{"id":985569,"date":"2026-05-26T09:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/985569\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:22:16","slug":"frugal-tips-to-save-money-from-older-generations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/985569\/","title":{"rendered":"Frugal tips to save money from older generations"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those with great grandparents, grandparents, and parents from the Greatest Generation (those born 1901 to 1927) and the Silent Generation (those born 1928 to 1945), much can be learned from how to live a frugal lifestyle<\/a>. These two generations lived through the Great Depression and World War II<\/a>, two events that forced Americans to become more resourceful<\/a> due to difficult financial situations<\/a>, food scarcity,<\/a> and rations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, people who consider themselves frugal are always looking for more ways to save money<\/a>. To glean frugal wisdom from older generations<\/a> that would still be applicable today, one frugal person posed the question on Reddit<\/a>: \u201cWhat frugal lesson from your parents or grandparents you still use today?\u201d<\/p>\n

And many frugal people offered their best money-saving tips from their relatives that they still use today. From how to save on money to utilities, these are the best frugal tips from Redditors<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reuse from your kitchen<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandma rinsed and reused foil until it crumbled. I rolled my eyes then, now I catch myself doing it. Funny how those \u2018silly\u2019 habits end up smart. Mine also saves glass jars, labeled lids with tape, turned t-shirt into rags, and froze veg scraps for stock. :)\u201d \u2013 YourxCherry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI save butter wrappers in the fridge to use for greasing baking pans. To get everything out of empty condiment bottles, I pour a little vinegar, milk or whatever is fitting, then shake it up and use that for salad dressing or other cooking needs.\u201d \u2013 so-many-cats<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI love Tostitos salsa jars. Whatever I cook, such as soup, ground beef, pasta, the extras, or leftovers, everything goes into these jars. They are so perfect for portioning. One jar = one person\u2019s meal portion. I literally have more than 30 jars, and they are incredibly convenient!\u201d \u2013 Proud_Possibility256<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI do not go grocery shopping until my fridge is empty including my freezer zero food waste. I have become very creative with recipes. Saves me money. Always take lunch to work.\u201d \u2013 Samantha-the-mermaid<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother took care of her five siblings during the depression after her parents died on .45\u00a2 an hour. I make more money in an hour than she made in a week. She never wasted ANYTHING. She taught me to save bacon grease for seasoning, bread ends for bread pudding, leftovers for soup<\/a>, and coffee grounds and eggshells for the garden. We didn\u2019t carve our pumpkins- we painted them and made pumpkin pie out of it after Halloween.\u201d \u2013 That-Response-1969<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI sometimes hate it that I am like this, but one of the first odd things that come to mind is labeling bottles of home goods like dish soap, body wash, bars of soap, hand soap, etc. so you know which one lasts the longest after purchase. Keep in mind, my grandmother grew up during the Great Depression. I also spent a majority of my days with her making food (predominately just standing around doing nothing useful). All of the meals we hold dear to our hearts are actually just frugal meals to stretch out. She would get extremely nervous if she came to your home and there were not canned goods. This is winter in the upper Midwest during the Great Depression to put it into perspective, along with canning and preparing for everything. This is a person that lived by candle light basically. When she finally had a icebox, every last meal had to be frozen. No matter what you made, it had to be able to sit there when necessary. You make no meal that cannot be eaten for three days or frozen solid for the next month. I still live by this routine.\u201d \u2013 WideRoadDeadDeer95<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make your money go further<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother taught me how to compare prices per item or ounce rather than by the package<\/a>.\u201d \u2013 Chicpea09<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents always framed purchases by how much time I would have to exchange for the item. So when I was in 6th grade and I wanted a TV for my bedroom and it was $120, I would have to do 6 to 10ish baby sitting jobs \u2013 then ask myself is it worth that exchange. This is still how I frame most purchases.\u201d \u2013 BagNo349<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather told me as a teenager that debt is how other people control you<\/a>. I didn\u2019t realize how true this was until my early 20s when I got into mild debt problems. Since then I have been majorly debt averse.\u201d \u2013 Egon88<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMine told me if you cant pay the milkman 6pence this week, how will you pay him 12pence next week? Lesson learned. I pay my bills on time ALWAYS.\u201d \u2013 Mundane_Sail_4155<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad always said it\u2019s not a deal if you can\u2019t afford it. Of course he didn\u2019t have slickdeals either lol.\u201d \u2013 JasonG5<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandpa always said \u2018Pay yourself first.\u2019 Even when money was tight, he\u2019d stash $5\u201310 in savings before paying bills. I thought it was silly but that habit built a nice cushion over time.\u201d \u2013 samdaz712<\/strong><\/p>\n

Save on utilities and living expenses<\/p>\n

\u201cI hang dry my clothing whenever possible. I find it strangely relaxing to stand outside and carefully hang everything up so it has good airflow. It reminds me of helping my grandmother hang out laundry on their farm. The only thing I changed was painting the tips of my clothespins so I can see them better and don\u2019t forget them on the line accidentally.\u201d \u2013 SpecificSkunk<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMAINTAIN and REPAIR what you already own. Lubricate, tighten, clean. Change filters. Replace belts. Flush. Air out. Condition. Resurface. Store properly. Take care of your stuff.\u201d \u2013 i_know_tofu<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI patch and repair clothes that can be repaired instead of immediately buying new. For instance, we have a comforter that has gotten holes from the washing machine \u2013 cheap materials. I\u2019m learning the Japanese art of Shashiko to patch it over my Thanksgiving week break. I find a used item instead of buying new immediately, when our dryer went out, I bought one from an estate sale for the same price as repairing the old one would have cost (and since it was on it\u2019s 3rd repair \u2013 heavy eye roll on cheaply made crap \u2013 I don\u2019t feel so bad. I line dry a lot of things. Not everything but a lot.\u201d \u2013 LeftwingSH<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI put on hoodies and blankets and refuse to turn the heater on until the outside temps are about 45 degrees.\u201d \u2013 thedoc617<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHow to drive in order to maximize your miles per gallon<\/a> and reduce wear and tear on the car. Accelerate slowly and try to keep under 2 RPMs. Leave a wide berth between yourself and other cars. Anticipate traffic\/stopping, then let off the gas and cruise. Don\u2019t ride the brakes.\u201d \u2013 OrdinarySubstance491<\/strong><\/p>\n

The wisdom holds up, all these years later<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason these habits stuck around long after the Depression ended and the rationing stopped. They work. Not because they\u2019re clever tricks, but because they reflect a fundamental shift in how you relate to the things you own, treating them as resources to be respected rather than conveniences to be used up and replaced. Our grandparents didn\u2019t have the luxury of waste, and in learning from them, we might find that neither do we. The good news is that most of these tips cost nothing to start. Pick one, try it this week, and see what happens.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For those with great grandparents, grandparents, and parents from the Greatest Generation (those born 1901 to 1927) and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":985570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3093],"tags":[251659,274000,51,474,151503,101320,151497,109020,12548,151498,151499,132400,3780,940,66821,151500,2499,2511,3784,4880,151501,16,15,12873,151502],"class_list":["post-985569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-popular_source-pageview","tag-bugeting","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-frugal-advice","tag-frugal-living","tag-frugal-people","tag-frugal-tips","tag-great-depression","tag-great-depression-frugal-living","tag-greatest-generation","tag-how-to-save-money","tag-money-advice","tag-money-saving","tag-money-saving-tips","tag-moneysaving-advice","tag-personal-finance","tag-reddit","tag-save-money","tag-saving-money","tag-silent-generation","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-world-war-ii","tag-world-war-ii-frugal-licing"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/985570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}