Frugality always has to adapt to the times
As I've been working through our Tightwad Gazette series, I've been thinking about how frugal strategies have changed just since the 1990s.
Since I moved out from my parents' house in 1997, my own frugality has gone through a lot of iterations! But because I'm frugal to the core, I keep adapting as times change.
I thought it would be fun to reminisce about some of my past frugal practices, and then you guys can do the same in the comments!
When online shopping first became a thing in the early 2000s, a lot of online stores had offers for things like $25/$25 purchase, just to make you brave enough to try this new e-commerce thing.
(No one trusted it at first!)
I took full advantage of those and I got quite a few of my kids Christmas presents for free that way.
Generic grocery store products did exist back then, of course. But I must say: the current generic products have improved a whole lot, both in terms of product quality and packaging. I remember them being far more plain and ugly 25 years ago.
Priceline had a grocery and gas system for a while at that time; you would actually bid for a price on groceries and gas, as wild as that sounds. I used it while it was available, but I do remember it being a rather annoying system, and I am not surprised it failed with time.
Around that same time, my area grocery stores doubled coupons up to $1, so I joined a coupon swap email list, where we mailed unneeded coupons to other people (one man's trash coupon is another man's treasure coupon!).
I got so so many products for free or almost free by combining doubled coupons with sales.
I used the coupons and sales to get Pampers diapers for cheap, because Pampers was offering a great rewards program where you could get Fisher Price toys for free with points you cut out from the boxes. I got my kids a toy grill, a toy tent with a campfire, and more.
Mail-in-rebates were also popular at the time; I was always mailing away for rebates for free toothpaste and such.
Now almost all internet coupons are digital, but back then, we had printable coupons. I remember there being so many fraud problems with those coupons because people were always figuring out ways to get around the printing limits.
I don't use many coupons now; I mostly just shop at Aldi and Sam's Club, or I use digital coupons in the Safeway app.
eBay debuted in 1995 and I was a pretty early adopter, unsurprisingly. But trying to sell items before digital cameras was a PAIN; I can remember taking film photos of items, developing the film, and then scanning those printed photos to upload them to the listing.
Also, back then every single listing was an auction; there was no Buy It Now option. The eBay experience has improved by leaps and bounds since then!
You want to know something kind of wild I did back in the 2000s? There were pay-to-read email programs, and if you opened the email, clicked on the ad, and let the time run for about 30 seconds, you'd get a penny. It was probably not the best use of my time, but I remember doing this while sitting on the couch nursing my babies. Ha.
I tried so many now-defunct online rewards programs....basically precursors to Swagbucks. I remember one called E-Rewards and one called Milesource. MyPoints was one of the originals, and amazingly enough, it's still going!
I think what I have learned in all my years of frugality is that there are always going to be opportunities to save money if you are willing to look.
Doubled coupons and mail-in rebates may be things of the past, but now I have Aldi.
Priceline for gas may be gone, but we have GasBuddy and GetUpside.
And the internet has brought us all sorts of wonderful frugal gifts like email, text messaging, free long-distance calling, Buy Nothing Groups, and online thrift stores (like ThredUp). Plus, thrifting has become cool, and no one could have imagined that 25 years ago. 😉
You know that saying, "Wherever you go, there you are."?
Well, if you are a person who is committed to saving money, you will always figure out ways to make that happen, no matter where you live, no matter your stage of life, and no matter what year it is.
Past Kristen was busy saving money.
Current Kristen is too.
And I'm sure Future Kristen will still be finding ways to pinch pennies in another 25 years. 😉
Some frugality tips are timeless, ie, cooking instead of getting takeout, buying reusable water bottles or buying bulk etc, but some older tips I read don't take into account inflation. If x amount of prices have increased yet income remains the same, you cannot save as much. Likewise, my parents were able to save a lot more because their university education was paid for by grants. This isn't to say it's not worth being frugal, just that it's a lot harder. Similarly, it's hard to shop around for deals (or cook every evening) if you are low on time. My frugal choices are often based on spending time or money.
This is more of a complement rather than a change of times, but some of my frugality has changed regarding the culture I live in. Food (and numerous other things) is a lot more expensive in Denmark than in the UK, where I'm from, and taxes are higher. I don't begrudge it because the taxes paid for my master's and my Danish classes, and there is a very high standard of living, but the grocery bill can be depressing! Supermarkets back home have their own generic brands which are cheaper. Denmark's generic brands aren't that much of a saving! I know which supermarkets are cheaper overall but I don't save as much money. I always save drink cans because I then get a recycling voucher for money off groceries. It's a great initiative and I don't understand why the UK doesn't do the same.
@Sophie in Denmark,
Although the selection was not as varied, I found food in the UK was really inexpensive compared to the US.
I understand that the Scandinavian countries have very aggressive, recycling programs and end up with very little waste. I think that’s fantastic!
@Bee, they do! Denmark has a programme where you can get a free kayaking ride if you pick up litter in the canals. Tourists are getting free/discounted drinks for cycling or taking public transport as well.
I agree completely about changing frugal habits over the years. Some things that used to make sense (cents) have fallen away, but the standbys such as cooking at home, carrying snacks with you, never shop hungry, accepting gifts of food, clothing, and household goods will always be in fashion. I use online platforms for used items, too. It is all in the mindset. If you are a dedicated saver, you will find ways to save.
Oh gosh, Kristen, I did so many of the same things as you. I was crazy about rebates and coupons, and did them all of the time. I followed a lot of sites (bbs?) that helped me learn about combining sales and coupons. I remember entering multiple contests as well. I did win a shopping spree at HQ, and bought a bunch of supplies to work on my house. We had a fixer upper then. My biggest way to save money back when I was raising kids was to get up early on Saturdays and hit the yard sales. There were so many in my suburban neighborhood, and for a handful of change I'd get their clothes and toddler toys. Then when they got a little older, I went every Friday night to an auction house. I bought all of our furniture and other items there, and sometimes bought a "lot" and would sell what I didn't want on Ebay.
-I think the internet has made things so much easier, like in the ways you mention. I am too lazy to have ever taken photos, developed them, and then scanned and uploaded them to sell something used. However with the modern apps it just takes minutes, and I have sold a lot of kid stuff and sports equipment like this.
