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Thread: Things your frugal elders told you

  1. #11
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    Indian version of Catherine's mince and peas. I make it all the time.

    https://spicecravings.com/keema-mata...meat-with-peas

  2. #12
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Those people who are spending money on everything outwardly don't really have the money— big hat no cattle.

    Babies and kids arent for everyone. ( I guess this isnt frugality necessarily, but not having kids saved me a boatload of money.)

    Aluminum foil and bandaids are expensive! We dont use much of that.

    Don’t count on us leaving you any money, we are giving you your inheritance now because we are paying for your education. ( Frugal because no school debt)

  3. #13
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    "We can't afford a train ticket to Bryn Mawr," when my high school counselor dangled a scholarship opportunity.
    I should have offered to hitchhike.

    I can't say I have fond memories of frugality, which might explain my attitude toward money.

  4. #14
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    Save up and pay for stuff in cash.
    I don't drink coffee, but I remember my grandmothers (as one friend calls it "church coffee"). She preferred three day use coffee grounds. If she was drinking new, it was normally from some church funeral, or from McDonald's, because she was getting me pancakes on the way to pick up her sister from the nursing home.
    Something we don't do now, because of all the memory/reprogramming stuff, unplug any electrical device when not in use. TV was a big one, the only exception was the washer and dryer. (hard to get to)

  5. #15
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    I grew up on a farm and credo was if possible, make do with what you have. For example, if you need an hook and eye latch and you have a fence post nail and straight nail, make the latch. No need spending money on something you can make.

  6. #16
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    haha, yea much of it was pretty harsh, that's being honest about it.

    - hang clothes to dry (yea but this apartment clothesline is funky smelling)
    - camping vacations and the occasional Motel 6 (it's been 6 years since I've gone on any vacation at all though)
    - don't have kids and you'll be a lot richer (not necessarily true, if you are planning on kids you might marry someone doing better financially (and push yourself harder but mostly the former), I've very much never cared what a partner earned, as long as they had a job)
    - stocks are gambling
    - don't quit a job unless you have another lined up
    - debt is bad
    - in the Great Depression PhDs were washing dishes!
    - no you can't have fashionable clothes like your classmates they cost too much
    - not a lot of buying stuff, furniture, dishes, etc. never changed, art on walls was only people they knew etc. (I don't intend to change stuff much either, but it was a decade in adulthood before I even had soft chairs, over 15 years in before I had a couch, so sometimes I'm still buying something)
    - go to the community college

    The more frugal lifestyle of my childhood was actually mostly good, I have nostalgia for those clothes hanging out to dry. But the messages verbalized were often pretty harsh. And some of it short sighted too.
    Trees don't grow on money

  7. #17
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    Yes - it was survival skills. It’s hard to plan for the future when you’re just getting by. A lot of it is valuable advice, but I wish it could have been more gentle.

    I fell onto a sharp corner and cut the back of my head at about age 5. It was late on a Saturday night so the only solution was an emergency room. So my dad put a few stitches in my scalp with sewing supplies, I remember my mom holding me still while he put in the stitches. I don’t remember pain. But our family didn’t acknowledge pain as anything but weakness. I worked on the farm whether I felt well or not. It took decades for me to recognize how I was feeling in the moment and to attend to my personal needs.

    A few years later my dad slipped while skinning a raccoon and cut his knee. He put stitches in his own knee. I watched. He almost fainted a few times but was not about to go to the doctor after starting the procedure himself. After that we all went to the doctor for our stitches.

  8. #18
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I was the youngest and a unplanned surprise so I didn’t wear hand me downs because there weren’t any. My oldest sister had stories about when money was tight. We never ate out until my mom went back to work and I was 12. Then it was Friday night fish fry at the local bar. She also bought a dishwasher. My mom lived through the depression and when she got something new she used it. She didn’t save it for later. We always ate well but didn’t waste food and ate leftovers. They had no debt except for the house.

  9. #19
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    The "stocks are gambling" thing was a consistent refrain, even though one set of grandparents made much of their fortune that way. I also had to wear unfashionable clothing, usually bought in some dank bargain basement. Oddly, I internalized that one--I'm loath to spend much on individual items of clothing to this day. Right after I got my first job, I bought a whole wardrobe at retail. I guess that satisfied the urge.

  10. #20
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    Look after your nickels and dimes. The dollars will look after themselves.

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