use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without
Dec 27th, 2008 by learningumbrella
I’ve heard several versions of this little rhyme from WWII days - my grandparents have always had a “fix it” in there, and I think my mother changes “make it do” to just “make do” - and I’m feeling the urge to adopt this philosophy more in our daily lives. We are already fairly “green” or “simple” or whatever - but we are also living lives where running to the store for every little thing we need - or think we need - can be done 24/7 and charged on a credit card if the money isn’t there right now.
These two weeks, being snowed in and without a car, have been interesting. It’s been important not to eat all the Doritos in one sitting, because we couldn’t go buy another bag as soon as that one was gone. When we ran out of certain things, we just had to go without them, unless the little convenience store within walking distance had them. I had to wrap my mind around a Christmas without a last minute run to the store for luxury food items, and it turned out to be just fine. And yes, we had a really well stocked house to begin with, and the power stayed on the whole time, and we have not actually experienced any hardships or hunger here. I had even just bought a 5lb bag of coffee - thereby safeguarding the emotional wellbeing of all who had to spend time with me.
But it’s not about hardship, or suffering through it; it’s just about not running out to satisfy every passing urge you may feel. A few years ago, when I was younger and poorer and didn’t own all the furnishings for my new house, I said “wait, and a lot of this stuff may come to us for free”. And it was true, that waiting on a chair, we would eventually see one sitting on a corner with a “free” sign, etc. If you are not in a hurry, you don’t have to pay through the nose for everything. The perfect thing will show up, in its own time, at a garage sale or somewhere else.
I’m debating with myself whether or not to do a “Buy Nothing” month next month. I can’t decide, between that and some sort of scaling back that is actually doable to maintain long term. More to follow, I’m sure.
Both Ron I were raised on that philosophy, and “make do” quite a bit.
We’re cheap, and we really don’t like buying new unless we really *really* have to.
I had that experience this past week, too. S was able to stop by Ralph’s on the way home if needed, but I ended up using up a lot of food and hand making some gifts because I had the time on my hands and couldn’t run out for something more “convenient”. It felt great to look at what I had and “make it work”, as Tim Gunn says.
We spent $200 on baby supplies this afternoon (we needed a non-standard crib, and something tells me I’m not going to be able to make do without diapers!), but I certainly could have put the word out about some of what I bought if I’d acted sooner. I do, however, talk myself out of a LOT of purchases these days now that we don’t use credit and I thrift shop so much. Full retail just seems incredibly offensive most of the time.
I think it would be kind of awesome to make an embroidered sign with that wartime slogan. I have all the stuff for it, anyway
Use it up,wear it out,make do or do without.
I say this weekly if not daily. lol
My DH says I grew up in the depression.
I think just being aware that you could live differently is a big step. Sometimes goals are useful but if you think that a goal like “buy nothing month” might result in you feeling deprived and then going and getting stuff ‘just because’ afterwards OR that if you bought one thing on the 15th you’d feel like you’d blown it so you might as well give up, I’d say don’t do the goal. Just go for being more mindful of what you are buying and why. Just noticing for a while might invoke a more sustainable change.