what can you remember your parents doing to save money?

[HoraceCope]

we had to clean the bath with cold water
my dm would reuse foil

Cutting coupons out of the paper
Using all leftovers after a Sunday roast for chicken casserole, chicken soup, bubble & squeak etc
Growing our own veg & fruit
scrumping dessert apples 🫣
Swapping home grown produce we had in abundance with something our neighbours had in abundance
Buying secondhand or wearing hand me downs (as the youngest, brand new clothes were a rare luxury for me)

Dad's old Y-fronts used as duster and polishing cloths

My mother used to knit jumpers for me and my younger sister and would always buy an extra ball of wool When we outgrew our jumpers, mine would be passed down to my sister. My sister's jumper would be unpicked and using the extra ball of wool, reknitted in a larger size for me.

No central heating, my sis and I would get dressed in the airing cupboard every morning in the winter.

My mum would pick up any dung from the rag and bone man's horse to put on her roses.

We used to wear clothes given by our older cousins, so my sis was often the 4th person to wear them.

Ooh yes, a packed lunch to eat in the car on a day out.

I think that that probably was because we couldn't afford to eat out that much.

I have fond memories of that though.

Parking up somewhere nice, sitting with the car doors open or a blanket on the grass if nice enough weather.

Not my mother, but my grandmother cut worn sheets down the middle and sewed them together with the less worn edges in the centre. They lasted decades.

Do what you’re comfortable with. I use it when I’m walking from the train station at night, or we are rendezvousing at a festival or busy area. But otherwise no. It drains your phone battery more too.

switching to an interest only mortgage - wish it was that easy now!

@diddl I do that for my dc because I have good memories

plus the vast majority of homemade sandwiches are better than shop ones

Shopping at charity shops
Carrying the shopping home more than a mile
Gathering logs from farms for our fire
Grew lots of veggies and fruit
Made our own clothes
Clothes were made to allow for adjusting as we grew
Rarely bought new things from shops
Shopping when the market was closing so prices were reduced
Lots of mince meat!
DIY most home maintenance and improvements
Our play house was created by removing boards from our house (Under the floor level)
Walking everywhere
Rarely ate out - occasional fish and chips

Normal. I’ve always done that.

Worked full time and avoided spending any avoidable money, or time, on their child (no clubs except Brownies, almost never bought the presents actually wanted for Christmas/Birthday).

Funny there was ample money for booze and fags though.

My mum only bought a universal cleaner and washing up liquid to clean and used old clothes that she’d wash at 90degrees. We were definitely healthier then in terms of our shopping which mum says now was to save money, fizzy drinks and crisps on birthdays only, and mum would bake for goodies although we would go to the shop at the weekend for a bar each.

My dad kept a big ledger and everything they spent was written down. We were middle class and all savings went towards a caravan holiday but saying that we all had hobbies and they never scrimped on them. Ditto with clothes and shoes and mum says she’s shocked couples don’t share money now. Dad only bought a paper when he had enough pennies or small change in the jar! I remember it all fondly and being poor was a shock when I went out into the world myself!!

edited to add lights out when not in the room except for the landing light

Turning off the immersion heater so there was no hot water. Making clothes.

My mum always mended our clothes, till they were basically disintegrating.

I don’t need to do it now, but I always mend my kids clothes. I am also teaching them how to do it because I believe it’s an invaluable skill.

Adding beans to every meal. She would get the big bags from a Pakistani shop and soak them. I still put beans in everything to make it go further. I actually think it’s why she is so healthy at her age and considering she drank and smoked a lot.

We was relatively poor but I was saying to dh yesterday, I don't ever remember being cold as a child. We ate stews, dad washed food bags out to reuse. Hardly ever had new clothes. No car. No holidays. But warm house and never hungry. Grew our own veg too. No takeaways except fish and chips as a rare treat.

However mum smoked and they both drank every night. I'm not sure what relative proportion of their income that took up

Always taking food with us when we went out. Usually soggy tomato sandwiches (home grown tomatoes). Making soup from tired and left over veg. Blackberry picking on an industrial scale for jam, jelly etc, trousers always had about three lines/stripes around the bottom of the legs where they had been let down. From an early age it was my job to remove and turn my dad’s frayed shirt collars to extend the life of the shirt.
Lots more, and many frugal habits that I find hard to break. My meal plans are drawn up with precision which keeps food bills low.

No tv, walked everywhere (had old car but rarely used), did clothes washing at the laundrette every Sunday, lights only on when in a room, putting heater on only 20mins before needing hot water, if not enough hot water boiling some in a pan and adding to the bath, always hand me down clothes, sometimes hand me down birthday / Xmas presents from older children of parents friends, library once a week (this was wonderful!). Etc. I had a brilliant happy childhood ❤️

I remember wearing clothes from catalogues or a second hand shop and only ever owning one pair of shoes, plus what we called 'plimsolls' for school. We too were fed lots of mince and offal 😳. I know that I was luckier than most, though because I had my own bedroom and my own record player to play my David Bowie LPs (this was the 70s)

We used to be bathed in the kitchen sink using fairy

@BitOutOfPracticemine too. She would make me a meal and not have any herself.

Also no Christmas gifts from mum and dad because there were 6 of us and that’s too expensive. Did start getting a stocking once my dad got promoted and I thought it was amazing. We all got birthday gifts tho, and they were always quite extravagant (well I thought they were, other kids would make fun of me but I didn’t care). I also did luck out as the youngest and the only one with a summer birthday. My brother and sister are twins so they got the shit and of the stick.

Mending clothes and darning socks.

Growing their own veg.

Home made everything to eat.

My mum recycled my dad's birthday card one year. It got reused the following!

Drove ridiculously slowly to conserve fuel.

Didn't bring money on the basis they then couldn't spend it. They just borrowed it.

Made kindling out of newspaper.

Didn't turn the oven on unless it was for multiple things.

Oh my gosh, so many things.

Walking into town to save the bus fare. Buses were for the journey back with shopping
Using leaf tea instead of bags and using the leaves more than once
Standard tea was bean stew poured over a baked potato
Secondhand everything
Cutting up old clothes to use as dust rags
Cutting our own hair
When the bed sheets wore out in the middle, cutting them in half, turning the pieces around and re sewing them, to get the benefit of the edge part.
Definitely never any central heating unless everyone's tried putting a jumper on first (I do agree with this one TBF)
My Dad could make a sort of home made double glazing out of thick plastic stretched over a play wood frame. He would wedge these into the window frames on the inside to keep out drafts in winter.
Always bring a picnic to everything. Cheap stuff in the picnic as well. Carrot sticks, peanuts, chicken legs etc

I live a careless and profligate life by comparison.

Different to most of the posts above but mum used to boil rice at home when dad went out to collect Chinese or Indian takeaway. After all, the rice is the part of the dish that is the worst value for money. It makes a lot of sense really.