Not everything about the past was amazing. There’s no golden age that we can pin down, even though some people like to think there is. But we can still learn a lot from the past and from the wisdom of previous generations. When you want good money advice to follow, it’s often best to get it from the people who had it hardest. If you hardly have two cents to rub together, you really learn how to manage your money out of necessity. Plus, older generations had different attitudes and different things available to them. There were less choice and less throwing things away. Try these old-fashioned money management and saving tips if you want to improve your finances. You can update them for the modern day.
Grow Your Own
Producing your own food has long been something that people have done when they can’t afford to buy it. These days, it’s often people with more money who have space and the time to grow their own produce. However, you don’t have to have a huge plot of land or even a lot of time if you want to try growing a few things. Whether you want to plant some herbs or try growing cabbages, it could be a lot easier than you think. If you’re not sure where to start, there’s no need to spend money on books or classes. You can find plenty of useful resources online.
Start Canning
Whether you’re growing your own produce or just buying your food, it’s important to avoid being wasteful. Throwing away anything, even scraps, could waste perfectly useful items. If you can’t use something right away, preserving it for later stops you being wasteful. Some things can simply be frozen or wrapped up and stored in the right way. But if you want to take a lesson from your grandma, canning helps you make the most of your food, and it’s a fun hobby too. Nowadays, there are lots of handy tools you can use, like an automatic home canning system.
Make Food Go Further
Even when you’re not preserving food, you can make sure it goes further by using it in the right way and making use of every scrap. Bulking out some of your ingredients with cheaper items can make it go further. For example, if you’re making hamburgers, you can use breadcrumbs or even crushed cereal to make more mixture from less meat. You can use scraps of food to do things like making breadcrumbs from stale bread or making stock from bones and vegetable scraps. It’s also a good idea to learn how to tell if something is no longer edible. Don’t rely on the dates on eggs – put them in water and if they float, they’re no good. If they sink but stick up a bit, eat them fast.
Make Do and Mend
This phrase originates in 1940s Britain, used to encourage people to make the most of what they had. Things were scarce during the war, so everyone had to do their best to survive with the things they already had. We might not be in the middle of a war, but it’s always a good idea to try to make things go further. Instead of throwing out a sweater because it has a hole in it and buying a new one, repairing it could save you some money. You can even turn something into something else. Upcycling was done long before anyone ever said “upcycling”. We can be very wasteful when there’s no need to be because things like clothes are much more affordable and available than they once were.
Coupon Cutting
Coupon cutting is something that people have been doing for a long time. It might seem silly to some, but if you’re smart about it, you can save huge amounts of money. Some people have even done it to buy food for charitable causes. You might not want to sit and clip coupons out of magazines or newspapers these days. However, going online to find coupons and discount codes is a good idea. At DontPayFull, you’ll find plenty of offers you can use to save some money. Whether you’re buying groceries or getting someone a gift, you don’t have to pay full price. It’s always worth checking for discounts before you buy something just to make sure you don’t pay more than you need to.
Reuse Everything
We throw things away much more easily than people did in the past. There wouldn’t have been nearly as many disposable items in the average household. Even items we might see as disposable now could be kept, like paper bags. In addition to fixing things so they last longer, reusing items, even if they’re designed to be single use, is a great way to save money. Of course, you should only reuse something if it’s safe to do so. You don’t want it to disintegrate halfway through its second use. Try to invest in items that are designed to last a long time so you can use them again and again for years.
Be More Minimalist
There’s so much choice in what you buy nowadays, and so many companies trying to tell you what you need. You can end up with much more than is really necessary, even for things like cleaning. Using one multi-purpose cleaning product could save you a lot more money than having different products for different tasks. Sometimes a specialty product might be necessary, but much less often than you think. Leading a more minimalist life will help you avoid overspending on things you don’t really need. It makes you think more about your purchases and whether they’re really necessary or if you’re just falling for advertising tricks. You’ll find yourself researching your purchases more and being more careful about what you spend your money on.
Listening to your elders is often a good rule because they have so much life experience. Although, it is good to update their advice slightly for the modern day.