My grandmother is one of the most frugal people you’ll ever meet, and she raised me. So I grew up learning frugality. So I guess I should share all the tips my grandmother gave me, some of which I have to admit to not using. These are the top 10 pointers which she likes to mention and scolds me about when she visits.
- Use plastic food containers as tupperware. Yep, she was outraged when she saw I had bought tupperware instead of using all the containers food comes in. Even if I recycled the containers. Stuff like yogurt, cream cheese, etc should always be washed and used for packaging food.
- Rewashing Plastic Wrap. Yep I don’t do this either. You rinse and stick it on the fridge spread out to dry. Also rewash and reuse the plastic ziploc bags until they have a hole. That is if you must use a ziploc bag instead of the homemade free tupperware.
- Old clothes can be used as old rags around the house, or to make quilts. Yep you cut up pieces of clothes and sew them together instead of buying fabric and you have a great story for a quilt. The might not be wearable but they can still be useful! I still have 3 quilts my grandmother made and I adore them and I can tell which are my old shirts.
- Make own cleaners. Baking soda and vinegar in bulk will clean most everything and it’s cheap.
- Line dry all clothes, towels, sheets, etc. Use the natural resources. And delicates should always be hand washed and rack dried because they last longer.
- Plant a garden in the backyard. Rotate crop plantings so you have fresh veggies all year. Wish I had a garden, I have very fond memories of growing our veggies.
- Buy only whole chicken because you have to make broth from the bones, after cooking at least 3 meals from it including chicken salad for lunch.
- Lunches are always last night’s leftovers. No special sandwiches with luncheon meat. Make a bigger portion of dinner for less than buying the ingredients to make a sandwich. Ah, the one frugal lesson I still follow!
- Meat is a side dish not main course. Traditionally it was meat, veggies, starch (rice usually). I have to admit that meat is a main course and veggies and rice have been side dishes instead of the other way around.
- Potty train asap. I was potty trained by 12 months. My grandmother was tired of washing cloth diapers and decided with 3 kids under 2 to watch she needed to potty train early. Turns out you can do it if you know how. My family still jokes about what fast learner I was and how much she saved my mom in diapers.
So frugality can be taught. However I have to wonder if perhaps the lack of need in my case, I have way too much money, I’m not rich but I’m firmly middle class. This allows me to ignore these frugal ways my grandmother taught me. I think though that forced into the situation again of being poor, I could probably adapt quickly and get back into her frugal habits.
Do you think you are frugal?
What frugal tips did you learn from your family?
14 responses so far ↓
1 thinkingaboutit // Oct 11, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Well give me a shiny grandma sticker ’cause i do every one of those things except early potty training (no babies). I also use old men’s shirts to make table napkins. I even wash aluminum foil to re-use. A worn out kitchen broom goes outside to use on sidewalks and patio. When it’s too worn out for that, I save the handle and use for something like staking peppers in the garden. Dusting cloths are old clothes, especially cotton socks. If clothes are bought with straight pins in them, I save them in my sewing kit. My mother used to save plastic bags and use them to stuff decorative pillows, but I do not do that because I don’t like the texture or the crunching sound they make. I save very large jars like pickle gallons to store bulk foods. It has taken years to save enough for all my beans, rice, pasta, sugar, flour, cornmeal, oats. I’ll save paper blank on one side for kids to draw on or to make my lists, phone messages, reminders. Sometimes a brother will even get a letter from me written on such paper. Like many people, I save lengths of ribbon and bows from holiday to holiday. I use the smallest piece of scotch tape that will do the job. I cut open toothpaste tubes, cosmetics & toiletry containers to get every last bit. Make my own windshield wiper fluid, change my own oil. There are a zillion things I learned from my parents and continue to practice.
2 LAL // Oct 11, 2008 at 10:33 pm
If you could do potty training, you’d be up there with her!
I think necessity forces frugality. And soon more people will be practicing frugality.
3 Christine // Oct 11, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Hmm, 1 and 2 only work if you don’t mind the possibility of cancer down the road. Cheap plastics such as those degrade fairly quickly. I’d suggest Pyrex. Cost per use is really low.
4 fengshui // Oct 14, 2008 at 1:23 am
I do not agree with the potty training tid bit. Physiologically, children lack the muscular development to hold their bladder, sometimes until 24-27 months. So, while “training” may be tried as early as 12 months, don’t expect any miracles, and it isn’t “expected” or “normal” to be potty trained until 2-3 years.
And the chicken leftovers…. I loathe chicken salad sandwiches. I guess that I would starve. I just do not like the taste of cold creamy “salads”. I gag…. ;-(
5 LAL // Oct 14, 2008 at 10:11 am
http://diaperfreebaby.org/
Check out elimination communication. It’s used internationally and many other countries use it. It’s where you don’t use diapers. There is a book too about it, which discusses how other cultures do it.
6 fengshui // Oct 14, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I am aware of this philosophy but it is REALLY difficult to get it down unless you’re with your kids 24/7, which I won’t be since I plan to work. There is still a difference between recongnizing when your child has to go potty and them being able to physically hold their bladder for a period of time and being sucessful with it/ potty training.
7 LivingAlmostLarge // Oct 14, 2008 at 5:44 pm
There is a lot of parents who are willing to try it. Especially in other cultures. You should talk to them and see why they do it.
8 fengshui // Oct 14, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I can understand why they do it, it just isn’t a realistic option for DH and I since we will likely both be working. Potty training is considered a “normal” developmental milestone for a typical 3 year old. Each baby is different and will develop differently. In order to not diaper, you pretty much have to be with your baby at all times and be able to read ques and body language, and be on a very regular feeding/ napping/ bathing routine everyday, and when both parents work, that just doesn’t happen…..
11 LAL // Oct 15, 2008 at 11:04 am
I get it’s not likely for most people who work. Just like cloth diapers is not likely for anyone who works because most daycare providers would never use cloth diapers. Same thing. If you want to try it, it’s possible.
13 Aryn // Oct 17, 2008 at 2:30 pm
My mom used to reuse the old tubs, too, but you have to make sure to label them with masking tape! One holiday my mom made French onion dip and put it back in the sour cream container. Then she asked me to make a spinach dip that called for sour cream. Well, I used the same container and we wound up with one French onion spinach dip. It wasn’t bad, but not what she intended.
14 mrqian // Oct 19, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Great tips! But be wary of overnight dinner for lunch though. Food should be consumed within 2 hours of cooking. Bacteria formation is harmful to the body. My friend’s aunt died of stomach cancer and the doctor said it was partly due to eating overnight food. cancer is costly!
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