Tips on ‘making do’ with what you have

Some people live a very lavish lifestyle, while some are content in living a very simple life. There is, after all, a beauty to simplicity: it brings out the best from a subject, all while allowing us to only focus on what is essential. Living in simplicity serves as a reminder that possessions can be easily replaced, while the ones we care about are not. It’s often that we attach emotional significance to our belongings that we forget why we have them in the first. This lifestyle, of course, requires making do with what you have.

We’ve compiled 14 tips on how to make do with having only your current possessions.

clipboard, laptop, pen, mouse, coffee, cellphone

1. Get rid of scarcity thinking

Stop thinking about not having enough resources that you will find the need to take more for yourself that isn’t essential. Think more abundantly and try to fix that mindset.

2. Reduce clutter

Start working on decluttering all the mental and physical clutter that occupies so much space. Take inventory of all the unnecessary thoughts, activities, and possessions that take up space and keep only what’s essential.

3. Revel in simple pleasures

Life becomes better when you learn to appreciate simple things. Indulge often in the little things you most likely took for granted as they may be what you need to add happiness to the life you’re living.

4. Make a minimalist wardrobe

Building your wardrobe to be as minimalistic as it can relieve you with complex decision-making and allows you to efficiently allot your attention to more important matters. Remind yourself that there’s nothing wrong with minimalism and wearing the same clothes all the time. Having a minimalist wardrobe is one of the best ways to make do with what you have.

5. Learn to be contented

The inability to be satisfied with your current possessions is the complete opposite of making do with what you have. The insatiable desire to own more only leads to more discontentment.

6. Do absolutely nothing

There are moments when you sometimes feel at a standstill, restless, or bored. The best thing to do is to not give in to the urge to do something; instead, just keep being still without a particular agenda.

7. Make do with leftover food

Whatever leftover food you have in your fridge, you can make use of it. You can work with yesterday’s dishes and turn them into a new dish. Make a soup with some vegetables and leftover chicken roast, or create a new dish out of some leafy greens, some rice, and yesterday’s steamed salmon. You may also make vegetarian soup out of your leftover vegetables.

8. Repair before replacing

Before replacing a broken item, look into ways on how to repair them first. Become a handyman and check for “how to fix…” tutorials on the web.

9. Own things with multiple purposes

Try displaying decorative yet functional items such as a family kettle, a crystal vase, and a vintage quilt on your shelves. Or use a cast-iron as a toaster. You can also turn your favorite fabric into a handbag! Owning multi-purpose items can help you accumulate less.

10. Decrease to increase

The action of eliminating the irrelevant frees up money, energy, space, and time to retain only what is essential to you. Simplifying your life won’t feel much like a loss because you’ll learn how to live more with less.

11. Appreciate what you don’t have

When you focus on things you don’t have, you often find yourself feeling discontented. Fortunately, there’s a trick to flip this negative feeling into a positive one. Focus your mindset into thinking of what you don’t have that makes your life much better. Reflect on those thoughts.

12. Organize your necessities

Your necessities or the things you rely on most, every day such as your office space, your note app, your bag, and your wallet. Spend a few minutes of your time every week to keep them organized. Recognize the service they gave you and keep them in order so they can remain to be of value.

13. Don’t be afraid to say “no” if you have to

Often, we cause ourselves problems by automatically reacting with an absolute “yes” to responsibilities we haven’t properly thought over. Keep yourself in check and think before saying yes. Don’t immediately agree to impromptu requests or make in-the-moment choices until you’ve had enough time to think them over. Also, don’t say maybe when you meant to say no.

14. Learn to be happy

Teach yourself to take joy in what you already own. Learn to appreciate the happiness your every possession brings you and don’t desire for more. Even the pursuit of happiness should be done in regulation. Be careful not to let your search for happiness turn into another thing that will add to your discontent.