Frugal (part 10)

Eat it up
Wear it out
Make it do
or do without

Like any good piece of folklore, the origins of the rhyme are lost in the dark recesses of history. Although for Mormons, it is cited as a pioneer adage, it may not have originated with them. Here's the closest I could find to an actual history (after two minutes of internet searching...):

"'Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without' was a conservation motto during World War II, popularized in 1942-43. The saying was frequently credited to New England. 'Eat it up, wear it out, make it do' (not 'use it up') appears to have been the earlier form of the saying and has been cited in print since at least 1933. The exact origin of what was described in 1937 as 'the four threads of the New England character' is not known. Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) was said to have told the four maxims to This Week magazine, shortly before his death." (here)
Whether it originated with Mormon pioneers or came out of the Great Depression, the adage still represents good advice for a frugal life.

No matter which era you give credit for authorship, they were trying to instill the idea of using resources as wisely as possible. Eat the food you have, even if it's not your favorite. Don't buy new clothes, until the old ones can no longer be reused. Find a way to reuse, repurpose or repair every thing. Save your resources for the bigger battles. Using our resources wisely is something I have mentioned several times. "Eat it up" and "wear it out" are pretty self-explanatory. I'd like to spend this post discussing "make it do".

"Making do" can be defined many ways. When you learn to repair what you have - you're "making do". When you learn to use what you have to fill other needs - you're "making do." It is reusing, remaking, repairing, rethinking... all the re's you can think of. But I think it is also something more...

I believe that "making do" is more than just "scraping along". More than stretching your budget. It is more than trying to be content with what you have. "Making do" does not mean martyrdom. I believe that successful "making do" is the culmination of all the previous frugal skills I have discussed. It is doing those things and doing them well. So well, in fact, that it is not obvious to others that you are doing it. Doing it so well, that you no longer realize you are doing it. Doing it so well that you truly ARE content. (Think of Whistle a Happy Tune, from The King and I - "And when I fool the people I fear, I fool myself as well...." - by acting brave, you become brave) Let me try to explain...

With a story. The longer version is here. Take a minute to read it. I had in my mind a certain "view" of a library. It had to BE a certain thing. Only when I saw my situation differently was I able to see how I could "make do" and still have the essence of what I wanted. A library didn't have to be a separate room. My livingroom could be a library. It didn't have to have floor to ceiling built in bookcases. Cheap "punch out, put togethers" would do the job. I could have the room I wanted, even though we were renters, the house was small and I had no money to spend on the project. Now, it wasn't the room I'd always dreamed of, the way I'd always pictured it, it wasn't even the kind of room I was able to create when we bought the new house, but...

...not too shabby for "making do", was it? My "making do" library got just as many compliments from visitors to my home as my far more "real" one does now. People didn't walk in and go "poor girl, trying to make do..." They would walk in a say "wow, this is nice" or "this is really cute" or "I love all your books". I didn't look at the room and think "ah, but it's not what I really wanted..." I only saw my "happy place" and I was content. People thought my home was lovely and so did I. My needs were being met. What does that tell you? "Making do" did just as good a job of of meeting needs as "getting what I really wanted" would have. Why? How can something that isn't perfect, isn't the dream personified, fill needs just as adequately? It's all in how you look at it. It's choosing to be content, choosing to be happy.

Rigid thinking seems to be the "default" programming for the human mind. Creativity can definitely be learned, but we all seem far too ready to fall back into thinking about things "the way we always have." Our brains have a need to categorize and define things. Teaching your brain to "label" events or ideas differently takes effort. For example, if you've always envisioned your wedding a certain way, it will be very easy to feel disappointed when it doesn't turn out exactly how you dreamed. Everyone else may talk about your beautiful wedding, but for you, it will seem a tragic disaster because it didn't match the picture in your head.

Remember, as I define it, "making do" is not trying to be content, it IS being content. It requires rewiring your brain. The same kind of rewiring needed to be creative, to learn to distinguish wants and needs and to desire a more simple life. You have to learn to think differently about the things you have and the things you would like to have. Maybe they're not as incompatible as you think. Maybe through exercising frugality you will be able to make amazing things happen. You will be able to make some measure of that dream happen. Maybe you won't. Maybe you won't want to. You have to learn to change the picture of "success" and "beauty" and "happiness" you carry in your head. Then you WILL be happy, truly content, no matter what happens.

No thing will make you happy. No amount of money. No house. No car. Even... no library. What will make you happy is you and how you choose to think about the things around you and the things that happen to you. "Make do" so well that you find true happiness.




So... number ten: make do