Use it up. Wear it out. Make do. Do without.

A popular theme used during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Families had to do all of those things just to survive since jobs, money and food were hard to come by. I remember hearing my grandma talk about some of the things they did just to get by.

My dear friend, Kathi Lipp, author, speaker and creator of Clutter Free Academy is the one who brought this to the attention of the CFA community to help us create a mindset of decluttering. It worked great for getting rid of clutter, so why not use the same concept to save money.

I want us to take this same theme and think about how we can save money as we head into 2026.

For the next 5 weeks I am going to help us use this strategy while saving money and applying this “Great Depression Theme” to our everyday lives.

Week 1: USE IT UP. Action: Inventory our freezer, pantry and cabinets writing everything down and then creating a meal plan based on the inventory of products in our home.

A sample meal plan based on what I have in my inventory this week:

Monday – Chicken strips in air fryer, cheesy hash brown potato casserole, green beans.

Tuesday – Chili, crackers, peanut butter sandwiches. Using left overs for lunch.

Wednesday – Grilled smoked pork chops, mashed potatoes, carrots.

Thursday – Baked chicken, boiled potatoes, corn.

Friday – Travel and eat out using gift certificate.

Also let’s think about gatherings we are planning to attend and any pitch-in meals where we can use the items we have in our inventory to create a dish to share. Today, I made a hamburger/queso dip to take to the IU football gathering along with a bag of Tostito(R) Chips we have in the pantry.

One of the major keys to saving money is organization.

So what are you waiting for? Inventory that food and get started on organizing your meal plans and saving money while USING UP the items you already have. Share your favorite meal in the comments below to help us come up with some additional creative meals.

Happy “Use It Up” Week. 🙂