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?
I try to make a little extra when cooking dinner each night for my hubs to take for lunch the next day. It has really saved us on his eating out.
If I won this phone, I would give it to my brother for Christmas because his phone will never stay on and he can’t afford to buy a new one! It’s the season of giving, so thanks for the giveaway!!
I love the thought of doing more with less!
It is very liberating not being tied down with the thoughts of all the things we MUST have, when we really don’t! This is a great time to really think about what we REALLY need to have to be happy. I appreciate ALL of you thoughts.
Happy Holidays!
I sell everything I don’t need on Ebay! You’d be suprised how much you have just sitting around the house
I do more with less redundancy by syncing my files using Windows Live Mesh.
doing more with less could mean budgeting and adhering to it. It allows us to save properly and spend wisely
This holiday we’re taking the “less is more” approach by thinking of gifts that have staying power. Meaning fewer toys for the kids and more focus on art, music, books.
Thanks for the giveaway chance!
More with less: Just today I realized the reason I’m in such a foul mood. It’s because I feel swamped. Swamped by things! I feel like I can’t enjoy a room in our house with out wanting to kick things out of the way. I go through this about 4 times a year, and then do a huge purge of the house. It is astonishing how much STUFF can be accumulated in just a few months (weeks, even!) time. Give me a hut, a pantry and blankets. And a washer and dryer- let’s not get carried away ;)
I’ve started washing my hair every other day. By the end of day 2 I feel really gross, but I have so much more time when I’m not washing/conditioning/blow drying/straightening. Seriously, it takes over an hour. That’s too much time to do every single day.
One way I do more with less is to use a cheap prepaid phone . . . but I wouldn’t say no to a nicer one.
I LOVE that you only took a baby spoon with you on your trip. I just returned from a trip and I packed much too much stuff for my 7 month old. I also love when everything in my house has a place, so my rule is this: new stuff in, old stuff out. Whenever I buy anything new, I have to get rid of something old that has lost its usefulness. This helps to keep things simple in my life and home!
I am just learning how to live this way (in my mid 30s). Never too late, though! I really feel good about only living with what we really need. It’s a little hard this Holiday season, but we just remind ourselves of the peace that we’ve experienced since we’ve been living this way. Priceless!
I routinely (every few months) go through closets and such gathering up things we no longer use/need. We then donate them to the Goodwill. It feels so good to declutter and know that we are giving to a worthwhile organization that helps others.
i honestly don’t know if i’ve entered today or not. disqualify me if i did, it’s okay. i don’t mean to cheat.
My grandmother taught me to “save steps”. During chore time around the house, always have something with you to be returned or replaced as you move from area to area and room to room.
I am currently doing way more with less – around my midsection. You see I just had my third child at the end of October and am currently only 5 lbs away from my pre pregnancy weight, but the amount that any person can do on their last day of pregnancy pales in comparison to all that is on their plate once the baby comes and the baby weight is long gone. There’s the obvious round the clock feedings, the changing of diapers, the burping, the entertaining, the rhythmic bouncing/dancing/patting. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Such a great gift!
Our family of 8 HAS to do more with less. We cook (together) from scratch, build amazing creations from cardboard and duct tape, buy books at the library for a quarter, only eat out on kids-eat-free night, and even grew our own garden this year. The realization that you can be happy and healthy without all the expense and excess is liberating. The calming atmosphere of a de-cluttered house is an added bonus.
We just moved and if there is anything that makes you want to do “more with less” it’s moving! :) I try to adhere to this most when it comes to my kid’s toys. I can’t stand all the disposable plastic junk so I will only allow what can fit in designated toy areas and will only buy quality stuff that I know they will play with for more then 5 minutes. If I can’t immediately think of where it will fit in their room or play area, it doesn’t come home.
i od more with less by planning ahead of time as much as possible
Here’s what I’ve done more with less. I used to call everyone when I had a party coming up, it’s time consuming & tedious, now thanks to the social networks I only have to post once and all of my friends know about that special event. How great is that!
m and ms are probably my favorite more with less candy. i use them to decorate cakes, i use them in counting games with kids, and they just taste good
I can’t see clothing items being waste so while each item lasted in my house I treat them well (follow the label’s care directions, etc.) and then I passed down to someone I know. Oh, and for a few years now I don’t buy trendy, in-season outfits, I wait and wait until the price is way down as posibble (needs to be in that way w/5 kidos at home )… I must say my favorite is to reuse store bags, plastic or paper – I even made cards, wrapped gifts, kids’ school collages, etc. out of them.
Doing more with less sometimes means reusing grocery bags, or buying the recyclable types and using those. Saves the environment and saves the grocery stores money, which in turn saves you money.
I have a pretty small house compared to the rest of the houses in my city, with only 2 tiny closets. It requires me to be creative with storage and focus on the character of my 80+ year old home rather than the lack of space.
