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

[Koolau]

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

We're the couple that always shows up at holiday gatherings with our saved carry-out clam-shells for everyone to take home left-overs. No one else seems to think of it (or maybe no one else thinks to save/reuse those delightful take-home containers).

We always get "How thoughtful" or "Good thinking."

 

[Koolau]

When we went to the drive-in movies mom we make a big batch of popcorn in a big pan on the stove. Popcorn was dumped into a large paper grocery bag, salted and buttered. Then she would make a large pitcher of kool-aid. Load us in the car and off we would go. Not sure how we didn't spill the kool aid. I still make popcorn on the stove but use a whirly pop.

Did your parents have you get into your PJs before going to the drive in? That way when dad carried big sis and mom carried me in to the house at 2AM, they could just dump us into bed. Ah, the good old days.

 

[GoBirds]

Not sure if this falls into the other examples but any time we do a day trip in the car where we will be gone for a stretch of time we always pack a cooler with drinks; food/snacks as needed.

10 cent water bottle from home vs one water bottle that can cost as much as a 40 pack ($4.50) or more (Lincoln financial field was $10 / bottle).

 

[athena53]

One vivid memory is that my dad's union went out on strike every few years, and the strike would usually last for at least a few months. During that time our meals often consisted of onion sandwiches.

Late DH grew up poor and had a classmate who brought lard sandwiches to school for lunch.

 

[ksr]

My mother saved paper bags from every store purchase. Those bags, often wrinkled and worn, became lunch bags for my sister and me. We were so embarrassed, we hated using those bags and frequently asked for respectable store-bought brown bags. When I was old enough to start making some money babysitting and doing odd jobs, I bought a pack of those brown bags.

We got a new pair of shoes at the beginning of each school year. We were so excited about those shoes that we wanted the new shoes, in the boxes, to sleep on our beds. We were allowed to keep them at the foot of the bed. I can remember waking up and seeing the box on my bed.

 

[Koolau]

Looking back, it’s a hoot to think of some of the cheapskate things my dad did, but he was raised quite poor with 6 siblings. And we were on the lower end of middle class.

One that stands out:

As color TVs started to become the norm, my dad bought this glass lens that sat in front of our B&W TV. It had colored bands, I think red, green and blue, and was sold as a way to convert your B&W TV to color. Needless to say, it didn’t work very well.

After dark, my sister and I would look out our side window and watch the neighbor's color TV through their side window. Whatever they were watching, we'd turn on our black and white set and turn up the sound so we could hear.

Dad finally bought an old used color set (with the round picture tube). In those days, it took a while to "tune" the color which was my j*b.

 

[MarieIG]

Not throwing out food. This may have come from depression era parents and grandparents, and hearing as a child from older European relatives who had become extremely malnourished from lack of food during WWII.

Breakfast for dinner.

I remember my mother returning the glass bottles from the Dairy Barn to get back the deposit to buy Friday night dinners.

Hand me downs - but this became a thing after I became a mother (we had six kiddos) - both for the kiddos and for me.

Thrift stores, scouting manager mark downs at the supermarket, and coupons. I still look for sales although sales for something I intend to buy anyway.

 

[MarieIG]

After dark, my sister and I would look out our side window and watch the neighbor's color TV through their side window. Whatever they were watching, we'd turn on our black and white set and turn up the sound so we could hear.

Dad finally bought an old used color set (with the round picture tube). In those days, it took a while to "tune" the color which was my j*b.

DH told me that when he was a kid, he and his brother used to walk into town, and press their faces to the window of the appliance store so that they could watch cartoons through the window. (They did not have a TV and did not move to a house with electricity until he was about 13).

 

[GBcycling]

My Dad would drink the pickle, pear, peach, etc juice from the can. Jelly jars became glasses. He’d refill the cheap plastic water bottles and put them back in the fridge. Bacon grease was saved. They had a garden.
We both today don’t do much that our parents did.

I make very little bacon anymore but still think throwing away bacon grease is a sin!

