If your parents were frugal when you were young, you may have rolled your eyes at their money-saving methods and yearned for a more extravagant lifestyle.
Now that you’re an adult, however, you may look back with respect and understanding, especially as inflation has caused the cost of common goods and services to rise and your own budget is straining under the pressure. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 61% of Americans say recent price increases have caused financial hardship for their households.
Here are nine stories from people whose parents practiced serious cost-saving measures. As an adult, you might consider adopting one or more of these strategies to save everywhere you can.
1. Upsizing Kids’ Footwear
Tasha Mayberry, editor in chief at Best in Baby Biz & Kids, was raised by a single mom who held down a corporate job and two part-time gigs. With such dedication to earning, waste was not on the agenda.
“I grew up in Maine, so winter boots were essential,” Mayberry says.
“They were expensive, so to save money she bought them a half size bigger and I had to wear thick socks until they fit. I didn’t like wearing them so I used to put them in my backpack when I left and put on my sneakers instead. Who wants to wear loose boots? They made my feet look too big and the thick socks were hot when I was inside,” she says.
Mayberry tried it with her kids’ sneakers, though it hasn’t been successful. Yet. Her son said he couldn’t walk, so he had to go home.
“But I will do it with boots, just like my mom did,” she says. “And clothing too.”
2. Turning Off the Air Conditioner
“Being immigrants with meager incomes, my parents pinched pennies whenever possible, even in the most unlikely places,” says Dr. Dana Wang, co-founder and CEO of RIVIA Mind, based in New York City.
“Some are not for the faint of heart, such as not using the air conditioner during the hot California summer to save on utilities. The stress was difficult as a child, but it helped me to understand how hard my parents were working, emigrating to the U.S. and helping create our future,” she adds.
Wang is now a mother of two and considers herself fortunate. While sweltering wasn’t fun, she acknowledges that not using the air conditioning was not just penny-wise but good for the environment.
“I always remember to not live in gluttony because I know part of the reason I’m successful today is because of my parents’ will,” she says.
3. Not Buying New Clothes
Regina Huston, realtor for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, vividly recalls the sense of dread when packages from her older relatives arrived.
“Because my dad is one of seven, we had so many hand me downs from cousins,” she says. “I remember my mom and dad coming in with big bags of clothes and we sat there going through them. I was self-conscious wearing them, knowing that someone else had worn them. I wanted new clothes. I hated it.”
So, does that mean that Huston buys only new clothes for her 11-year-old daughter? No.
“Starting when she was born, friends and family members offered me clothes and I grabbed them when I could,” she says, explaining that it saves her a lot of money. “I’ll take it all and if it doesn’t work, I’ll give it to someone else.”
4. Cooking the Same Meals Again and Again
Ericka Pittman, Los Angeles-based author of “What Mommy Never Told You: A Woman’s Guide to the Next Phase of Life,” says her single, hard-working mom was the ultimate meal planner — and repeater.
To save money, she would buy and prepare in bulk, then portion the dishes into individual servings that would appear as a constant stream of leftovers and school lunches.
“I went to school with spaghetti and meatballs, chicken casserole, lasagna,” Pittman says. “I said, ‘Please mom, I don’t want it for lunch’ because I wanted sandwiches like the other kids. But it taught me to practice a lot of prudence around finances and time management. When I was really struggling in my early 20s, that kind of meal prep got me through economically tight patches.”
5. Playing Outdoor Games, Not Video Games
“When I was younger my parents would always tell me to go outside and enjoy nature every time I asked for the newest video game,” Jennifer Beeston, author of “Brainhacked: How Big Tech Trains You To Spend — And How To Fight Back,” says.
“At the time I thought they were just cheap. I much would have preferred the new Nintendo games versus another two hours on roller blades,” she says.
In retrospect, Beeston is grateful for her parents’ decision.
“As I have gotten older I have discovered that nature is the best way to avoid spending money and to establish life balance,” she says.
“It’s tough to spend money when you are swimming in the ocean or hiking up a hill and it is a great way to break up the never ending assaults of tech on our day-to-day lives. Nature is free and in nature you are free,” she adds.
As for video games, they’re currently averaging $70 each. For a parent on a budget, that may be incentive enough to make the best use of the great outdoors.
[Read: How to Create and Maintain a Family Budget.]
6. Paying With Cash
“My parents would buy envelopes and label them accordingly,” Jerry Justin Alexidor, CEO of the travel company Black Zama, says. “Rent, gas, food, electricity, etc., they would only take out cash for the amount the bill was for.”
Alexidor’s parents were dedicated to the process of what we now call the cash stuffing method. After taking out the money and making the purchase, his parents would place the receipt inside the envelope. At the end of the month, they would review and monitor what they spent and save whatever sum remained.
“When I was younger I honestly didn’t understand because all I wanted was a pair of Jordans,” Alexidor says. “But now that I’m older and have my own bills I definitely understand. I use it every now and then to budget and monitor my spending when I feel I need to get control over my finances.”
7. Darning and Patching Whenever Possible
This may be an era of throwaway fashion, but Valeria Carrasco, a media and communications expert who lives in New York City, says that’s not how she grew up. When clothes ripped or became threadbare, out came the sewing machine.
“My mom used to seal the holes in my pants with patches,” Carrasco says. “She had a drawer filled with buttons, leftover fabrics and thread. It saved her $10 every time, which is what they’d charge at our local laundromat.”
Carrasco is now doing the same for herself and her 4-year-old son. “Holes happen often,” she says. “I know how to do it and it’ll save us the time and the expense. I went to the tailor recently to fix a hem and it was $23.”
9. Doing It Yourself
“When I was a kid, my mom worked the assembly line for The Washington Post, then started working the machinery,” says Xavier Epps, CEO of XNE Financial Advising and author of “Budget it Yourself: Comprehensive Guide to X-scape to Financial Freedom,” based out of Washington, D.C.
“She was hands-on with everything around the house and had a knack for fixing things. If the television broke, she wouldn’t send it off to get fixed, she would jerry-rig the antennas. She was big on teaching us how to be crafty, to make our own everything. Once our air conditioner needed a filter and she didn’t want to pay, so she took aluminum foil, poked holes in it and it worked. I was amazed,” he adds.
As a father of five kids now, Epps has adopted his mother’s DIY ways. He learns how to repair things by watching YouTube videos and searching Google.
“I don’t have her same gift but I always try first,” Epps says. “When my son’s bike got messed up I wondered what my mom would do. I called her and she said, ‘Take this wrench, do this, listen for this noise. …'”
“It worked and I saved myself $50 or $60. Having that type of parent makes you want to do that with your kids,” he adds.
Adopt What Will Benefit You
Recalling the way your parents handled money can evoke plenty of memories. Some may make you wince and others might fill you with pride. Whichever it is, take what you can from those early memories and adopt those that will benefit you and your family.
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Try These Ways Your Parents Saved Money originally appeared on usnews.com
