Cheap things your family did when you were growing up (and maybe you still do)

[reneeh63]

I was reading in one thread about "buying the good mayo" (or not) and got to thinking...

What were some things your family did when you were a kid that maybe you still do or are danged sure NOT to do now?

When I was a kid I was a picky eater and ended up eating a lot of Oscar Mayer hot dogs - which was a really good brand back in the day. However, unless it was a special occasion like a holiday cookout, I had to eat it with a slice of bread. No hot dog buns kept around for 'everyday' - those were reserved for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day cookouts and maybe a few other summer barbecues. We lived in the midwest so it was always a looooong winter with no buns to be had!

Though I sure don't eat many hotdogs now I always buy a package of buns along with them and if I have to throw some out for the birds to finish up, so be it.

 

[Oilcan]

I think the buns are great when used to make a peanut butter sandwich for a midnight snack.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Putting water in the ketchup bottle to make it last twice as long.

BTW...we never got buns either. We used a slice of wonder bread.

 

[FlaGator]

Having vacations spent sleeping in tents or a travel trailer.

They were memorable trips. Glad that is history, and not today's world.

 

[Atlantis]

Putting water in the ketchup bottle to make it last twice as long.

BTW...we never got buns either. We used a slice of wonder bread.

I knew two restaurants that watered their ketchup back in the 50s

 

[Atlantis]

My friend was poor and they had eggs for dinner way too often

 

[RetiredHappy]

While we were not poor, we lived poor except for food where we usually had restaurant takeout for dinners or my father will take us out to supper (9pm) after having dinner at 6pm or so. I cannot think of one thing that was cheap that my parents did that I still do. Our living condition was horrendous and definitely not one that I would want to be in if I can afford it. Clothings were generally hand sewn by my mother or whatever she decided to shop for us. We did have some nice dresses when my parents took us shopping.

 

[justlikebike]

Lived on a farm growing up so:
Milked the cow
Hunted for meat
Grew our own veggies
Raised chickens for eggs and meat
Traded with neighbors for whatever we didn't grow/raise.
Fished for trout, salmon, crab and cod
Maintained and repaired our own vehicles.
"New" bikes/toys were garage sale finds
Heck, my dad even built the house we grew up in.

 

[Sunset]

Mom would send me to the local butcher to get free bones for soup and free chicken wings (this was long before it was popular).
She'd make soup with the bones and we ate chicken wings many many nights for supper.

Our yard looked like a serial killer's as there were large leg bones sticking out of the ground here and there from the dog after the soup was made

I buy my food now and don't bother with chicken wings.

 

[Golden Mean]

No ziplock bags for lunch sandwiches (don't even mention the decadent ones with the slider thingie ), instead we used bags with the flap you'd stuff inside the bag. I think they were .000000001 mils thick.

Lots of plastic containers (margarine tubs or cottage cheese tubs) saved for storage containers.

 

[Koolau]

I didn't know there was any other kind of "cheese" than Velveeta until I was about 11 and visited a "rich" aunt. She served "Long Horn" and I loved it. They even offered Coke with lunch. I'd had Coke as a treat before but never with lunch.

I had never eaten (or seen) broccoli until I went to Jr. High and they served it in the cafeteria.

 

[wrigley]

My friend was poor and they had eggs for dinner way too often

I still occasionally have eggs for dinner.

 

[wrigley]

No ziplock bags for lunch sandwiches (don't even mention the decadent ones with the slider thingie ), instead we used bags with the flap you'd stuff inside the bag. I think they were .000000001 mils thick.

Lots of plastic containers (margarine tubs or cottage cheese tubs) saved for storage containers.

Remember them well.

 

[latexman]

Lots of plastic containers (margarine tubs or cottage cheese tubs) saved for storage containers.

We save plastic containers from Chinese takeout. Mainly 3 sizes/types from small soup, large soup, and entrees. They really come in handy!

 

[audreyh1]

My friend was poor and they had eggs for dinner way too often

Not a bad source of protein.

 

[VanWinkle]

Raised on a small Illinois Farm:
We raised cattle and rode horses.
We camped out on weekends without parents
We sneaked to the bowling alley at night to play pinball.
We went to the skating rink on Friday night
We played "chicken" on our bikes at the laundromat
I hit rocks with a whiffle ball bat for hours.
Pitched a tennis ball against the barn for hours
We played neighborhood baseball with other kids.
We walked the railroad tracks looking for treasure.