-My grandma made all the clothes for her kids born in the 1950s and early 1960s, at least when they were little. She was a child of the Depression and super frugal. I can't sew and from what I have heard fabric is pretty expensive anyway so I am not missing out on anything there.
-I used to eat more at free events. With age and pounds creeping on I no longer practice this frugal aspect.
@Sk in Norway,
Here in the States, it used to be that sewing girls' clothing was a money saver. My grandma sewed a lot of my school dresses; the rest were mostly hand-me-downs from relatives. Back then, there were fewer clothing stores and nothing like Walmart or Target. Today, however, with so many discount stores, outlets and --oh, yes!-- thrift stores, it's much easier to find children's and adult's clothing for not-so-much money. Sewing is still a big saver for things such as wedding dresses and prom formals, but for most other things, shopping is the go-to skill for frugality.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I can't sew but my grandmother did as did my mom. Mom sewed Barbie clothes as well as other doll clothes. Fabric is a) not as inexpensive as it used to be and b) not near the quality.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I bet those dresses were adorable, and probably so much better quality than what we have today.
We used to get green stamps for grocery shopping. I would shop on Wednesday because it was double stamp day. It did take a lot for items but I remember getting a tonka dump truck for my son at Christmas. It was a gift I couldn’t afford otherwise.
Child care was so much that it was cheaper for me to stay home and work on money saving ideas.
Instead of taking vacations we would find free and cheap things to do in and around our city. People vacation here so there is plenty to do.
We stayed in our small two bedroom home instead of moving up. Yes we would have enjoyed more room but staying here let us save a lot of money. Not only in the cost of the larger home but in taxes, utilities and insurance. Today we are still here in our retirement and the same money savings still apply.
I never shopped much so most of my savings came in reuse and recycling(upcycling today). I don’t like selling so I donated most of our good no longer needed items. I don’t collect anything either. I was just saying yesterday while watching one of those tv shows where people try to sell something of value. If you enjoy these items great, but just to buy then stuff them in a closet somewhere doesn’t make sense to me.
Today I am mostly doing the same money saving things I always did. Not shopping, staying home, reusing/recycling.
@cc, I have found memories of looking at the green stamps catalog.
@Beverly,
Oh, I remember my mom getting them and me putting them in the book and then helping choose what item we would get.
@cc,
When I had my first apartment in college, my mother gave me all her S&H green stamps. I was able to get pots& pans, dinnerware, and flatware.
@Irena and Beverly and Bee,
What grocery store and what "filling" (gas) stations you shopped at was largely determined by what trading stamps the business gave out. Department stores also gave out trading stamps. Some gave green stamps, others Gold Bond Stamps and the HEB food stores had their own Texas Gold Stamps. It was a big deal for our parents to go to the right place that had their preferred stamps.
@Beverly, ah yes. And King Korn maybe was the other? Not as popular in this area as green stamps and not near the same number of items to redeem on which to redeem them.
This post takes me back to all of the things that I did do over the years to stay at home with kids versus sending them to daycare. Being frugal is being creative if you get down to it. And that was a game I loved to play. I clipped the coupons for diapers, hit up the church garage sales, cooked at home and found frugal activities. The library was a 3x a week stop before they went to school so we could socialize and pick up books. Summer reading contests turned into prizes and more books. Guess who still likes to read? My young adult kids. They thrived at school because reading was a pastime.
I was just talking to someone last week about the change in Aldi from the last time they had tried it (2009) until now. It has improved a ton! But I love that the prices are still great.
@Ruth T, When I was first introduced to Aldi in 2005, it was a place to get low cost junk food. The meat and produce were always going bad in the cases because no one was buying them! Like, fruit fly swarms around the dripping produce bags kind of bad. Haha. I didn't shop there very often, until they changed, maybe 2015ish? They have really changed their offerings, which has changed their clientele. The produce is almost always great, and I will buy meat there now.
They have improved so so much in the last ten years especially!
I remember when my husband was in law school and I was working as a proofreader, one of the editors at the company complimented my sweater. I told her I got it at Goodwill, and she remarked that soon I wouldn't have to shop at thrift stores (the implication being that soon my husband would be a big earner, I suppose).
And here I am, twenty years later . . .
Yes! Now thrifting is so cool that even young people proudly tell others they thrifted an item they're wearing. I love that!
@Kristen, Nothing new. Thrifting was cool in the 80s when I was young. Unless people really thought I was named Paul and belonged to a Munich bowling club.
Maybe for you, where you lived, it was cool then. Not so for everyone everywhere, I can assure you! 🙂
Yes, but if everyone thinks something's cool, then it's not.
Along with other frugal baby boomers, I clipped paper coupons, sent in rebates, saved trading stamps (my mother always used Top Value Stamps in the South, and the first few years of my marriage overlapped with the last few years of S&H Green Stamps in the North), etc., etc. But, along with most of the rest of us, I'm still doing the stuff that endures (as listed by @Sandra and others above). And although I'll leave some of the online stuff to you young'uns, I agree with others that the Internet has brought many improvements, that generic brands have improved, and that secondhand shopping has become part of the culture (though retail consumerism is still far too dominant).
Yes, the frugal basics usually don't change a whole lot!
I too use to shop with $1.00 double coupons. At one time I paid for more than one subscription to the Sunday newspaper and I even had my mom send me coupon inserts from the Midwest (not every week but a few weeks worth as most coupons had long expiration dates and the USPS was much cheaper then). The Midwest coupons generally had lower values but were sometimes better for doubling. I am now happy to have a super cheap digital subscription to the local newspaper.
When I came upon a really good clearance, like holiday wrapping paper or toys 75% off, I would make a note to shop at the same time next year. I don't think stores are that consistent these days plus we just don't buy that much any more.
I did shop yard sales for kid stuff from toys, games, books, puzzles, and clothes. Our need for those is in the past.
I too shopped online early. Now that I know the damage that does to brick and mortar sales I try to limit the amount I shop online.
I did submit rebates back in the day and we have way too much printer paper thanks to Staples offers of almost free, after digital rebates, offers. I gave some away a few weeks ago.