My parents like to use big terry cloth robes to dry off with after they shower. They say they dry off faster and warm up quickly. When they are done using them, they hang them up on hooks behind the bathroom door. They have more than one robe for each of them; that way they can wash the used ones and always have a fresh robe to use.
Vinegar and Water do a multitude of things!
I recently chopped off 8 inches of hair, all the way up to my jawline. It’s SO much quicker and easier to do my hair now, which leaves more time and patience for all the other million things every morning. Plus, it means I can’t just toss my hair up in a ponytail every single day.
We cut the legs down on our first kitchen table (about 17 years old). We put big Ikea wheels on the bottoms of the legs. Now, it is the perfect height for a toddler craft table–that you can push out of the way.
Thanks for the ideas you had.. Lately I have been trying to get rid of a lot of the things we don’t need and are just cluttering up our lives..I am trying to think of our most used item or place and sadly I’m not thinking of any. We spend a lot if time together in the living room. That’s wheee we watch movies and play games and toys.
I could do more with less blasted snow…
oh, hubby needs a new phone, badly. the current one is held together with tape, drops calls, mysteriously calls random numbers – odd. as for doing more with less – removing the excess from my life makes me feel sooooo good. i can do more with less around. less stuff.
I made some sweet pants with matching cap for my baby today out of an old sweater! I love them!
i try to do more with less by staying organized
Awesome! We have made it a tradition that every christmas we play White elephant – so we limit it (depending on the year and where we’re all traveling to – budget) to 1-3 gifts per person between $10 – $30 each gift, and because of the game it turns into this long enjoyable fun time and each person feels content with the gift they “win” and it becomes less about the quantity but about time together.
One thing that has worked well for us with the kids is to have a toy bin. all toys must fit in the bin. if the bin is full, but they get a new toy something else of equal size or more must go out. The less loved toys then head to the nearest donation center. Extra cardboard boxes for playing pretend don’t count.
First-thank you. I came on your blog looking for the table redo pix. The first thing I saw was your rockin new table-love it but sad to see that the other one has been booted.
To answer the question. I think I am mostly doing more with less time. I have 3 part time jobs, all from home. With other responsibilities and interests, I’m trying to figure out how to do more with less time. Specifically trying to learn how to clean more efficiently–and often.
As a busy mom doing more with less means time AND money! I need my contacts, my cupons, my email, phone, etc. all in the same place- organize me!
Doing more for less means delegating more responsibilities to the kids so my time can be used more productively.
How to do more with less? I have in my own house a soda vending machine, when I feel like drinking one, I buy one. At the end of certain period of time, I open the vending machine to recollect my profit!!!
My favorite do-less-with-more go-to is “hiding” clothes from myself. Usually something classic and nondescript, like a great black cardigan. When I stumble upon it in the guest room closet or a box under the bed, it’s like shopping without the buyer’s remorse. I highly suggest it. Also, I’m getting some great ideas from the other comments!
we are living in the parents basement right now while we house hunt- so we are definetely living with less. it is amazing how we can live with only a fraction of our stuff!
I really like keeping notebooks around for ideas. It doesnt cost much and it helps me later on when I am bored or uninspired to give me new ideas
This phone would help to more with less because I could stop carrying a camera and phone. It would be so easy to catch photos of the kids.
doing more with less…it’s a constant challenge, but to just put yourself in that mindset, or leave daily reminders (for example, notes around the house), helps. it also helps to live in the moment. thanks for the chance!
There are some great tips here, which I could really use right now!
I do more with less when I stop thinking about things that I have to get done in one big lump- I try to take them as small individual things that are easy to do
Doing more with less: I’m on a pantry clean-out kick. No grocery store for me until all those aging boxes of couscous and off-brand pinto beans are cooked and eaten! More pantry space and more room in the grocery budget.
We have six kids and one income, so doing more with less is more out of necessity than lifestyle choice. We help the kids to focus on what they really want and need (and will actually use) than what looks exciting right that minute, and we try to spend our money on activities that we can do as a family such as videos, games, outings, than on buying expensive stuff that we end up having no room for! My kids can get more “playtime” sitting with a stack of paper and 99-cent crayons, or running around the yard with a stick (jedi, knight, lion tamer, soldier…who knows?) than if we spend hundreds of dollars on breakable toys, or expensive video games! I love that they choose to be thrifty, not because it’s the ‘good’ choice, but because they prefer it! Makes my job much easier.
I think as a student I’ve really had to learn this concept. I’ve become a pro at finding deals and I absolutely love craigslist. We bought our first couch via craiglist for a steal!
Doing more with less is something I constantly struggle with to achieve and maintain. It always feels great to donate clothing and items we don’ t use or need, but the key is to be consistent, or I should say consistently organized – which unfortunately I’m not. As soon as I de-clutter a room, it never seems to take too long for it to become cluttered again with other things. Being more organized and doing more with less will once again be on my New Year’s Resolution list!