 

[srblanco7]

No ziplock bags for lunch sandwiches (don't even mention the decadent ones with the slider thingie ), instead we used bags with the flap you'd stuff inside the bag. I think they were .000000001 mils thick.

I remember those bags very well.

When it was no longer "cool" to carry a lunch box, we used brown paper bags to bring our lunch to school and, at the direction of our mother, would fold them up, put them in our pocket, and bring them home for reuse the next day.

I also remember lining our snow boots with Wonderbread bags to keep our feet dry...good times!

 

[Gumby]

My mother and I would split an egg for breakfast. She ate the yolk and I ate the white.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Oldest of seven, Dad was blue collar worker but managed well. A once a week treat was popcorn and kool-aide, and we camped for many vacations. I never ate in a restaurant until high school; so all home cooked meals, and if you didn't like what was served, wait until the next meal. Picky people were not tolerated in the household. My brother and I had a bedroom in a seasonally damp basement; but we had freedom away from the rest of the family. By age 10, I had a paper route and purchased much of my attire, hobby stuff and snacks.
Clothes in the house were passed on to the younger siblings whenever possible.

 

[Slim11]

I think the only thing I still do is make lemonade and ice tea from the powder mix. We didnt have soda or juice and no one really drank the powdered milk, so we had powdered drink mix.

 

[DuluthGA]

No ziplock bags for lunch sandwiches (don't even mention the decadent ones with the slider thingie ), instead we used bags with the flap you'd stuff inside the bag.

Y’all must have been rich. We used a piece of wax paper folded around the sandwich and a brown paper bag we had to bring home. We did get school milk for .05 though.

 

[street]

Never had the money to eat at restaurants. If we had to leave and travel a lunch was made to eat. We were poor and made do without so many things and compromised for about every area of life. But life was good and wouldn't change it for a better way.

To this day when my wife and I eat out my thinking is we really should not do this.

 

[Car-Guy]

My dad was driven to an extreme about not spending money and was miserable, from my POV. He died a millionaire and it sure left an impression on me. Rarely do I think twice about buying what I want and BTD. Whoever said money can't buy happiness must have been spending on the wrong things.

 

[athena53]

Y’all must have been rich. We used a piece of wax paper folded around the sandwich and a brown paper bag we had to bring home. We did get school milk for .05 though.

We used waxed paper, too!

Mom always bought margarine. She called it "butter". I rarely use either but if I'm baking I use real butter.

Travel was road trips with 5 kids in a station wagon. When we visited the Outer Banks from Ohio, we'd leave at 10 PM and Mom and Dad would take turns driving through the night. We'd all be thoroughly exhausted by the time we got there. I've done long road trips as an adult but ALWAYS with an overnight hotel stay.

After I started school (I was the oldest), Mom would take the others on a long errand run, stopping for a lunch break of lunches she'd made and packed, eaten in the car. I was jealous that I missed those expeditions.

Mom made most of her own clothes as well as my sister's and mine. She always looked beautiful. My sister and I eventually learned to sew. That was back when patterns were cheap and fast fashion didn't exist so we really did save money on clothes. Long-term bonus effects: we can recognize well-made clothes on the rack in the store and when my sister was in medical school they were so impressed with her stitching skills they asked her if she'd considered becoming a surgeon. (She became on OB-Gyn so did some surgery.)

 

[Surewhitey]

We only ate the veggies we grew in the MS delta. Tomatoes, okra, eggplant, squash & peppers. Only bought potatoes. Anything above consuming was canned. I didn't even know about asparagus, brocolini or any "rich people's veggies" until I got married and moved to the city.

Lots of camping and SPAM or devil's ham for dinners. Once a year we'd go to Piccadilly and Shoney's... Until we got jobs for our own.

Never buns & freezer bread as we stocked up when the Hyde Park bread was on sale 3/$. Lots of peanut butter. Never real cheese unless it was the free, gummint stuff.

Popped our own corn for the free, summer movies. Rode bikes everywhere including the after school paper routes.

Too many to tell.