I love the giveaway culture of Freecycle, Buying Nothing groups, and free piles.
1. My first job was downtown. At that time, 1970s, downtown was a rundown, horrible area. (It has since been developed and is now super-trendy again.) You had to pay to park in our company's parking lot. But, a kindly older co-worker took pity on me and told me about "the weed lot" half a block from our office. It was an old vacant lot whose owner was either in another state or dead; workers took advantage of this and parked their cars in there free. Thus, my old Ford joined the group of klunkers being parked in the lot for free. I saved hundreds!
2. Mail-in rebates were the thing. But one per name or address. I got my 80-year-old grandmothers, my aunts and my mom to help me on one: I sent in their names and addresses to a tampon company to get free boxes of same. All in all, I got a half-dozen more products than I would have, acting alone. We later did this with dog food when I got my puppy.
3. Long distance was expensive. This was the age when rotary dial landlines were slowly giving way to "touch-tone" phones...also landlines. You could get cards that had codes to bypass AT&T and dial a long distance call a lot cheaper. I did this a lot.
You could also set up your home phone on a cheaper long distance service. I also did this.
4. Instead of moving into an expensive apartment complex, I found a garage apartment. It was my first rental and I lived there several years. The neighborhood wasn't the greatest, and now I won't even drive through that area. But, hey, it saved me enough money to afford a starter home.
5. I took advantage of a First Time Homebuyer's program to get into a 30-year-old 3BR, 1BA starter house with a one-car garage and a laundry area in the back of the garage - very basic, but it was home. I lived there many years. I later found out that my younger coworkers, who all had college loans, were paying 'way more money to rent one-bedroom apartments than I was paying in monthly mortgage payments. Since I went to a state college and worked my way through, along with money my mom had saved for working extra on her job, I had no college debt.
@Fru-gal Lisa, When I worked for the state of NC, I was shocked that we had to pay for parking near the building. I found a greyhound bus station about 1/2 mile from my office that was a fraction of the price of a state lot. Walking the freezing temperatures while pregnant wasn't fun, but it did save us a lot of money.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I double dipped rebates too, but sometimes it confused my grandmother and she thought she deserved to keep things I sent to her house. 😉
@Fru-gal Lisa, I worked in Beverly Hills right after college as a copy editor/researcher. Parking was expensive, so all the rest of us on the low end of the totem pole parked on the adjoining neighborhood streets and moved our cars every 2 hours to avoid a ticket. Neighbors weren’t the happy about it, so we had to be on time to move or get a ticket.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I would stay up until 11:00 or get up early to call my parents, because long-distance rates were cheapest then.
@Bee,
Oh, yes. Me, too!
@Beverly, Charging employees to park is a huge ripoff IMHO.
@Fru-gal Lisa, when I worked at the university, employees were charged nearly $500 a year for parking. And it was not assigned parking: if space ran out in the lot, we would get parking tickets for parking in a different one. The policy was widely hated.
When you signed up for Costco or Sam's Club you received a gift card and paper towels. I don't recall how long ago that was, maybe 12 years ago? I am still working on using up those paper towels!
My mom and I traded coupons and some weeks I was first in line to get newspapers that had the Q booklets in them. And the free Ziploc bags were plentiful at Meijer. I lived back in the day of double coupons. Free shampoo is pretty past tense now.
I also sent in for free items with product purchase. I only did that on items I used. I have a set of Kellogg's breakfast bowls, Campbell's soup cups, Spaghettio Corning Ware bowls and Pyrex measuring cup from Rice a Roni. Still have them and still use them.
40 years ago we did not have 2 pennies to rub together. I had a very set budget for groceries. When we got married neither parents helped with costs. We rented a free venue with no air conditioning. It was hot. People brought dishes to pass and we had a really small cake and others made cakes and cupcakes. My sister made bouquets & a friend lent me her wedding gown. To this day it haunts me I did not have any money to pay for cleaning the gown (she knew that) and I only wore it very briefly. Very thankful every one did what they could to help!
Our In-laws said they would pay for a Hawaii honeymoon but instead sold us a car that 2 months later needed the head gaskets changed. It was thousands of dollars we did not have. A friend of ours used a tree to hold the motor to change that gaskets for 600. Fun times back then! 🙂 It's all good.
@Mar, Do you remember when Meijer used to put your name in a weekly drawing for $10 if you returned a cart from the parking lot? My mom won and I think I won once. That was a fun thing!
@Ruth T, Trader Joe's used to do the same thing if you brought your own bags.
@Ruth T, Ha! Yes and I wish they would do that again!
@Mar,
Sometimes the grocery stores would have promotions. Like, you could get the "A" volume of a set of encyclopedias for 50 cents (?, I think) the first week, and then on subsequent weeks you could buy the next volume for $1.50 (?) if you bought X dollars worth of groceries. I might be a bit off on the money amounts, but you get the idea. Mom collected the Golden Book Encyclopedia for me this way. The neighbors got a more grown-up set, I think it might have been Funk and Wagnells, for their kids. It was an off-brand, to be sure, but much cheaper than the World Books that everyone else seemed to have; World Book Encyclopedia sets were mega-expensive!
Other promotions were put out by the manufacturers: Duz detergent had drinking glasses, I think it was, and another brand gave out towels and washcloths. These items were packed in the boxes of powdered detergent. Name brands such as Tide or Cheer never did this; it was the off-brands that promoted their laundry soap this way.
Bama Jelly packed its product in drinking glasses and you had to use a sodapop bottle opener to get the metal lid off the first time. All my relatives had sets of glasses from Bama Jelly jars. Then Welch's came out with Flintstone glasses and we clamored for the Flintstones so much that Mom caved in and started buying that brand!
@Fru-gal Lisa, My mother started me off with milk glass dishes bought piece by piece from the local grocery store each week. It started a life-long love of milk glass, and I had shelves full of bowls, candle holders, glasses, a couple of pitchers, etc. 5 years ago, I realized my daughter had no interest in them, husband hated to eat off them, and they took up space that could have been used for something else.
