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Reasons for
Resourcefulness
by Kimberly Danger
Waste Not,
Want Not. You may be familiar with this phrase if you had a parent or
grandparent who lived through the great depression or experienced war rationing.
Prior generations, mainly out of necessity, demonstrated that philosophy
numerous ways and learned to be resourceful with what they had. In today’s world
of abundance, why would anyone choose to live that way? I’ll give you a few good
reasons.
You tap into your creative side
when you have to make do with what you have. It forces you to look at what you
have in a new light. You’re forced to use your imagination, giving you insight
into something’s hidden potential. You’ll also experience a deeper level of
satisfaction when creating something out of nothing. There’s another great
byproduct: you save lots of money!
Last year my daughter and I were looking for a fun winter project. We somehow
wanted to incorporate her love of Barbie Dolls, yet not spend a lot of money.
That led us to the ultimate trash-to-treasure project: A New Barbie House. Keep
in mind that her Barbie already had fairly nice accommodations, and we could
have afforded to buy her a vacation home if we really wanted to; but that
wouldn’t have been as much fun, nor would it have given us the chance to hone
our creative skills. Instead, Barbie went “Dumpster Diving” to furnish her home.
My daughter and I built Barbie’s new house out of cardboard boxes and furnished
it with fabric scraps, yogurt containers, and other items that were rescued from
the recycling bin. Her couch was a re-designed Kleenex box. Her chairs were lids
from old laundry detergent bottles. We began looking at our trash in a different
way.
Imagination and creativity are both traits that everyone has; whether they think
they do or not. Like with most skills, they get better with practice.
Unfortunately, the “quick fix” of being able to run out to the store to buy
whatever we need can smother our resourcefulness. The best way to get back in
touch with your creative side is to put it into practice each and every day.
Once honed, this skill can apply it to other areas of your life: your career,
your hobbies, and even your relationships.
The next time you find yourself running to the store to buy a piece of clothing,
a toy to keep your kids entertained or something with which to decorate your
home, try re-thinking about using what you already have. Not only will you have
extra cash in your wallet, you’ll be putting that great skill into practice.
Put Resourcefulness to Work for You Today:
• Instead of spending $4 on a greeting card, make one yourself. You don’t have
to be especially crafty; print out photos from the internet or cut up old
calendar pages. When you put more of yourself into an endeavor, it means more to
the recipient and you as the person giving it.
• Make this week’s meals using only the ingredients that you currently have in
your home. Use the “ingredient search” menu on allrecipes.com for ideas.
• Redecorate a room using things you already have, or create new artwork for
your walls by painting over an existing canvas or putting new photos in old
frames.
• Get your kids in on the action by making a toy with household items. Chances
are you did this as a kid yourself: remember homemade play-dough and paper plate
maracas?
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About the Author:
Kimberly Danger is the owner and publisher of Mommysavers.com, a
site for moms living well for less. Portions of this article
first appeared in her blog, Forget the Joneses, which also
appears on her website.
http://www.mommysavers.com |
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