 

[Pointby2]

Reading through these, no wonder we have a hard time to "blow that dough".

 

[MarieIG]

Reading through these, no wonder we have a hard time to "blow that dough".

Nonsense. We throw down cash to buy one, or even TWO bags of hot dog buns without batting an eye.

 

[Koolau]

DH told me that when he was a kid, he and his brother used to walk into town, and press their faces to the window of the appliance store so that they could watch cartoons through the window. (They did not have a TV and did not move to a house with electricity until he was about 13).

Heh, heh, guess all my stories of "deprivation" as a kid would pale in comparison.

 

[street]

Reading through these, no wonder we have a hard time to "blow that dough".

LOL!!! Isn't that the truth but being raised in extreme frugal life styles leaves a life long battle to change.

 

[Koolau]

Reading through these, no wonder we have a hard time to "blow that dough".

Ironically, it's likely BECAUSE we were raised this way that we were able to save and retire early.

I hired a guy at Megacorp who had been my first graduating MS degree student when I was teaching at the local University. He had been raised to spend every dime. He was an excellent employee and good family provider, but he had the big house in the best neighborhood, the latest car, the newest Plasma TV, all the games and bells and whistles, etc. He will retire next month from Megacorp at age 73! I hope he has enough to maintain his life style.

He just sent me a Christmas card and paid me the nicest compliment about my influence on him at school and having hired him (as an older individual). I really appreciated that. BUT all my efforts to council him to save/invest/do 401(k) max, etc. was ignored all those years ago. I guess we all make our choices and he's one of those guys who is willing to live with his choices and their consequences.

I wish him a long, successful retirement. He certainly w*rked long enough for it!

 

[RetiredHappy]

Reading through these, no wonder we have a hard time to "blow that dough".

+1. I certainly could not relate to these experiences hence we have no problem with BTW since I started working.

 

[isisdave]

We read magazines and newspapers at the library, and borrowed books there. We still do.

We shop a lot at Dollar Whatever stores. Their 50-cent greeting cards are as good as Hallmark's, but DW still makes her own. Sometimes she'll buy a stamp for one, but more often it goes by email.

Someone mentioned saving jars for glasses. There were jars of grape jelly intended for this purpose -- 8 or 10 ounces, tapered from top to bottom, and decorated with cartoons, I think ... maybe Dennis the Menace? .. in white paint. The tops were flip-off, kinda like bottle caps, so no inconvenient threads. I didn't have a set of matching glasses until out of college.

And 5-cent ice cream cones at Thrifty Drug.

 

[Koolau]

+1. I certainly could not relate to these experiences hence we have no problem with BTW since I started working.

If you're willing to relate, how did you grow up that led to your comfort with BTD?

I knew "kids" like me who grew up poor who "went the other way" and spent every dime. My BFF who died in horrendous debt was an example.

His alcoholic father was a brute and was always "under-empl*yed." His mom was meek and went along with "the old man." One day, BFF had one too many beatings from the old man and he snapped. He beat the tar out of "the old man" and that was the last time he had any trouble of that kind.

Once BFF was on his own and was able to make money, there was never enough. Never enough money, never enough toys, never enough women, etc., etc. So at 77, BFF died half a million in debt. His one great ability was getting banks or businesses to loan him money!

 

[COcheesehead]

I make very little bacon anymore but still think throwing away bacon grease is a sin!

I know someone who grills steaks and at the very end, he spreads little bacon grease on top….OMG.

 

[MarieIG]

Heh, heh, guess all my stories of "deprivation" as a kid would pale in comparison.

Mine too!

 

[RetiredHappy]

If you're willing to relate, how did you grow up that led to your comfort with BTD?

I knew "kids" like me who grew up poor who "went the other way" and spent every dime. My BFF who died in horrendous debt was an example.

His alcoholic father was a brute and was always "under-empl*yed." His mom was meek and went along with "the old man." One day, BFF had one too many beatings from the old man and he snapped. He beat the tar out of "the old man" and that was the last time he had any trouble of that kind.

