Do without - Frugal Friday

For the past four weeks for Frugal Friday, I have written about one of my favorite phrases - "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" This week I would like to share some ways to "Do without!"

Looking at my lifestyle compared to others, there are many things I am doing without.

1. hip clothes
2. new vehicles
3. cable TV
4. nice furniture
5. a laptop (but I want one sooooo bad!)
6. I could go on and on...

However, because of my choices there are other things I am doing without (or will be doing without as soon as we accomplish our goals):

1. stress over money
2. debt
3. keeping up with the Jones's

In many cases, doing without also means you free up money that you can use to pick up bargains and yard sale finds. There are many things that I would never pay full price for, but I have an abundance of because I picked it up at a yard sale:

1. Books - I do have some books I purchased new, but most of them are yard sale finds. A few years ago I happened upon the mother lode of children's books for $.20 each! Yes, that's right and I bought about 40 of them. My son and daughter has an extensive book collection, none of them were purchased new.
2. Kids clothes - granted, I do get a lot of hand me downs from family (THANK YOU!), I have purchased tons of clothes at yard sales for my kids. If I was purchasing their clothes new, they would have about 1/4 of their current wardrobes.
3. Kids toys - ditto above, my kids have a lot of toys. This is only because I pick them up at yard sales for less than $1.00 (most of the time). Any new toys they have were gifts.
4. My food stockpile - the frugal lifestyle I have chosen has also allowed me to build up a great stockpile for the future.

The best part about 1-3 above is that when I am done with most of these things, I can sell them at my own yard sale for at least as much as I purchased them for making the use of them FREE! (Of course that won't work in all cases, but if you pick up your stuff at the lower end of the spectrum of prices, you can usually re-sell it for at least the same price.)

So there you have it - doing without???? Is it really doing without?? I would say it is more like doing without the things that don't matter, so you can focus on the things that do as well as be thankful for what we do have!

Make it do! - Frugal Friday

The last few weeks for frugal Friday I have been sharing ways to live by the motto, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" that I heard a lot growing up. I have shared ways to "Use it up!" and ways to "Wear it out!"


I think "Make it do!" has a lot to do with being creative to make what you have work. We live in a society where people want things now! They don't want to wait so they purchase things on credit, like furniture, a vehicle, or day to day stuff. I think about how, as newlyweds with no money, we had to "Make it do!" As I look around my house and think about the things I do, there are several instances where we continue to practice the philosophy, "Make it do!"



We desperately need a shade for our kitchen window. We have a valance, but during certain times of the day, the sun shines right in the window and blinds anyone sitting at the kitchen table. We looked at blinds that would work for this window, but found they were very expensive. I plan to make a shade, but for now our shade is an over sized towel (above). It isn't pretty, but for now it works perfectly!


Speaking of uses for towels...the door from our kitchen to our garage has a huge gap in the bottom (that brings the cold in and the heat out). We should either A. get a new door, or B. put some sort of weather stripping there, but again that is an expense. The solution, a rolled up towel fits perfectly and keeps the cold out!


Another example would be the month of October when I had a $100 budget for the whole month. There were many times I wanted something more "fun" than what I had, I had to make it do. We ate things that weren't necessarily restaurant quality or utterly delectible, but we decided to "Make it do!" (and we lived!).


By the way, we are also making it do with the UGLY green trim in the kitchen (as you can see from the pictures) - there are ugly green cabinets to match along with ugly green sponge painted french doors. We won't be getting new cabinets and trim, we are going to paint. It is quite an undertaking, so we are taking it slow - and "Making it do!" for now!

So...what about you? What are you doing to "Make it do!"?

Wear it out! Frugal Friday

I have written a few articles about how much I love and try to live by the quote, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

This week for Frugal Friday, I'd like to talk about ways we can "Wear it out!"

When thinking about this article, I was picturing a threadbare sweater or old worn out shoes. I don't think that "Wear it out!" means that we shouldn't take care of our stuff, quite the opposite. I think it means that we do what we can to take care of our items, but keep using them until they are too worn out to be functional anymore.

In one of my articles I wrote about my car. I drive a 1986 Jetta (it looks just like the one pictured above). The thing is old, but I cannot part with it because it still runs great. We do what we can to take care of it so that it can keep on going. At $1,000 dollars over 2 years ago, we have definitely gotten our money out of it. From now on the longer I drive it the longer we go without a car payment. What we are trying to do is put the amount we can afford for a car payment into a savings account so that when the Jetta dies, we have a great down payment on a different vehicle (we will likely buy used).


