Waste not, want not

Cultural  

1. If we don't waste what we have, we'll still have it in the future and will not lack (want) it.

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waste not, want not Idioms  

1. Wise use of one's resources will keep one from poverty. For example, I just hate to throw out good food—waste not, want not. This proverbial saying was first recorded in 1772 but had an earlier, even more alliterative version, willful waste makes woeful want (1576).

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Example Sentences

"We recently had a car pull up outside our gate, dumping four black bags of empty DVD boxes even though we were open," said Lesley Reynolds, who runs the Waste Not Want Not charity warehouse in Oakdale, Caerphilly.

From BBC

The result is a relatively respectable chicken quesadilla that not only sates you in the moment, but satisfies a core value of "waste not, want not."

From Salon

The Massier family was able to survive by adopting the philosophy of “waste not, want not,” “use it up or wear it out” and “make do or do without,” she said.

From Washington Times

Controlling waste is something everyone can do to help the planet, she said, in a column called "Waste not, want not".

From BBC

Art Shibley, the owner of the Yours Truly diner in Hudson, Ohio, began by attributing it to Depression-era thinking and the principle of “waste not, want not.”

From Slate