One way to make more out of less is to learn how to recycle and repurpose things we already have. Save the bones from a roasted chicken to make your own broth for chicken soup using vegetable peelings and scraps. Rinse and save egg shells to use in the garden as a natural source of calcium for your garden plants. You can put them right into the compost, or crush them up and sprinkle them around your plants. They also act as a natural barrier to slugs and other creeping insects.

By using an inexpensive hand mower and letting the grass clippings fall to the ground, you save on equipment, gas and maintenance, other than the blade-sharpening that any mower needs. You get moderate exercise in the sunshine, and your grass will get about half of the nitrogen it needs as the clippings settle to the ground and decompose. This cuts down on the number of times you need to fertilize your lawn annually.

Take advantage of solar power to line-dry clothes and linens, where and when possible. Clothes dryers are energy hogs. Raw sunshine is also a natural whitener for dingy whites.

Buy gently-used children's clothing at garage sales and resale shops for a fraction of what they would cost new. Your little ones won't mind while they're still pre-fashion-conscious, and it's entirely possible to find like-new designer label items in any age group. Little kids usually outgrow their clothes before they can wear them out, but carefully check over anything you intend to buy for stains, missing buttons or other defects before opening your wallet.