Saving money

In church on Sunday our Sunday School Teacher shared a testimony given by President Packer. In the testimony he shared the old adage, "Use it up. Wear it out. Make do, or do without." In many ways this is how Big Ben and I live our lives.

I looked around our house wanting to find some examples:

I wanted a new centerpiece for the table, but didn't want to buy anything. This is what I came up with. It isn't fancy, but I like it!Because we sometimes have a house full of people, I didn't want a typical coffee table and I definitely didn't want to invest in one. We found this table at a thrift store for under $10 and I painted, padded it and upholstered it. The knobs were even in the house when we moved in, but I didn't like their location so I reused them on this ottoman/table.
Big Ben needed shelving and storage in his workshop room. He found out that there was scrap wood at work, that comes from pallets and shipping. He filled the van with a load of it and made these shelves out of Free wood. He has many more plans for the remainder of the load of wood.

When we moved in, we wanted to extend the small walkway in the front of the house and make the entry a little more inviting. Paving stones are so expensive, and we realized we had a walkway through the front yard that we wanted to remove. Disposing of concrete is also very expensive, so our solution was to break the concrete up and reuse it as cobble stones.

This shelf has been refinished and filled with trinkets and mementos that were handed down from my grandmother.

These are just a few of the things we have done. These things have saved us a large amount of money.

Given the state of the economy. I feel inclined to rededicate myself to getting creative, making do or doing without. Sometimes easier said than done!