Another thing that is part of our "Wear it out!" strategy is our TV. We have had it for over 5 years and it is fine. While I (and especially my husband) would LOVE a flat screen plasma HDTV with all the bells and whistles, we don't need it. We will keep this TV until it doesn't work anymore - we got the digital converter so we are all set!

If you haven't noticed my reading my blog, I'm not much of a girly girl. I like to look nice, but I don't own any jewelry besides a few pairs of earrings and my wedding ring. I don't care much about the latest styles in clothing. It just isn't my thing. I had to say that in front of this next item because some people might think this is weird - my husband and I share socks. Every few years (we have done it twice in our 8 years of marriage), we buy several packages of white tube socks. They all go into the same basket in our closet. Whenever we need socks, we just pull out two socks and they always match. If one sock gets lost in the dryer, it doesn't matter because we always have many more socks that match it exactly. As the socks wear out (i.e. are full of holes :)), we take them out of circulation and use them for rags or whatever. When we get to the point where it seems we don't have a good selection of socks, we buy a new set and retire the old worn out ones to become rags or sock puppets. This strategy works really well for us. If you don't want to share socks with your husband - you can just do this yourself!

Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette (I highly recommend this book!) has an interesting "Wear it out!" philosophy. She has a shoe "system" where she has three pairs of sneakers:

This years sneakers - these are new sneakers that she bought this year and wears only for outings.

Last years sneakers - these are the sneakers that were new last year that she wears on a daily basis around the house.

The year before last sneakers - these are the sneakers that she uses to mow the lawn, do yard work, etc. (I guess those would be the ones pictured above:).

I wear a lot of $1.00 old navy flip flops and other types of shoes, so my sneakers stay nice much longer than one year, but this is a system that can be applied to a lot of things, like jeans for example.

How about you? What are some of your "Wear it out!" strategies?

Use it up! Frugal Friday

I have heard the quote, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" many times growing up. It has stuck with me over the years and I think about it a lot as I am striving to develop a more frugal lifestyle. I posted this a few weeks ago sharing some ways that I try to live by this quote.


Because I buy my toiletries for free or nearly free and I can't be brand loyal in order to do this it can be tempting to throw it out if it isn't exactly what I want (i.e. soap that doesn't make my skin as soft, shampoo that isn't exactly the smell I prefer, etc.). That type of philosophy is wasteful and if you follow that, it can carry over into other aspects of your life (throwing away food, wanting something better etc.)



As you can see by my toothpaste I am going to get every last bit out of it. I will definitely "use it up!" It is exciting to me to make it last one more day! As a frugal person, as you adopt a "use it up!" mentality for the little things (like toothpaste), it will carry over into the big things, like your car, your home etc. where the biggest savings can be. Also, the little things do add up - a few pennies here and there are hundreds of dollars over the years!

Check out Biblical Womanhood for more great Frugal Friday ideas!

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

I grew up hearing this phrase over and over again. I always thought it was a quote from Brigham Young, but when I googled it – it was not clear who said it. It really doesn’t matter - the philosophy is so good.

Although I try, I do not necessarily live by this credo in all aspects of my life, however, these are a few that I am most proud of:

My Car: I drive a 1986 Volkswagen Jetta. That’s right, it is 22 years old. I was 8 when this thing left the factory (yes, do the math, I am turning 30 this year, ugh!) I love the thing. Not because it doesn’t have AC, not because it squeaks when I am backing up, and not because it shakes after I first start it until it warms up a little (although these features have become endearing). I love this car because it is paid for! We have owned it for about 2 years, we bought it from one of my coworkers for $1,000 and have only had to put $200.00 into it since we have owned it (the blinkers and windshield wipers quit working – kid of a necessity). Our goal is to keep it going until we have our third child (someday) and must upgrade to a minivan.

Food: So, I don’t have a perpetual soup container like Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette, but I do strive to use up what I have. If I have extra/leftovers of something I like to see how creative I can be by using it. If I have some soggy vegetables in the fridge, I might throw them in a quiche, soup, or casserole. Leftover mashed potatoes are turned into “Mashed Potato Hot Dogs” (side note: this is something that came from my husband’s side of the family – although I wasn’t a big fan at first they have sort of grown on me. You split a hot dog down the middle, scoop some mashed potatoes on top, cover with some grated or sliced cheese and broil at 400 degrees until the cheese melts).

Shoes: I have a pair of Nike sneakers that I love. I love them so much that I have glued the soles of them back together at least 3 times. They are so comfortable, they still work, and they really don’t look all that bad.

My Broom: I bought a broom at the dollar store when I was single and living in apartment. We just surpassed out 8 year anniversary and the broom is still going strong. My secret – duct tape!

How about you – any great “Use it up!” stories?