20 Things My Grandparents Did to Save Money!
My grandparents lived through The Great Depression, my parents were born during it and grew up learning how to make something out of nothing and how to repurpose what they did own into something else. The saying “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” was often heard passing through my grandparents’ lips. In this week’s blog, I (@Michelethebargainqueen from www.savingmoneyandmakingmoney.com), will share twenty frugal tips from my grandparents.
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Fast forward to current day. We think nothing about discarding clothes that are torn or upgrading our cell phones to the newest version. We think we need to have the most current form of technology.
Here are twenty frugal tips that my grandparents did to save money.
Stop Using Your Dryer
Dry your clothes outside on a wash line or a dryer rack. Not only will you save money on electricity, but your clothes will smell so much better.
Garden
Save seeds from peppers and tomatoes to grow your own. Buy seeds and plant a garden. Growing up my dad’s friend had a farm where he let us have a 50 x 100-yard sized garden. We would plant all kinds of vegetables and fruit, like green beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, corn, zucchini, strawberries, and watermelon. At home in our backyard, we had an apple tree and a small garden where we grew lettuce and herbs. Even if you live in a townhouse, condominium, or apartment, plant a container garden to save money on produce.
Preserve Food
Learn how to can, dehydrate, or freeze the food that you grow to last for months to come. As a little girl, I remember snapping green beans for my mom to can them. I would also go out back to the apple tree and gather up all the apples that had fallen to give my mom and she would make homemade applesauce that she would can, and we would enjoy all year long! My dad would make loaves of zucchini bread (plain, with nuts, or with chocolate chips) and then he would freeze them. Fruit was either dehydrated or made into jam/jelly and we would eat that all year long as well. My husband and boys like to hunt and when we are lucky to get a deer, we can the deer meat and oh my, it tastes so good!
Grow An Herb Garden
Fresh herbs are expensive and remarkably simple to grow at home on your kitchen windowsill. So easy to just snip when needed in your favorite recipe and it tastes so much better as well. Grow too much that you cannot use it all? You can share with family or friends or just lay out on a paper towel to dry and then store in little plastic jars or baggies!
Regrow Vegetables
A couple of months ago I read that you can regrow your vegetables, especially celery and romaine lettuce. I could not believe it, so I had to try it! And it worked! Cut the bottom off the celery and romaine lettuce and place in a shallow bowl with some water. Change the water daily and in just a couple of days, you will see the roots grow and the celery or lettuce starting to regrow. I then replant in a little pot and keep with my herb garden. It is so amazing! Terrific way to save money!
Save Scraps
If you do not want to regrow your vegetables as mentioned above, just save all your vegetable scraps (skin, roots, tops, whatever) and place into a freezer bag and put in freezer. Once you have a cup or two of vegetable scraps, just throw in a pot with water and make vegetable stock for soup! You can save the peels off your citrus fruits and put those peels into homemade cleaners for a fragrant scent. Use your eggshells and coffee grounds for fertilizer for your garden! Or use the used coffee ground with coconut oil to make a cellulite scrub for the shower!
Save Meat Bones
After you make a whole chicken, a whole turkey or beef with bones, do not throw away the bones! You can throw into the freezer until you have enough (or time) and make homemade bone broth. People pay a lot of money for bone broth, and it is so good for you! Throw the bones into a pot of water and bring to a boil and cook for a couple of hours. Strain and you could either can or freeze the broth to use later!
Learn Sewing Basics
Learn to sew buttons back on and simple things like hemming pants. Not only will it help defray tailoring costs, but you can also turn your kids’ jeans that suddenly are too short, into shorts! Patch the knees in your child’s play clothes to make them last longer. Have smaller pieces of fabric? Cut into squares and make a quilt or blanket!
Use Every Drop
Use every drop of shampoo, toothpaste, lotion, etc. When you think that it is empty, cut open the container. You will be amazed at the amount of produce is still in the container. I recently thought I had gotten every drop out of my foundation. It was in a small bottle, and I had turned it upside down to get every drop. I then took a cotton swap and scooped out enough foundation for three more days!
Home-made Cleaning Products
Just add hot water and vinegar (and perhaps some orange peel that you saved) and place in a spray bottle to clean your countertops, sinks, floors and more! Need something with more scrubbing power for your bathtub or shower? Just take some baking soda and water to make a paste and scrub those stains away!
Save on Electric
There are so many things that you can do to save money on electric that I have written an entire blog on it. Read Saving Money on Utilities. Easy examples are to set your thermostat on 68 degrees in winter and 76 degrees in the summer. When you leave the room turn off television and lights! Run your dishwasher or laundry early in the morning or later at night to save on electricity.
Cut Back on Water Usage
Run your dishwasher and laundry when you have a full load. Wash your dishes by hand to save even more money! Just fill a bigger bowl with warm soapy water and use a rag or sponge to clean, rinse, and let dry on a dishrack. Do not keep the water running when washing the dishes or even when you brush your teeth! So much water is wasted. Put a brick in the back of the toilet tank to save water when flushing!
Do it Yourself
Unless you are elderly or disabled, you can mow your lawn, plant flowers, wash your car, clean clothes, do your own cleaning, etc. yourself. Stop paying someone to do something that you can do!
Do Your Own Repairs
My grandparents did not have YouTube! Now that we do, learn how to change your oil, replace your windshield wipers, fix a leaky faucet, or thousands of other repairs that you can learn how to do yourself by watching YouTube videos. My husband has saved us a ton of money by doing this. He is amazing!
Use Everything Up
Do you replace an item because it is worn out or broken? When the elbows of a shirt are worn through, use the rest of the shirt to cover a pillow or recover a cushion. Cut in squares to make a quilt or blanket. Or even use as rags around the house.
Buy Reusable Products
Stop spending money on disposable items like paper napkins, paper tablecloths, paper plates or paper towels. Buy cloth napkins, tablecloths, and hand towels. Use rags to clean up messes instead of paper towels.
Stop Going to the Hairdresser
Okay, okay. I know. This is a hard one to do. However, there are ways that you can cut back on this. Cut your husband and children’s hair with a trimmer like this one by Wahl. Instead of getting your hair cut every 4 weeks, go 5 or 6 weeks in between and for goodness sakes, color your hair at home and save yourself hundreds of dollars a year!
Do Your Nails at Home
During COVID I started doing this at home and after a while, I became decent at doing my nails. Pedicures and manicures can really add up and with all the products out on the market, you can buy something online to do your nails at home. Gel nails, acrylic, just get on Amazon and check out all the options that you have to save money!
Use Reusable Lunch Containers
You are brown bagging your lunch at work! Great! Stop spending money on paper bags and baggies to take your lunch into the office. Instead buy a reusable lunch container like this cute leopard one and instead of disposable baggies you could use these great reusable ones or use reusable plastic containers like these from Youngover.
Shop Secondhand
Shopping secondhand is not what it used to be. Of course, you will want to shop at Goodwill, Community Aid, Salvation Army, etc. for small appliances, household goods and even kids’ clothes! Check out ThredUp, Poshmark, Mercari, and other clothing apps for great deals on clothes! Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are both wonderful places to look for used small appliances, outdoor furniture, sporting goods, and gym equipment!
There you have it! A list of twenty ways that my grandparents used to save money. What have your grandparents or parents do to save money that is not on this list?
My grandparents were on to something. We just need to learn how to be contented living with less.
Remember what my husband always says, “Saving Money IS Making Money”!