So I posted on my profile fb page, and an old friend wanted to buy them. I shipped them to her via UPS, who broke about 2/3 of them all in transit. I kept the insurance money and didn't charge her anything. She kept what was salvageable, and I think I may have about 5 pieces I couldn't part with, and have pictures of some of my favorites.
When I was in my early 20s, fresh out of college and newly married, we kept our grocery bill down by eating a lot of ramen. It was a good week when I got ramen for less than 10 cents a bag. Thankfully, the quality of our food has greatly increased. We no longer eat Ramen (mostly bc I discovered I have celiac-whoops!), but still try to keep our food budget down by shopping at Aldi, avoiding processed foods and cooking at home. We also have a garden, though I'm not sure how much $$ that saves us.
I also used to shop at Goodwill for clothing much more frequently. This was super time consuming since my size isn't easily found in stores (I'm a 6'0 tall). And, if I'm honest, the quality of clothes I found [in my size] in the second hand shops was lacking; I question whether I saved any money. It was great for kids clothes though! Now, I just buy higher quality pieces, but less of them.
We used to be big into diy. Nothing was off-limits-painting, dry-walling, wall removals, tiling, installing all sorts of flooring, carpentry, hardscape/landscape, repairs, etc... Now, we take a hard look at more than just the $$ we might save by doing it ourselves. We look at time, skill level, our health (my back just isn't as good as it was 20 years ago despite trying to stay in shape). With this mindset, we outsource some of the more time consuming home projects requiring more skills and do some of the minor projects ourselves. Worth every penny!
Back in the day (1997, I think) on eBay, someone mailed me a physical photograph of what they were selling. I didn't buy it! Also it became a lot easier when X.com, which eventually became PayPal, was introduced.
I wasted (not sure it's a waste) a lot of money when younger. Elaborate gifts, both for my kids and my parents (i sent them to England a couple times). A summer home, but it was my dream to own it and it's worth 10x what I paid for it. Traveling a lot. Expensive nerd camps for my kids. Expensive clothes for my kids which were then given away. But I don't regret any of it since it made me very happy. Since I worked and commuted long hours and was chronically ill, I prioritized fun and learning with my kids.
We bought modest cars (several Subarus, a Saturn, and a Toyota minivan) and drove them until they choked out their last, so that's something. We went to Disney a lot but it was pretty cheap as our company paid the grownups' way and hotel. Saved for retirement and kids' college.
@Rose,
Is your current home the summer home you're referring to? If it is, what a smart move (as well as the realization of your dream). I could not believe the change in real estate prices when I reconnected with high school friend right before the pandemic. Some still live on LI, and one friend - my high school bff - sold her large house in - I think - Bellport? - for almost a million dollars in 2020. She and her husband (Bill, RIP 9/11) bought it for less than half of that 20-ish years before.
@Liz B., Yes. It was my dream since it was a, just two doors down from my grandmother's house, b, old and untouched, c, had a guest cottage like Nana's does, and d, same view. I have a larger hunk of land and bigger houses, though not much bigger.
Bellport has gone up a LOT. It used to be a bit scuzzy but then various celebrities moved in, etc. And I think I mentioned that I offered to buy my sister an apartment in Babylon in 2000, which are now 500K versus 60K back then. My brother's house in Setauket has doubled, though I think he should downsize now while prices are high. His place was new in 2000 in that same ol, same ol souless McMansion style, with the stupid big round window in front designed to show off the stupid big chandelier, and the front porch that's too narrow and so on. And the landscaping I call "the Long Island," with the twisty evergreens and the mulch and weeping pine and yeesh.
Ugh, it's gonna be 9/11 again soon. I knew 6 people who died. So stressful every year. Sorry about your friend's husband.
@Liz B., And I had to fight my ex for it, but you know me: I fight to win,
@Rose,
All good reasons to buy the summer home that you did. I love old and untouched homes. And you're 100% correct, you fight to win, and you succeeded big time against your ex to keep your house.
I know....9/11 is such a sad anniversary. My friend's husband went to high school with us, though I didn't know him well. I'm sorry for the 6 people you know who died.
@Liz B., I had PTSD for at least a year later. It was terrible, even though I didn't see a plane hit the WTC as my sister did. My father had debris damage his car, and so on.
Freebies. 20-25 years ago the internet was full of free sample websites. Name and address and you were mailed free things. I got so many free things - calendars, food, pet items, clothes, a duffel bag. It was great, but that's pretty much dead these days.
@Jess, I'm still wearing a great hoodie I got from Start Sampling. I also got a calculator, sweatshirts, tote bags among other things. I loved that site!
@Bobi, I totally forgot about Start Sampling. I don't remember what I got but nothing like what you got. Maybe I was doing it past the prime. And didn't you have to use your social security as part of your user information?
@Jess,
Another neat place to get freebies was job fairs, health fairs, home improvement fairs, etc. You used to be able to get free calendars, letter openers, emery boards, manicure sets, chargers for your phone that fit in the car cigarette lighter, shopping bags, hats, pens, pencils, coffee cups etc. The calendars were really beautiful, too. All this stuff had advertising on it, but who cares? It was free and you could use it! In recent years, businesses have cut down on the amount of stuff they give out, and the quality has also suffered. Attending my last home and garden show, I got everything they handed out free, but it was mostly drink cozies and shopping bags. At least I can use the latter at Aldi!
@Tammy, Oh never! No one gets my SS# except banks/legal stuff.
We have two doll companies locally that have worldwide sales so they employed a lot of people to dress, accessorize and glue hair onto the dolls. You could do this at home and I did in order to stay at home with the kids. You picked up dolls and supplies at the warehouse each week. As many as you wanted.
When the kids were a little older I worked two days a month in a department store in town. It got me out of the house and among adults but also a deep discount on anything the store sold. Since we knew when the sales were coming up, and we were allowed to "put back" items to buy, I could get everything from kids' clothes to appliances and everyday household items at thrift store prices.
Since my degree was in languages, I also taught German adult evening classes once a week and after school classes in German once a week at our kids' elementary school.
All of this could be accomplished at times when my DH was home. Once the kids were teens I resumed my career but switched from being a translator (because travel) to being a curator since we have a fine arts museum in our town. I also got a second degree to further my art career as the kids grew older, like Kristen is doing.
