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In today’s society, it can be easy to get caught up in wanting the latest and greatest of everything. We live in times of convenience and having everything we want delivered to our door at the click of the button can make old fashioned frugal living feel alien.
But old fashioned frugal living is the perfect to way to save money and to live more sustainably.
Why would you want to slow down though? To make do and mend if you don’t have to?
The reality is, we over-consume.
Our fast paced lives, keeping up with the Joneses and having spending temptation thrust in our faces every waking hour via social media means we give very little consideration to our impulse spending habits.
But it’s really important that we try to pull back on the urges to over-consume.
The cost of living crisis, rising prices and stagnant wages mean more and more of us are taking on debt.
In 2022, the average amount of personal debt per UK adult increased by £1,176.40.
Over-consumption is not sustainable for our planet, and it’s not sustainable for our pockets either.
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Old Fashioned Frugal Living
Think of your grandparents generation. They were the OG’s of frugal living.
They lived through trying times of war, times of ration – when making do and mending was a necessity and not a lifestyle choice.
Our grandparents knew how to stretch every penny. To repair instead of throwing out and buying new. To find alternate uses for things that were beyond repair.
They cooked from scratch, grew their own and lived sustainably.
There are many lessons we can take from old fashioned frugal living.
And we can use these tips to help us reduce our spending and to save more money.
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10 Old Fashioned Frugal Living Tips
Make your own cleaning products
The rising popularity of cleaning influencers has seen sales of cleaning products soar over the past few years.
But if you spoke to your granny about what she cleaned with, I can almost guarantee that she wouldn’t tell you she had an individual product for every different surface or cleaning task.
In fact, you can clean most things with a very small arsenal of natural products.
- A water and white vinegar mix can be used for cleaning glass like windows and shower screens (you can add a few drops of essential oils for fragrance if you like).
- Add some lemon rind to the above for an all purpose cleaner.
- Baking soda and water mixed to make a paste is great for cleaning the oven.
- Baking soda is also a great deodoriser – sprinkle in bins and smelly shoes to neutralise bad odours.
- Tomato ketchup is a surprisingly good cleaner for metal surfaces and burnt on black layers on your pots and pans.
Swap single use for reusable
Old fashioned frugal living practitioners wouldn’t dream of using something once and throwing it away.
Think about what you buy and use once that you could reuse instead.
- Save plastic containers and tupperware from takeaways and use to store leftovers instead of clingfilm.
- Use a dishcloth to mop up spills instead of kitchen roll.
- Use silicone reusable bags instead of sandwich bags (or clean out and reuse single use bags you already have).
- Take a travel mug out with you for your coffee run instead of a disposable cup (many coffee shops will offer a discount too!).
- Always keep shopping bags in your car instead of buying carrier bags.
Repair and upcycle your clothing
Sewing is a bit of a lost art these days. But it’s a really useful skill to have.
Search for tutorials on youtube and learn how to make basic repairs.
You could hem trousers that are too long, shorten the length of a dress to give it a fresh look or even darn your holey socks instead of throwing them away.
Ask your gran for some tips – she probably has an old biscuit tin full of sewing stuff she could donate your way!
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Dry your clothes outside
Many of us are trying to reduce our energy costs right now anyway, but one thing that makes a huge difference to your consumption is the way in which you dry your clothes.
Tumble dryers are very expensive to run and drying clothes on or near a radiator can be costly too but also runs the risk of creating a condensation issue.
In the drier weather, the solution is easy – hang clothes to dry outside.
In winter, it’s a little trickier but you can still do it – a general rule of thumb is that if the path is dry, you can line dry your clothes.
Failing that, you can hang them indoors near an open window. Obviously in the colder weather it does take much longer – but the more you can avoid heating and tumble drying, the better.
Cook from scratch
It’s easy to reach for ready meals, convenience foods or even takeaways. But all these things come at a premium and are usually not the healthiest.
It’s much cheaper and nutritional to make your own food from scratch.
Meals needn’t be complicated or time consuming – there are lot of hearty, cheap recipes you can make with little prep in a slow cooker or one pan oven dishes.
Bulk out meals with vegetables and pulses to make meat stretch further and keep a stock of spices and flavourings in your cupboard to make things a bit more exciting.
You could also cook in bulk and freeze meals so that you have something ready for the next time you’re tired or stuck for time.
Grow your own
You don’t need an allotment or a big vegetable patch in the garden to successfully grow your own produce.
Just a pot of fresh herbs on the windowsill can help save you money in the long run.
Seeds are very inexpensive to buy – but take a few months to get going.
Alternatively, you could buy fresh herbs in a pot from the supermarket and regrow them.
Strawberry plants are very easy to maintain and look great in a hanging basket if you’re short on space.
You can even regrow spring onions in a small jar of water from the root which you’d otherwise throw away.
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Use it up
There was no such thing as food waste in our grandparents generation. Everything had a purpose and every last piece of food was used.
Fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds and eggshells can all be composted.
You can even use the bones from a chicken (or other meat) to make a stock – simply cover with water and simmer gently for an hour or two and you have a deliciously flavoursome base to use for other meals.
Reuse
Before you think of throwing something away, is there a way you can reuse it?
Foil can be cleaned and used again if it’s not damaged – if it is it can be scrunched up and used as a scourer.
Old clothes can be repurposed into something new or if they’re beyond repair or upcycling then they can be used as rags for cleaning.
If something can’t be repurposed or reused then recycle it.
Throwing away should always be a last resort.
Take care
Appliances in previous generations lasted much longer than ours today seem to.
But previous generations were much better at maintenance than we are.
If something breaks, we are quick to replace it. Whereas old fashioned frugal living folk would attempt to replace a part or repair it first.
They would also tend to look after things much better than we do. Regular cleans, changing filters and just generally treating things with a bit of respect prolongs the lifespan of many household items.
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Stay Cosy
Our grandparents didn’t have the luxury of double glazing or whacking up the central heating up when it got chilly.
Instead they’d make curtains to cover the doors and keep draughts at bay, stuff old tights with fabric scraps to make draught excluders, knit blankets and throws for beds and sofas and put down extra rugs on cold flooring.
Final Thoughts on Old Fashioned Frugal Living
It goes without saying that there are elements of modern society that we do and should rely upon – previous generations had no such conveniences but I’m sure given the option, they’d have made their lives a bit easier if they could.
That said, there is still a lot to take away from the simpler times of old fashioned frugal living. You don’t have to go to extremes, but just implementing some of these suggestions can make a huge difference to your budget (and your over-consumption!).
Other Ways to Save Money
Looking for more ways to save? You’ll find the saving money archive here.
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