The topic of doing more with less is on my mind. Every time we’ve added a child to our family, my instinct is to clear out our space, to get rid of gear and simplify wherever possible. It probably has something to do with making mental space for this new person in my life.
Last week, I was packing for our trip to San Jose and thinking about what I should bring for June’s meals — she’s still mostly nursing, but she’s also eating 3-4 meals a day of solids. At first I was thinking several bibs, 10+ jars of baby food, a bag of rice cereal, utensils and bowl for preparations, utensils for feeding, etc. But finally decided it was a short trip, to a town with every convenience, and that all I would need was a baby spoon.
For breakfast, I found plain yogurt and oatmeal among the offerings and grabbed a ripe banana for when we were out and about. And I was able to find similarly soft foods wherever we were. During feedings, I kept a napkin handy to keep her clean and I was good to go. While I appreciate the helpfulness of things like bibs and lots of food choices when we’re at home, it was nice to be reminded that it didn’t take much to keep June happy and fed when we wanted to travel as light as possible.
Another example that comes to mind? The giant table we built after moving to Colorado. It is the most used piece of furniture in our house. We use it for entertaining, for homework, for art projects, for sewing projects, for building things. And when we’re not using it, it does its duty as a piece of furniture that’s nice to look at and that compliments the space.
What about you? What are your thoughts on doing more with less? What’s an item you have that you get the most use out of?
Donate, donate, donate. When I get that cluttered feeling I clean out toys and clothing for donation. It makes me feel better to have less and to know someone else will find it useful.
Nothing simplified our life more than moving to a 400 sq/ft studio apt in Manhattan. We got rid of EVERYTHING and flew to NYC with just our suitcases and mailed only a couple boxes of essentials. In NYC we bought a bed, couch, and a few other small furniture items. Then we made it a point to try and get by with only what we had. We only bought things when we absolutely needed them and couldn’t find any way to make do without that item. I was amazed that we got by with only one kitchen pot, for example. Now that we’re in a bigger apartment and have a baby we have lots more stuff again and I’m itching for an excuse to start from scratch again. Less is more sometimes.
reuse reuse reuse. any old t shirts i have laying around, i experiment patterns on them which sometimes turn out to be new dresses :)
I’m learning that we should of done more with less stuff. We are in the process of packing and moving house/country. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over 10 years!!!
I throw out anything that I haven’t used in two years, except for books.
This year my family is on sabbatical and we packed everything we needed for the entire year in 6 suitcases. That was a great exercise for thinking about what we _truly_ needed. When we return home at the end of the year, it will be back to our 1.5 BR apt. where we are forced to pare down our belongings semi-regularly so as not to get overwhelmed with stuff. I know our suburban-dwelling relatives think we’re crazy for living in such a small space, but I like that thinking about what is necessary is part of our everyday experience.
I write lists and try to find dual purposes for everything in my house, from food to cleaners!
Doing away with a ton of knick knack type things that I kept bc someone (usually family) had given them to me. It was so nice to feel like all the things that I keep are things that I love. Not just just things I have to pretend like I love. BONUS I sell said crap at a garage sale and make $$$. :)
I found that by having fewing belongings, there was a definite beneficial effect on my psyche. I tended to buy higher quality items that I like more. I know where most everything is now, and my brain feels lighter.
Since I have two girls I always go through my older one’s outgrown clothes before purchasing new clothes for my little one
The toys! Back to the old basics… we try to have toys out that will appeal to all the kids – ages from 2 to 11, ones that can be modified or that the kids can build with so that we are not overwhelmed by plastic bits. It is a constant challenge, of course.
Growing up in Appalachia, doing more with less was a lifestyle. I love how being reasonably frugal has become a trend! Though I’ve never considered myself to be extravagant, I’m always trying to find ways to be a better steward of what I have. Recently, I started making my own laundry detergent. Its pennies a load and gives me the satisfaction that I’m doing more with less.
We use only cloth napkins – cuts back on waste and clutter in the kitchen.
I try to do more with less in the playroom. I take a day around this time of year to purge the toys, books, games, and other playthings that are broken or just unneccesary and unloved. This makes room for the new things the Christmas season will bring, but it also makes play easier. When kids have too much to choose from, they get overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin.