Once BFF was on his own and was able to make money, there was never enough. Never enough money, never enough toys, never enough women, etc., etc. So at 77, BFF died half a million in debt. His one great ability was getting banks or businesses to loan him money!

We grew up in a large home (shop house) but in squalid condition, i.e. rats, snakes, bats, and large rodent-like animal with a mouth/beak that resembled a saw, were regular sightings within the home. My father would set up traps for rats and then drowned them. The home was also had cockroaches and centipedes. There were a couple of fires in other homes behind us a year and we were all trained to wake up to the sound of fire engine. We were always living in fear. My sister called the home the house of horrors.

The problem is that my father owned a business and had money. He gave a paltry amount to my mother to buy food and clothing for the family. My mother would resort to stealing money from his cabinet to be able to afford to make ends meet for the family. We witnessed it as a regular occurrence. The one thing is they never ever stinge on food. My brother presented brochures of new housing development to my father to buy a home for us because property prices would only go up. Nope he was not interested. Since young I swore that I would never live like my father. He died a millionaire, but for what? My mother suffered greatly financially and we all carry with us scar tissues from our upbringing.

My father did instill values into us like live within our means, hence while I have never had issues with BTD, I also make sure that I saved money at the same time. I guess it makes me balanced.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

We grew up in a large home (shop house) but in squalid condition, i.e. rats, snakes, bats, and large rodent-like animal with a mouth/beak that resembled a saw, were regular sightings within the home. My father would set up traps for rats and then drowned them. The home was also had cockroaches and centipedes. There were a couple of fires in other homes behind us a year and we were all trained to wake up to the sound of fire engine. We were always living in fear. My sister called the home the house of horrors.

The problem is that my father owned a business and had money. He gave a paltry amount to my mother to buy food and clothing for the family. My mother would resort to stealing money from his cabinet to be able to afford to make ends meet for the family. We witnessed it as a regular occurrence. The one thing is they never ever stinged on food. My brother presented brochures of new housing development to my father to buy a home for us because property prices would only go up. Nope he was not interested. Since young I swore that I would never live like my father. He died a millionaire, but for what? My mother suffered greatly financially and we all carry with us scar tissues from our upbringing.

My father did instill values into us like live within our means, hence while I have never had issues with BTD, I also make sure that I save money at the same time. I guess it makes me balanced.

Wow. You have my respect and sympathy at the same time.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Wow. You have my respect and sympathy at the same time.

Thank you. We all have different family situations, some worse than others.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Thank you. We all have different family situations, some worse than others.

My grandparents were full blown depression era, my parents grew up that way. Our farm was along a State Hwy. It was not uncommon to see hitchhikers (AKA Bums) walking on the road outside our driveway.

I was a feral child, living outside while my parents were working on the farm and in our barn. When I saw a bum my job was to go inside the house and lock the door. I was 3 or 4. One day it happened and my grandmother was in the house. She quickly gathered a sack of food and ran down the driveway in her house dress, 75 years old, and gave it to the man. She came back and said "you never know why a man is down on his luck".

That will stick with me forever.

 

[TheWizard]

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

That's almost weird...

 

[Koolau]

My grandparents were full blown depression era, my parents grew up that way. Our farm was along a State Hwy. It was not uncommon to see hitchhikers (AKA Bums) walking on the road outside our driveway.

I was a feral child, living outside while my parents were working on the farm and in our barn. When I saw a bum my job was to go inside the house and lock the door. I was 3 or 4. One day it happened and my grandmother was in the house. She quickly gathered a sack of food and ran down the driveway in her house dress, 75 years old, and gave it to the man. She came back and said "you never know why a man is down on his luck".

That will stick with me forever.

That man could have been my dad. During the depression he traveled all over the country in search of w*rk. He became "man of the house" at 19 when his dad died as the depression hit. He had 3 sisters and a brother as well as his mom to support. Lots of honorable men took to the roads and railroads in those days looking for anything to help their families survive. I'm sure a lot of dad's stories influenced my thinking and are still with me as I pass into my dotage.