I did a lot of paper couponing and built up a stockpile of products over time. Piggly Wiggly stores used to give out pink trading stamps that could be redeemed for products. When I cleaned out my mother's house in the early 1990s, she had bales of those stamps stuffed in drawers. I spent marathon sessions pasting them up. My brother was out of work at the time and the stamps paid for a lot of groceries for him. Customer loyalty cards replaced those stamps, which are much easier to use.
When my son was little in the early 1990s, Walmart had a big fabric and sewing section with nice fabric for $1 a yard. I made a lot of little overalls and pants for him for pennies and paired them with thrifted shirts.
We also used to save points for dog and cat food and mailed them in to occasionally get a free bag.
@Ruby, Always fun to see a reference to Piggly Wiggly. We had a Red Owl store as well that. As a child, I thought true grocery stores had to have mascots, not just initials or meaningless misspelled words in their names.
Whenever the stores in town had toilet paper as a loss leader, my parents would run in and pick up a pack. Dad said Mom had enough toilet paper to insulate the bathroom, and the price was good.
@Heidi Louise, Hey, the toilet paper would've come in handy during the Covid 19 quarantine!
@Ruby, oh I remember doing this for cat food too! Clipping out the little coupons from each bag of cat food, stapling or taping them carefully onto a little rebate form, and getting a coupon for free cat food in the mail. I haven't thought about that in ages!
Getting free long distance calling was a big thing for me. I collected all those free 10-minute cards that advertisers gave away, I sent in UPCs for 30-60 minute cards and I even had a number I could call where you could listen to commercials then make a call. The cards were great for traveling so you could make free calls from hotels or pay phones (haha) where surcharges could easily make a 3-minute call cost over $10!
I remember using eBay to sell things when it was still auction only, and it was a disaster & not worth it for me. I tried it a few times, and either the auction would never sell for much, USPS lost my packages multiple times, or I had to buy packaging material (this was before you had a million packing envelopes sitting around from all of the other online goods). I occasionally buy packing tape (at Costco), but haven't bought other packing supplies in 5+ years. That definitely drops the cost & increases the profit.
Enjoyed reading this post!
For me locations change how I pinch pennies.
For example when I'm Stateside I:
- Use Fetch rewards
- check the store sales to help me menu plan
- purchase off ebay
When I'm in Africa I:
- Buy mostly local food instead of expensive imported food
- have clothes made for super cheap and tailored to me
- Exclusively line dry
And there's things I do no matter where I am:
- Cook most of our meals at home
- Shop used when I can
- Try to waste very little
Our lives are in a constant state of change as is the world around us. Some of the things that I did as working mother of three are not the same that I do now as an empty nester. This is partially because the world has changed, but also my life has changed.
For many years, I quit buying in bulk and gave up my Costco and Sam’s memberships. My kiddos no longer lived at home. DH went to work everyday and did not bring his lunch. I only cooked one meal a day if I even cooked at all. These warehouse stores were far from home and did not save us enough to make it worth it for us. I used digital and paper coupons while shopping the local grocery store specials and the BOGO deals.
Fast forward to present day, life has changed again since 2020. DH works for home when not involved in a project and I retired. Suddenly I’m cooking 3 meals a day. Local grocery store prices are much higher and the deals are not that great. I now shop at Costco again. I save more than enough money on coffee alone to pay for my membership. I started using a price book again. We also have multiple groceries nearby.
In the days before VRBO and Air B&B, our family camped on vacations. We had a huge Coleman Cabin Tent, and we would all pile in. We had air mattresses and sleeping bags. It was far from luxurious accommodations, but very cheap. Now if we go as a family, we will rent a house. When it’s just my husband and I, we will use our points to stay in a hotel. Sleeping on the ground is no longer appealing now that we are older. However, we have found new ways to travel inexpensively.
I too sold on eBay early on, but I had my photos put on CDs. I would get up on Saturday morning and go in search of deals at garage sales and thrift store. There was little competition for antiques and collectibles. Since my father was an architect, I had been immersed in the design world my whole life. It was not unusual for me to pay $1 for something and sell it for $150 on an online auction. When eBay started growing really fast, things were ripe for fraud. After a terrible experience, I quit selling for a long, long time. I now sell on eBay again, but I’m very cautious about what I sell. The super duper deals have dried up as it seems everyone is an online reseller with a phone. Thus, shopping at garage sales and thrift stores is no longer as lucrative.
I also used to buy most of my wardrobe at thrift stores. However, I no longer find fabulous clothes at bargain prices. Thrift stores have gotten expensive and picked over. I still look but only buy a piece here and there. I now have a semi-capsule wardrobe. I belong to some rewards programs and buy on sale. I have a nice consignment shop nearby and check it from time to time too.
There is much more, but this is too long already! However, somethings have been part of my life since I first discovered frugality. I expect they always will be - cooking at home and from scratch, bulk cooking, brewing my own coffee, drinking primarily filtered water, batching my errands, DIY, repairing and restoring, and using my local library.
Wishing all peace, good health, and prosperity.
I find eBay has gotten better and worse with time. I love that there are more options and I don't have to track listing fees for each time we relist it and decoupling for PayPal was, in the end, a good thing.
The downside is that as a buyer there is a lot of trash on there (basically AliBaba dropshippers and the like) so unless you have a really unique item you may find that whatever you're selling just gets lost in the mess.
We too used to use a lot of coupons but they were always for things we didn't really need or it wasn't worth bothering with. Why deal with some weird rebate or shopping at three stores to get Crest for $1 when you can get Aim or Ultrabrite for $1 already? Save the mental load at that point.
I'm also a lot more financially well off than I was when I fist started reading this blog (and in the 90s I was in high school 😐 ) so I don't feel as great a need to pinch every single penny when my house is paid off, debt is zero and savings are looking okay. I'm of course worried about the future but who isn't these days?
Oh...Swagbucks! I used to have a Kindle that I'd run the videos on while I was doing other things, so I could get Amazon gift cards. I actually bought my Kindle with Amazon gift cards I'd saved up from Swagbucks. I haven't thought about Swagbucks in years though. The last time I tried using it, the Swagbucks were very very low in comparison to the time spent.