Gabrielle- I’m also *trying* to adhere to your “something to read, something to wear, something to play with” rule, but I already bought 4 books (used!)!!
I’m making a lot of gifts this year. I make quilts, and I’m trying to use up fabric I already have to make quilts for my family and friends for Christmas.
Less is more was a hard concept for me to learn as a new mom. As a result, we accumulated a lot of stuff. Now that we have 5 children, I am a firm believer in “less is more”, because less stuff means less time cleaning, and more time spent together as a family.
Nursing with less: Instead of using a Boppy, I just roll up one of baby’s receiving blankets and tuck it under my arm. The Boppys are so cute these days, but I’m with you–another baby means I need more room, not more stuff.
More With Less #2: Print on the backside of papers. School newsletters, oops-I-didn’t-need-to-print-that pages, that last page of an email that prints one line of wholly useless information… if it’s blank on the back, I print on it!
We do more with less with friends. Instead of a big fancy dinner party, we have pot lucks; sometimes we just pool ingredients and cook the meal together. Saves both families a little money, and is a great way to enjoy our time together.
How liberating. I feel like I bring everything but the kitchen sink when I go out with the kids!
We have always tried to do more with less toys. My husband was the last of ten kids so he had to always find ways to make do without much. After buying some draft stops (to keep the cool air from flowing in under our doors) from home depot the other day, my husband grabbed the long, narrow boxes they came in and he and my son made a toy car jump. This new “toy” has been a hit and I realized that it not only saved money but it challenged my son to use his imagination to build something great.
We have only the basics in our kitchen…all purpose glasses are used for water and wine! It was kind of embarrassing this weekend when guests showed up with champagne! We were toasting out of our mugs and glasses! But I decided long ago that our kitchen would only have the basics and things that could serve double duty! We have a food processor, but no panini press, bread maker, etc!
Shopping at the thrift store is my favorite way to do more with less!
We do more with less by shopping in our own house instead of hitting IKEA. If we need shelves, we see which room we can borrow them from, or what piece of furniture we can switch out. Need curtains? Maybe I could use some vintage dish towels I have sitting around instead. It feels good to use what I have instead of bringing more home!
Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
I’ve been adding tags online to my credit card purchases to really try to track how impulse purchases add up -it is a bit eye opening!
Living in a very small home with a husband, teenager and 6 year old I realized the more clutter and stuff I got rid of the more time we spent together. My children gravitate toward clean and clear areas of the home because it is more comfortable to sit, put your feet up and relax, talk, read, play or converse. I count my blessings every day for what I do have and I count many more blessings for what I don’t have clogging up my life and draining my energy.
Twice a year I scheduled a Goodwill appointment, whether I think I need it or not. KNowing they are coming makes me parade through the house and find things to donate. It also cures the need to shop when you realize just how much “stuff” you have.
I do more with less kitchen appliances. I have a stand mixer so got rid of my hand one. We don’t have an electric an opener. Don’t need an electric griddle and don’t have a food processor. While these things are convenient to have around they take up space! I hate electronics and appliances on the counter so if it doesn’t fit in the cupboards, we don’t need it. If I only pull it out once or twice a year, it’s gone. Who needs an electric carving knife anyway? I mean, really???
We subscribed to a vegetable farm box for awhile, but since we moved to a neighborhood with a farmer’s market within walking distance we decided to cancel our subscription and buy only what we truly needed every Sunday. A lot less waste that way, and we have the pleasure of wandering around the market and interacting with the people who produce our food.
Doing less, buying less, worrying less – what a great concept. Sometimes I find myself wandering through the grocery store isles saying to myself “why am I here?”
We’ve turned our extra bedroom into a computer room, music room, laundry room and nursery. It’s tight, but it works for now. :)
We don’t have space for a study or office so we transformed our living room into a computer/homework/library room. It’s the most used room in the house!
Doing more with less is always on my mind..everytime I see junk everywhere I know I need to declutter. Frequent runs to the thrift store drop off helps with this, but certainly isn’t a fix-all.
i try to practice a rule of thumb i found on apartment therapy – whenever i buy something new, i try to think of something to give away/donate. that way i don’t have clutter and also help others!
i have been really trying to do weekly grocery shopping- one trip and that’s it. if we run out of something, it can wait until next week. do we really need more peanut butter? not until next week we don’t! so far it is working great!
