Frugal Depression Era tips to help you save money!

Perhaps the most frugal generation of our time is those from the depression.  They lived through a period where resources were strained at best, and still many individuals had large families of 5+ children. So how could they accomplish so much with so little, while those of us with smaller families struggle so much? Well, we have taken some of the tips handed down to us and are sharing those frugal depression era tips with you today!

1. Keep breakfast simple-eggs and toast or oatmeal.

2. Plant a small garden, it can produce a lot of vegetables. 
   

3. Use all of your leftovers, or freeze what you can’t use up.
   

4. Make your own cleaning products. It is amazing what dish soap mixed with white vinegar can do.

5. Fresh herbs season dishes better and herbs are easy to grow.
   

6. Use less (soap, shampoo, detergent). Read the suggested volume compared to what you actually use when it comes to these items.  

7. Learn to sew, even learning to replace buttons, zippers, and repair small seam rips.

8. Freeze, can, dehydrate, or dry produce (preserving your own food can save a ton).

9. Don’t be afraid to buy the whole chicken, and divide to make several meals.

10. Be mindful of your electricity usage-unplug electronics and appliances that are not in use (eh hem… this includes the charging blocks for your cell phones and tablets).

11. Pay for it in cash-you are less likely to impulse buy.
    

12. Up cycle furniture rather than throwing it out or buy 2^nd hand and up-cycle to make it your own.

13. Make your own gifts (candles, canned goods, mason jar crafts, bath scrubs, plants, and pallet projects all make fantastic and thoughtful gifts while fitting into your frugal budget).
    

14. Try natural health remedies (within reason here).
    

15. Don’t pay for what you can do yourself (wash your car, make your own food, clean your own house).

16. Don’t blindly spend-set a budget and stick to it (use a budget, envelope system, or better yet both).

17. Use everything up (add a little water to the last of your shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, and dish soap).

18. Find multiple ways to use inexpensive items (vinegar, olive oil, peroxide, toothpaste).

19. Use thrift stores, garage sales, and now we have modern day buy sell pages, craigslist, and eBay to make purchasing used or inexpensive items even easier.
    

I hope you have found some of these tips to be useful on your journey to save money! Check out my book as well as a few others listed on amazon that are designed to help you save money, and don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest!

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Check out some of these other articles on saving money as well.

Cut your grocery budget
100 Ways to Save Money
Sanity Saving Substitutions