5 Thrifty Tips From Our Mothers and Grandmothers

My mom who would have been ninety-five this June, always told us as children, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!" Really good advice if I could get my husband to go along with that! :-)

In the 60's when money was tight, I cut my 3 boys' & husband's hair, made my own lined short drapes, darned socks & jeans, and never bought TV dinners or pizza. I cooked as much as possible from scratch except for cake or pudding mixes, etc. We cut coupons and changed our own oil for the car, and rented a rug shampooer instead of hiring someone. Anything we could do ourselves to save money like painting, etc., we did.

Why didn't the woman just glue the knob back together instead of wasting time & $17 for a new one?!?

Great article! I agree with everything it says, and there are great tips here, except one: if you can get a high-efficiency washing machine, it REALLY saves money! I purchased one recently which supposedly pays for itself in 18 months and I believe it. My January water bill was half of what it was from before I switched from my old machine (at least as old as the one in the article and it was irreparable), and my electric use went way down. Also, the clothes are so dry after it finishes, that I did stop using the dryer (further lowering my electric bill) and since the clothes are spun so well, they dry more quickly now when I hang them up (I bought a drying rack from Bed & Bath with my coupon!). I am told that the new energy-star labeled refrigerators and air conditioners (and some of the new cars) are also so much more efficient that it can pay off to switch to them next time an appliance breaks.

I keep thinking that the 35 and under crownd REALLY need to hear of some of this stuff....

What great tips! Thank you for sharing them! They definitely provided food for thought.