My frugality has definitely changed over the years, but I'm still frugal. It's funny, I used to get most of my clothes on clearance or with sales at places like Penney's or Kohl's, and now I can't remember the last time I've purchased new clothing. I shop thrift stores instead, buying a few pieces at a time. So in some areas like that, I've gotten more frugal, and other areas I spend more like occasionally buying groceries that are more convenient vs. making everything 100% from scratch.
We are almost the same age. I remember the couponing craze.... Not as bad in Canada than in the US, but still. I used coupons back then, not anymore. I used to take online surveys for money. It didn't pay much but it added up. I don't do that anymore. I used to be a mystery shopper. I did this until Covid hit, then stopped. I think this is pretty much what I used to do and don't anymore.
Oh, the memories!!
We were frugal by necessity back then, more by choice these days.
It was important to us for me to stay home and we chose to send our kids to a private school for the elementary years.
Some of the many things we did to support our choices were; I shopped yard sales and clearance sections for our kid's (& our) clothes, packed their lunches most days (I let them have hot lunch twice a month, so they wouldn't feel completely different from the other kids), batched all errands to save gas, made homemade budget meals, (eating out was a very rare treat!) made homemade goodies for Christmas gifts, repaired items many times until forced to replace, and drove older cars.
It was all so worth it, and I still do many of the same things to stretch our dollars today.
It's just more fun now that we aren't dependent on the savings!
Mom and I would scour the newspaper for coupons before shopping. I'm glad paper coupons have gone the way of the dodo. Digital coupons are so much easier!
We used to drive to nearby town that had an outlet mall to purchase clothing and household items. I can remember nice dress shirts for work being $5 each. That mall closed years ago.
Betty Crocker used to have points you could earn with purchases. All of my flatware were purchased using those points.
A stroll down memory lane!
I remember during the couponing craze being caught by my niece while I was digging in the trash for tossed Sunday circulars. I also was chastised by my local librarian for cutting the coupons from the library's copy. I( explained it would go to waste and she eventually ask for me to take it home so people wouldn't see me using scissors in the library. Sheesh. So embarrassing. I also hated holding up lines when coupons didn't work as promoted. At the time, I was a stay at home Mom.
I was only home full time for a year and a half. I realized that since I had multiple certifications as a teacher in California, I would be better served to find an hourly gig. I found a unicorn of a job - three days a week with full health insurance . It was by far the best way to accumulate wealth. I kept that job until my son started high school. When I started working again, I found a balance of quality of life and savings. I hired a twice a month housekeeper but shopped three stores: Grocery Outlet, Winco and Sam's. By menu planning, I was able to save a ton of money. Thrift store shopping became a fun hobby when Hubby ( who works six days a week at the farm) would take my son for the day.
At one time, I would drive around town for free fast food offers. Gas Prices now and health concerns over fast food make cooking at home the far better choice. I don't eat fast food more than six or seven times a year.
So many things I recognize here! I had forgotten about double coupons-- loved them. Still have some toys I got for my son for sending in proof of purchases.
This post reminded me of a Bill Gates quotation: We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.
@Heidi Louise,
Love that quote!
What is the same: I cook from scartch about 90%, garden, can, buy groceries from Aldi or sale items and buy clothes mostly from the secondhand markets, use the library, entertainment includes beach and hiking, free concerts and outside movies.
What is similar but I have changed some things: I still use deal programs from many local stores, however I can enter my phone number and not show a card. I participate in challanges which have changed my behavior, for example no spend weeks and months, use up the pantry and clear out the freezer. I am more thoughtful in my purchases.
What is different: NO cable, I no longer experiment with recipes or leftovers. I cook less and therefore have less leftovers. I have planned overs. Cook once and serve twice. I only garden and can items that we eat. From some reason I got into a habit of gardening what my mom gardened. I grow flowers now. They are beautiful and that gives me a good reason to grow them. I love sunflowers, cosmos, and zinnia. Yes because they didn't produce food I would not spend money on them.
This is a lot of fun strolling down memory lane.
I used to get things free at the gas station or grocery stores - usually books, glasses or dishes at the grocery store and silverware at the gas stations, all free with $x purchase. I am not seeing that anymore for sure. Our first set of silverware was from Jiffy Foods gas stations. I also got a number of things with Top Value stamps.
I used to yard sale more. I find the sales are less than impressive here these days, and taking an entire morning to go to the sales is not something I want to do anymore.
I did some couponing, but the name brands, even with coupons, would often be more per unit than the store brand or lesser known brands. nly one store in my town ever doubled coupons, and that was for less than a year. Another problem was that I often didn't ever use the item the coupons were discounting, so there was no point in buying them, no matter how great the coupon.
I remember when the first "generic" foods came out in white packaging with black print, no illustrations. So unappealing.
Rebates were a headache to me, and I rarely used them. I have done two or three maybe in the last 15 years.
I baked ALL of our bread for years. Loaves, buns, rolls, quick breads, every form of bread that we ate. I bought yeast and flour in bulk.
I sewed some of our clothes, at least for the girls and me. Easter and Christmas dresses, usually. Today I'm sewing again, but just craft and household stuff. Cloth and patterns for clothing are usually too high to save money by sewing, it least for me.
I agree the internet has made things a lot easier in some ways, but harder in others. DH used to haggle a bit (where appropriate) over prices and get us some deals, but it's hard to haggle on Amazon.
Growing up in the '70's, my family's grocery budget was $10/week. I learned early the magic of coupons. In the early 80's I worked thru high school and mid-college at Safeway. I had a sophisticated coupon system and ate well. I bought a lockable cabinet to store junky food (crackers, cereal, boxed pasta and rice) and doubled the price I paid for them and sold them to sorority sisters and neighboring frat brothers. I have always bought furniture/clothing/house hold items at estate sales/tag sales and purchased my first home at 20. I rented out the other 2 rooms to pay for the mortgage. Became a real estate agent and dabbled in that as a side hustle for 20+ years.
Back in the 80's & 90's I bought estate sale (high end) cars, detail them drive them while advertising "for sale" and did quite well.
