This is the final post in a frugality series inspired by the Greatest Generation, the men and women who grew up during the Great Depression and then fought and won two wars. You can see the Table of Contents to this series here.
We live in an instant society. We want it now. We deserve it. This is the exact opposite of The Greatest Generation. The Greatest Generation was thrifty, patriotic, and it ended up paying off big time. It wasn't about who had the most shoes - it was who could make a loaf of bread last longer. Imagine if our society tried - even a little bit - to copy them!
For some people, their appreciation of life and came from seeing people in less fortunate countries like Africa. For me, my appreciation of life came from the Greatest Generation. They just did with what they had to do with what they had. They lived with less so others (their soldiers) could have more.
They lived by the adage, Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without! If the Greatest Generation can live on what little that was available during WWII, can't I live with as much as I have? I don't mind sharing a room with my two sisters. I am happy with my 5 pairs of shoes. I don't need the newest clothing. I don't mind sharing clothes with my sisters. Leftovers are as yummy as the first night.
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 1: Use it up
This country is so WASTEFUL!! You know that last little bit of soap left in the soap container? That hard-to-scrape bit of jelly in the container? Many Americans just throw it away. The Greatest Generation was on a strict rationing system, and couldn't afford to throw extra food away. Instead of throwing away the bad apple, they cut off the good parts and ate them. To make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck:
- Scrap the last bit of everything - butter, peanut butter, jelly, jelly, parmesan cheese. If you don't want to keep the almost-empty container, stick the last remnants of food into the new container. Normally new food containers are 75% full anyway.
- Shake ink cartridges to get a pretty decent amount more instead of throwing them away right away.
- Invest in Tupperware and eat leftovers.
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 2: Wear it out
To save money on fabric, some savvy women purposely made their children's clothing a bit big, and then they would hem them. As the children grew, the women could then just make the clothing a bit bigger! And no one cared if it was three years old. Now, most people don't make their own clothing, but this is a great example of not getting the most out of all clothing. Patching clothing, fixing buttons, mending and turning holed-pants into shorts is a great example of this.
Nowadays, sewing your own clothes is more expensive than buying a nice name brand shirt at a garage sale for $1, but I commend anyone who sews!
Dave Ramsey clearly states, "if your old car still works fine, don't go buy a new one." (Of course, if you have the money and aren't on a tight budget you can.)
I believe a more expensive appliance that will last you twenty years is much more quality than a cheaper appliance that will last you three. At the same time, that expensive appliance will not last long if you don't keep it up. (clean it, take care of it properly)
Lessons from the Greatest Generation 3: Make it do
This 40s ad says it all.
This is kind of a combo of the other three tips.
Lessons from the Greatest Generation 4: Do without
During WWII, silk and nylon stockings were in extremely short supply by the summer of 1942. Most women had to find ingenious methods of dressing their legs. Some rubbed gravy browning or shoe polish mixed with cream on their legs. This picture is of a woman drawing in the seam-line on “Makeup” stockings with a device made from a screw driver handle, bicycle leg clip, and an eyebrow pencil, 1942. (source: Bettman/Corbis)
Am I suggesting you ditch your stockings for gravy browning and eyebrow pencil? No. (Do you even wear stockings?) It's just something to think about. Five outfits was a lot back then. Shoving your closets full of clothes you don't even remember buying hurts your budget and causes more clutter. If you see a "must-have" pair of jeans and you already have five similar pairs, you probably don't need another pair.
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| I dare you to try this for a day. |
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 5: Carpool
Carpool. Save time and money.
No, in today's world Hitler will not be riding in your empty seat. However, you get the picture. Soldiers obviously needed petrol in the European theatre more than Americans at home did.
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 6: Can, garden, and scratch
Canned food for soldiers was top priority. What did our brave home front women do? Can and grow Victory Gardens, of course! Canning saves LOTS of money, and avoids pesticides and all that nasty stuff the government puts in your food. Gardening wasn't a supplement, it was a main source of food. Despite having to clean, take care of kids, and having to cook everything they made from scratch, they MADE time for their gardens. Also, many families had animals such as rabbits and chickens.
Also, at the time, eating out was EXTREMELY expensive and pre-cooked food wasn't an option. People made EVERYTHING from scratch. Baking from scratch can save your family SO much money. One of our favorite homemade items is bread in our bread machine. We have also made challah bread from scratch and without a bread machine. Make it a goal to slowly start getting used to first making meals from scratch 3 times a week, 4 times a week, 5 times a week, etc.
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 7: Leftovers
Leftovers have saved us so much money. This WWII era poster applies today just as much as it did in the 40s. Nobody can be too "good" to eat leftovers. Eating leftovers will save you TONS of money on food. Freezer meals and crockpot meals (that can be made specifically for leftovers) are great and frugal ideas for today's family.
Making meals in bulk and either eating off them for a few days or freezing them also saves time and money.
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 8: Paper
(I encourage you to read all of this. Packed with good stuff) This Vogue ad states: The need for paper is urgent. Vogue must help by cutting supplies still further. You, too, must help. First, by sharing Vogue with a friend. Second, by combing your home for every paper, carton, box, and every book which is not actively essential or completely unreplaceable. Don't keep back whole numbers of Vogue because they contain some pages you can't bear to part with. Cut these out - make a Vogue portfolio of them-and scrap the rest of the magazine. One average issue of Vogue would provide 17 twenty-five-pounder shell cups, or 1 box for airplane cannon shells, or 13 cut-out targets for rifle practice...Every pound you can salvage does the same. Don't waste a single sheet - tear our this leaflet, for instance, and use the back for your shopping list before it goes into general scrap."
Firstly, can you imagine a modern gossip magazine telling their readers to share and throw away the magazine?
Alright, again, we don't need to save paper so our soldiers can have a box for airplane cannon shells. BUT, instead of buying paper for your grocery list, why not save scrap paper and use those sheets? Why not share a magazine subscription with a friend?
Lesson from the Greatest Generation 9: Misc.
Be sure to check out this great article about frugality. Remember the good ol' days? When you borrowed books from the library and walked everywhere because gas was expensive?
What are some of your frugality tips straight from WWII? I would love to hear them - and I'd love to expand this post! I hope this was of some encouragement to you!
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