We’re crashing with my grandmother while renovating our house, and it’s amazing to me how happy two adults, two kids and two dogs can be living out of two suitcases. The whole experience is making ,e question whether we really needed that huge renovationafterall!!
I often find doing less makes you feel like you have more!
Doing more with less…. definitely applies at home and while we are out and about. At home, since we live in a teeny condo, Kenzie’s toys are confined to a small plastic box and she plays with cups, spoons, remotes, daddy’s snack bags, etc. Out and about, she plays with plastic cups, spoons, advertisements, anything that holds her interest so I don’t have to take as many toys with me =)
I’m all about supper leftovers for lunch the next day. Saves me a bundle in the big city!
I love simplifying and doing more with less. De-cluttering is a favorite hobby of mine. It’s so freeing to get rid of stuff!
I do it in cycles. About every 4 months or so, I go through each room and toss or donate items. If there’s something I am unsure of, I hang on to it. If when that next cleaning sessions comes 4 months later and I still haven’t needed that item I was unsure of, it goes.
i am loving this… and this is a work in progress for me from a lifetime of being a packrat (thanks mom!). ever so slowly in the past 10 years of marriage i’ve been getting better and better at purging things that i do not need. of course, moving 4 times has helped too! ;) but really, the old saying is completely true… less IS more. i feel so much better mentally when i get rid of things. i do have a hard time getting rid of certain items of clothing too (yet again… thanks mom!). so i’ve tried to be good at recyling those clothes. before i get rid of them, i try them on in a totally different way. a jacket with a belt, a pair of pants hemmed into capris? whatever… but i think it’s helped when i look at some of those old clothes in a new light. everything old can be made new again. even just simply with accessories or simple alterations. it’s quite fun too to know one is being thrifty and conscious. and these kinds of tips can be used for the rest of your life, not necessarily just for right now b/c it’s kinda ‘hipster’. ;) ha ha! really, it should be a lifetime motto… do more with less. love it!!
and…. i ain’t gonna lie. that phone looks mighty fun. i’m due up for a new cell. this would be AWESOME!!!!
Since my husband lost his job about a year ago, doing more with less is the name of the game for me. It’s amazing what you can do with a can of tuna.
I struggle with this every day, because I grew up in a more-with-less household and a very crafty mom. My husband grew up in a more-is-more household–they always had large houses and a public storage unit. We went shopping in their unit to help furnish our first house.
I enjoy doing more with less when it means making something I want out of things I already have. As an example, I’ve been coveting statement necklaces, so I took an old brooch of my grandmother’s and stuck it onto a blah beaded necklace.
I love to splurge on fabric softener & it acts as air freshener for the whole house!
I think doing more with less for me is cutting out the meaningless extras–like buying all the dollar section crap for my kids that they don’t need and just gets thrown out later anyway.
I love the whole doing more with less idea. It’s an extra challenge for my mind when life gets boring and repetitive!
I’m learning to refinish furniture so that we can reuse it instead of tossing it out.
My “less is more” is of the tv/movie variety. 7 months ago we said “no” to all tv/movie watching during the week. We now have Friday movie night as a family, unless we’re out doing an activity together instead, and we love it! That’s the only tv/movie time we have all week. The kids rarely even ask to watch a movie anymore because they’ve found so many other ways to entertain themselves. Less screen time is more conducive to happy childhood time.
Since I have been a single mom for the past 9 years I have learned to create more with less for our family while still keeping it beautiful. I found when I was in design school on a tight budget some of my best projects were a result of making due with things I had on hand.
This holiday season is going to be about more with less. Homemade gifts and hopefully a lot less of the ridiculous last minute over spending.
I’ve been feeling the same way even though it’s not spring. I guess it was because we were almost all the way packed to move and then we didn’t. Now I’m unpacking and thinking do I really need this and can I perform the same task with out it. A lot of times it’s yes. Less is more sometimes. One of the best things I did was get rid of our TV years ago.