I no longer do coupons, still buy in bulk, grow my own veggies/fruits, make my own breads, pastries, buy dairy in bulk or barter when it is available. I no longer adhere to a strict budget, but pay attention to items available and stock up. I use my frugal gifts to supplement community projects (snack backpacks). I give of my time to the free clinic and advocate for local acute care patients.
Because of careful planning (started my retirement fund when I was 15), I am in the enviable position of stepping back from my professional career (part time these days). Still being financially careful, much to the annoyance of casual friends (why aren't you eating out more, traveling, yada yada). I am currently remodeling an acute needs home to help transition injured vets to home from hospital care. The home has 4 bedrooms, special kitchen features, specialized bathroom, lift systems in 4 rooms. This home will help families figure out what works for them and their situation, live and train for independence and we set them up with companies and grants to modify their own homes.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, I love, love, love that you now remodeling a home to help injured vets! If I believed in heaven, I would say you are paving your way there.
Is it a frugal handicap to not have a cell phone always at hand?
I carry mine only when traveling, otherwise use landline and laptop.
Cell phones are an ENORMOUS change since the 90's, being able to carry the internet with you.
Am I missing out on significant frugal activities or am I just keeping my life less cluttered?
@Heidi Louise, you might miss some deals here and there, but I'm almost envious that you don't use a cell phone. We don't have a house phone, and during the school year, I have to keep my phone on and with me in case my daughter's school has to get ahold of me. It has happened occasionally and I'd hate for her to be stranded at school sick.
I have almost zero food waste then and now. Meal planning and shopping the sales. I succeeded at major weight loss 15 yrs ago and consigned each size I was in on the way down and used money to buy the next size I was in. I had "new"clothes that fit with no new money spent. I changed 11 sizes, so it was a huge savings!
I never bought lunch while working and ate put very seldom. This was for frugality and weight loss.
It wasn't hard to save all those years ago as there was next to no disposable income! But I do remember using coupons; ebay; and a lot of exchanging of items (clothing, household items, etc) with friends. The biggest savings was getting a lot of stuff wholesale as I worked in an industry where I had access to wholesale clothing and housewares. Depending on where you lived, manufacturers of clothing and housewares had offices and warehouses where if you had the connections, you could order what you wanted at wholesale prices (often more than half of retail) and these companies would also have once or twice a year "sample" sales that were open to the public. They were crowded and often chaotic but, oh my, the prices!
I remember when I no longer had access to wholesale and had to pay retail. OMG
That's when I learned to wait for sales. We have so many more opportunities to regularly save money today, there is no excuse.
I'm mad for cashback and have been known to change where I purchase from. I keep a list of items I'm looking for and I follow the emails from Rakuten and Retail Me Not for when they have higher percentage back offers.
Today, you can even get savings from things like my Mint cell plan. I recently got an offer for six months free of either Paramount or Peacock (can't remember) and my Walmart + gives me a free year of a streaming service, which is equivalent to 70% of what I pay for the annual membership (which saves me a lot of money because there is no minimum purchase to get free shipping! )
And the other day, I got an email from Netflix telling me that my current price (the lowest plan, with adds, is being cut by 50%. EUREKA)
I also make sure I sign up for promotional emails and I get a lot of good discounts on products I purchase regularly.
I should mention that I also saved a lot of money because I traveled a lot for business.
Part of my job was entertaining clients (with a corporate credit card), so free dinners and lunches that I otherwise would not have been able to afford. And, "free" travel in that my airfare was covered for a trip, and then I just added on a couple of days for myself (with hotel discounts, back then it was corporate discounts even for personal use). Cost was almost 70% less than what I would have paid on my own for hotel costs. And yes, it was OKd by the company to use the corporate rates that way.)
With price check web sites; apps that notify you of sales and price drops, it's really easy to find deals and wait for good values.
What lovely photos! I am reminded of the goodies that banks used to give away for new accounts. Since I worked downtown I would open a new account for the $5 minimum, collect my new toaster/iron/cookbook/whatever, and let the account accrue interest. My bridegroom was thrilled to find all my bank books and then disgusted to discover how little they accrued. But the toaster/iron/toaster ovens worked for a long time! Nowadays I think their giveaways are mostly ballpoint pens.
I learned to sew really well, and saved money for sewing things that were hard to find in good quality. For some reason women's robes were made of sleazy fabrics and cost way too much; I could sew lovely robes that also looked better and lasted longer. Made things for my mother and for me (similar short, round figures), especially work clothes. Good quality clothes cost more for better fabric, and for more skill in fitting and construction, but if you sew well you can sew wonderful clothes cheaper than buying the same, if you can find them. Sewing is still one of my favorite frugal practices, for me, my husband, and my household.
My home cooking improved with the Frugal Gourmet. Anyone else remember Jeff Smith? His advice in one of his first cookbooks was that frugal cooking is also considerate of the cook's time and energy; it's not just cheaper ingredients. And his recipes are reliable. A favorite: poaching a whole turkey, to get lots of moist meat. I used to make turkey sandwiches and freeze them for lunches for DH and me. Delicious, and thawed by lunchtime.
@Kristina, We still make his Texas chili recipe once a year or so. So good!
@Kristina, Jeff Smith is a personal grief to me (along with Bill Cosby and a lot of other men whose work I enjoyed but who turned out to be sexual harassers). I too learned from Smith's early cookbooks--but I can't overlook the other stuff.
Goodness, I had somehow missed all the sexual abuse allegations against Jeff Smith until now. I did a search and am caught up on the sad story.
It is wearying how many famous (and not-famous) men have done this.
@A. Marie,
Ugh, yes. I used to be a huge fan of Charlie Rose....not any longer.
@Kristina, Adore Jeff Smith. Some of his recipes remain family favorites.
For me, it depends. I 100% do not believe the allegations about Woody Allen and Michael Jackson, because there is no evidence and there are strong reasons to disbelieve the accusers.
In Smith's case, and numerous other people, I do believe and sigh heavily, but being a terrible person doesn't mean Smith's recipe for biscuits and gravy now is terrible. So so many people have "problematic" (as the young uns say it) pasts. I'm not going to stop adoring David Bowie because sexual mores in the 70s were different. I hate Roman Polanski but love Rosemary's Baby.
