It seems obvious, but one of the easiest ways to save money is to use what you have instead of buying new stuff. After all, most of us have enough stuff in our cabinets and closets to keep us going for quite a while. But what does it look like in practice.

Because food is such a big issue, I’ll give it its own post on Wednesday. But today, we’ll look at some other things lingering in your house that you might want to use up.

Are your bookshelves full or books you’ve been meaning to read? Then turn off one-click shopping and start reading what you have. I have created a special shelf in my library/guest room/craft room. (Hey, I only have 6 rooms, including the bathroom and the laundry room. Rooms have to multi-task!) Each year, I fill that shelf with books I’ve been meaning to read or re-read. As the year goes on, I take books from that shelf rather than buying them. Once I’ve finished a book, I can decide if I want to keep it or if I’m ready to donate it.  My experience is that I keep only about 1 in 4. If I hear about a book that I know I want to read, I put it on hold at the library. If my library doesn’t have it, I will add it to my online wish list so that I won’t forget it.

Studies indicate that people wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. Now, I’m not saying that you should wear your pajamas to church or your formal wear to the office (but, if you do, pictures, please). But you can shake up your routine and feel like you have a whole new wardrobe. Dig into the depths of the closet. Pull out the clothes you haven’t worn in ages, plan outfits using them, and put them into your everyday rotation. If you don’t want to wear something, if it doesn’t fit properly, if you don’t have a place to wear it or something to wear with it, why are you keeping it? (If it needs to be mended, put it on the mending pile. You can repair the button. I know you can.)

What about all of the toiletries you’ve accumulated over the years? I know that I personally have enough body lotion to moisturize an elephant. (Many toiletries, like lotions, soaps, and bath products are great go-to presents, so you may not have purchased all the stuff yourself.) The first step is to gather everything into one place and then divide it by type — lotion, bath products, soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. Immediately discard anything that is no longer usable. If you find lots of unopened products that you aren’t using, consider donating them to a homeless shelter or a shelter for victims of domestic violence or to a skilled nursing facility. Each of these places will have their own rules about what they can accept, so please check first. If you are like me, you’ll discover that you have lots of partially used bottles. You can’t donate them and you don’t want to toss them. So you need to start using them. The key is keeping things where you will use them. Put the partially used tubes of toothpaste next to the bathroom sink. Keep the shampoo and conditioner in the shower. Keep the face cream near the mirror you use for your makeup. As you use one bottle, break out a new one. Store each group of items together so it will be easy to pull a replacement. that will keep you from buying new. I’ve been using this method for a while now and it’s making a huge difference. I’m through almost all of the toothpaste and I’ve made significant incursions into the stockpile of hair products and face cream.

You can multiply these examples based on what you have stockpiled (office products, craft supplies, stationery, etc.). Just follow the same process: gather, discard the unusable, donate what you can/wish to, start using what you have. And STOP BUYING!