous junk that seems to creep into the house when I'm not looking?

Going forward, I'm going to make a conscious decision to follow this motto. There's no reason to not appreciate and use what we've already got in our house. And with Christmas coming, money is going to be tight so I really need to try to make gifts out of the things I've already got lying around. Goodness knows I've got plenty of craft supplies hidden all over that need to be used. I also want to try my hand at gardening next spring. I've got several friends who already have successful veggie gardens whom I can ask for advice. I'm hoping that maybe they'll be willing to do trades on some of the vegetables so that we can all grow a nice variety without any of us overdoing any one vegetable. We've decluttered the house a small amount over the summer but nowhere near as much as we could. I've got some ideas of what needs to go and what can stay and plan to start on those projects after the kids go to bed tonight. There are several items that I could probably sell online too.

Use, wear, make, do. My new motto.