I don't automatically believe or disbelieve but rate on the merits, and "love the art, hate the artist" works for me. Mostly.
@Rose, Just as long as we don't patronize the sex abusers' businesses, or do things so they make more money, I suppose it is OK to use their cookbooks or watch their movies. Just don't vote for 'em!
@Rose, I hate the mother of Roman Polanski's victim. What the hades was SHE thinking?
I forgot rebates. Oh my gosh. I spent a lot of time filling out forms but it was worth it. Also companies offered rebates on a lot of big-ticket items back then.
When I was a young kid, my father talked about how I should go to college and then become a professional, like a doctor. This was beyond highly unusual in the 50s and 60s, for a father to tell his daughters they could be anything, "even the President" someday. Part of this many times repeated lecture was him saying that studying hard could earn money for me because if I had good grades there would be scholarships for college. When I was in high school and did not feel like studying, I would tell myself it was my job and I was earning money that would be paid to me in the future. I did the same in college. He was right. My entire undergrad and graduate degrees were paid for my scholarships and grants, based on grades. So my earliest and greatest return on a frugal technique was studying hard to make outstanding grades, and also researching scholarships. Some of them were so obscure that fewer than 10 people would apply, so almost everyone got something. The librarian at my undergrad university was a gold mine of information because pre-internet researching scholarships and grants was not easy. Those $1000 and $25oo scholarships add up. Alaska, at that time but no longer, had a generous grant system for higher education so I took full advantage of that for grad school.
So, compared to having 7 years of post secondary education paid for, the things I have done since then are not nearly as lucrative. (And I am reminded that had I not gotten the education I did, which I could not have afforded on my own, I would not have had a career that was interesting and paid very well. So, in a sense, studying in high school paid off every year I worked and now in a secure retirement. Thanks Dad, for these lectures at least.) Gardening is now what saves us the most money. After that I would say keeping our vehicles until they fall down around our feet, and doing all our own DIY when we were young, have brought us the greatest savings---compared to other things we do, like eating home virtually all of the time except on trips, wearing our clothes into tatters, using coupons and watching for sales. I have to say that I have become much more conscious of environmental issues, so do things like taking things to recycling, composting, and buying used when we can, have more to do with that than with saving a lot of money.
I remember getting open a bank account and receiving a blanket. Kitchen utensils included in boxes of laundry detergent. Green stamps at grocery store could be redeemed at the Green Stamp store for household goods
I have a better sense of what's worth my time and what isn't, which also changes as my financial security changes.
For example, I don't look for deals at the supermarket or CVS, as their insert went online (making it a much bigger pain to scan) and coupon/deal matching sites have become harder to find.
I remember the days of couponing and playing the CVS game, which took quite a bit of effort and sometimes driving to different locations. It did help me build a stockpile of toiletries, but I'm glad I don't do that anymore. I used to sell a lot of baby things on Craigslist, but after moving to a different city, I stopped using it and later found Facebook Marketplace and local garage sale groups. I also used to buy ahead for my kids, especially for clothes and shoes in the off-season, but then it later backfired when they got older and became pickier about their tastes and then I was stuck with shoes and clothes that I couldn't return. I was able to sell some of them but it was a lot of work. I used to join a lot of survey companies but it took up a lot of time to reach a reasonable reward, so now I just stick to 2 bigger paying companies. Now I just try to be more selective in looking for deals and use Freecycle and Buy Nothing more, as well as use up what I have before buying more.
You think generics were primitive in the late 90s, they were uber primitive in the 70s. Generic cigarettes, red-white-and-blue beer, TP (the phone book pages were better), cans were labeled but for how long was a crap shoot. Oddly enough, I remember the local Shaklee salesperson promoting generics - likely so his customers would have $ to purchase his products.
I also remember some senior citizens buying way too much tuna cat food. Food insecurity is nothing new. Double coupons were big thing - my greatest use was at a now closed local discount store where we never lacked for good TP, and other non-edibles. Was able to purchase so much cat food that I shared with the barn cats - no sense letting free go to waste.
A chain store, which is no longer in my area gave case discounts - you could mix and match flavors of veggies, baby food etc. Mom would go with me, being in charge of infant daughter. Back to the house, I'd unload and store. She watched my daughter (pick-up service in the morning, what a game changer), I hauled out a week's worth of supplies each Monday. Frugal parents helping frugal kid/spouse.
I still pick up small sticks to use for kindling in our wood stove. A never ending supply when you live on a wooded lot.
Garage sales were also a better source - more USA made products (clothes, toys). I remember my mother boiling a few toys she purchased (stayed at their house). You boil a toy made today and it will melt!
I did some coupon swapping and a lot of rebates/promos. Still have a number of cat food bowls.
After kids I realized that restaurant meals were not going to be in our budget. So I learned to cook copycat recipes! Most great cooks I know have a similar story/background.
Generic grocery items were around in the 1970s. They were plain with packaging with black typography. Lots of items had generic counterparts.
Oh yes, I wasn't saying generics are a new thing. I'm just saying that the packaging has improved SO MUCH.
I can remember collecting the Coke bottle caps of everyone at work, and entering the codes into the Coke rewards site to get Blockbuster gift cards!
Growing up my mom always couponed and mailed in rebates, so I did some of that too when I started living on my own. The only rebate I see/use now is the 11% back at Menards, which ends up being a good deal.
I remember a few years back (maybe 10 years? Time flies) that there were a bunch of free deals online on Black Friday. One of the frugal blogs I followed had a big list of them. So I got some free canvas art prints, free cleaning products, and Rx bars. I don't even think I paid shipping, or maybe it was something nominal like $5. I haven't seen anything like that since!
Overall I think my frugal abilities wax and wane with different seasons of life depending on my time and mental margin. For example, I've used e-Rewards off and on when I was unemployed/underemployed/during Covid lockdown when I needed to feel productive. Fortunately DH has always been employed but I need to feel like I am contributing too, so the gift cards I earned were fun money for coffee or other treats. Now that I have kids and an on-call job, I don't find survey companies worth my time. But that may change in the future.