Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without

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This saying from The Great Depression is the rallying cry for frugality. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without are words we live by here and lies at the core of frugal living. How we choose to do that is entirely up to us. 
Use It Up
This simply means to use all of something rather than let it go to waste. Eat your leftovers rather than throw them away. Use up the last of a bottle of anything, turn the bottle upside down, so the last of the product will come out or even cut the bottle open.
Cut bread bags down to size to use instead of a sandwich bag. Cut open the tube of toothpaste to get the last little bit out. Cut up old towels or worn out clothing to use as rags for cleaning. Take your pantryhose that have holes in them and string up the tomatoes in the garden. 
Think before you throw something away to see if you can use it for something else. 
Here is a picture of a container that had held a store bought cake, which was turned into a watermelon bowl. 

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Here is an old bird feeder with both plastic and metal parts, but the metal parts had outlived the plastic section. Here is a picture of a plastic peanut butter jar, which fixed the bird feeder and made it like new again. 

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Wear It Out
This simply means to keep something and use it until it is no longer useable. If you have a piece of clothing for work, wear it until it is no longer presentable for work and then switch it to everyday wear around the house or in the garden. Amy Dacyczyn used this idea with her three year sneaker plan. 
Make It Do
This means to make do with what you have. Sew, which is an important life skill, an item to extend it's life usefulness. Don't buy a new outfit when an outfit you already own will make do instead. 
Some of the things we make it do at the Frugal Workshop include sewing, repairing items, using items we already own even though we may want something else instead. 
Do Without
Make do without those things you think you need. Have a craving for something delicious for dinner, but already have food at home you can use to make a meal? Do without a grocery or restaurant trip and make the food you already have. Rice and beans are as filling as meat and potatoes. 
Some of the things we do without at the Frugal Workshop include a dishwasher, garbage disposal, cable tv, salon hair cuts, conditioner, car washes, paper towels, and other things as well.  
With a little creativity you can reuse some of the things you've already paid your hard earned money for and not have to buy them new again. Frugality is about making choices. Every frugal person decides what the excesses are in their lives and then they work at removing those excesses.
How many times do we buy things simply because we want them and not because we need them? What is something that you've made do with instead of spending money for?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~

Making Do

I've been wanting a rolling utility cart for one of my projects for about two months now. I've researched many options, but didn't settle on anything that suited my needs. Something changed this week and I knew I needed to make a decision. 
This is what I came up with:

We found this one day at the Dollar General store, where they were giving them away because they had new ones, and it came home with us that day. This week I needed to make a decision and I thought of this basket. My project fit perfectly in the basket and it even has handles on it. In fact, I think it will work better and be less bulky than a rolling utility cart. 
One aspect of frugal living is adjusting our spending to fit in with our goals, and part of being frugal is being able to pare back what you need.  I made do with something I already had and in the end didn't need to spend any money. I wanted a rolling utility cart because I thought it would make my life easier, but in reality I did not need one. The money I would have spent on the cart can now be ear-marked for one of our financial goals making us one step closer to our goal.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without are words we live by here and lies at the core of frugal living. How we choose to do that is entirely up to us. We need to question every expense and ask ourselves if it is really necessary. Oftentimes we can come up with a solution without spending any money.  
How many times do we buy things simply because we want them and not because we need them? What is something that you've made do with instead of spending money for?
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~