Make it Do

I have a favorite quote that I’ve heard stated two ways:

1.)    “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.”

2.)    “Buy it used, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

I like the second version best and this mantra is always going through my head every time my husband wants to purchase a new item.

As I walk around our home, I am constantly reminded about how we “make it do” from room to room.

For instance, our house needs the electricity rewired.  I cannot run the dishwasher and the bedroom air conditioning at the same time without blowing a circuit.  Nor can I use our small convection oven (I use this in the warmer months so that we don’t heat up the whole kitchen using the oven!) and the microwave at the same time due to this same reason.  We have plans to fix the wiring, but it is not high priority right now.  These are just minor inconveniences in my view.

Todd has wanted a king size bed for a little over a year now as our fur-family has grown.  We share our bed with 150 lbs of dogs and sometimes three 6+lb cats!  Add to that two overweight adults and I will admit it gets a bit cramped.  Please note that all the animals tend to take over my side of the bed – which leaves Todd able to sleep with his legs outstretched as I wake up curled in a ball most mornings trying to dodge animals (if you are contemplating letting an animal sleep in your bed – please keep this visual in mind!)    I keep trying to put off the purchase of a king sized bed because we purchased a nice locally made mattress just 4 ½ years ago.  I really like our sleigh-bed that Todd brought into the marriage and the mattress we have is extremely comfortable!  No matter how many times he shows me California king sized beds on Craigslist and how inexpensive they are, I am not budging on this issue until it is time for us to get a new mattress.

Case in point: Hubby is all sprawled out while I'm in the corner with 2 large dogs on my side of the bed!

We came to a compromise recently when we purchased a {used} ottoman from Craigslist for $35.  The ottoman is 48” long by 27” wide: plenty of room for a pup (or both!) and a few cats if they so choose to snuggle up with the dogs.  We realized within an hour of owning the ottoman that the color choice was not the best (beige) for animals, so we are using a camo throw on top of it to hide black dog hair and dirty paw-prints!  Voila.  Hubby is happy that he gets even more space in bed, and he has his precious Lana right there next to him at all times during the night.  Buddy, on the other hand, still chooses to sprawl out on my side of the bed, but luckily he likes to sleep at the foot of the bed, so it’s not too much of a bother.

I have a laptop that is 3 years old.  It’s big and clunky compared to what is out there in the market (and what everyone else seems to be using right now) but it does what I need it to do.  I asked Todd to do something on it for me (yes, I’m the one with a degree in Computers & Information Systems but I have to ask my husband to fix my computer!) and he said, “I don’t know how you work on that thing! We can go and get you another one.”  No, thank you.  I cannot justify getting a new one until this one dies on us.  Let is also be known that I don’t do well with change and I finally figured out how to use this laptop!

I believe we (mainly me) will always have a “make it do” mentality, but we will definitely be replacing the breaker-box in the near future as well as getting a new bed in the next 5-7 years.  We are strategically putting purchases of little importance off to continue our focus on paying down the mortgage.  Right now, we are on track to have the mortgage paid in full by October 2014!!  This goal helps us to keep our spending in line because we can only imagine the freedom we will have in one short year when we own our home free and clear.

Do you “make it do” around your home?

I’d love to hear about it!