https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 27 Apr 2026 23:00:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-44411 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:11:54 +0000 DigAPony 44411@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I love reading all of these! Many of them are familiar.</p> <p>My mother always washed out plastic tubs (margarine, whipped cream, etc.) and used them as tupperware. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-44113 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:57:04 +0000 Meridian 44113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBrewer: Not at all, I do too!! I guess I never thought of them as "frugal" actions... more just like habits I picked up and common sense (in my mind). Things like saving napkins to keep in the car... they come in handy ALL the time, haha. And buying in bulk, saving plastic bags, etc... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-44080 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:21:20 +0000 MrsBrewer 44080@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Is it bad that I do most of these things that people have listed??? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-44061 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:48:54 +0000 cyneswith 44061@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>First new clothes I got when I was in third grade, and it was a $3 outfit from Dollar General. My shoes were ALWAYS too small. My parents showered together, my brother and I would share bath water, we grew our own veggies, caught our own fish, and hunted some of our own meat, my grandma did ALL of our babysitting... Once my dad got out of the Air Force, things weren't THAT tight any more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43989 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:43:38 +0000 Mrs. Bee 43989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: ah ok haha. i actually had a bunch of hypercolor shirts. they were considered so cool back in the day haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43981 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:33:02 +0000 ladyfingers 43981@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs.Bee they had a BUM equipment shirt that was a total knockoff from Hypercolor! Except instead of the whole shirt being temperature-sensitive, it was a cartoon guy drawn in the middle of the shirt (the BUM guy?) and different parts of his outfit were Hypercolor. Man I got made fun of! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43545 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:14:22 +0000 Mrs. Bee 43545@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ladyfingers: BUM equipment! wow that's a blast from the past. i definitely wore shirts that said BUM equipment! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43538 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:09:42 +0000 tequiero21 43538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>my parents weren't too frugal. i wish they were. i'm a lot more frugal than they are. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43508 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:52:30 +0000 ladyfingers 43508@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My mom was a SAHM and my dad worked, so he was usually the one who exhibited the most outward frugal tendencies. He bought a ton of off-brand stuff, which used to drive my mom nuts when he went grocery shopping and brought back generic canned tomatoes instead of good Italian stuff ;-) I would get BUM equipment shirts instead of Hypercolor, a Sam's brand CD player, a Sharp graphing calculator instead of a TI-85 for my math classes. Which at the time really burned me up, but in the long-run taught me how to shop smart. </p> <p>He was big on saving (which I suck at) and was always the one to say no to me wanting little frivolous things. And one weird thing I picked up from him was that when he would buy something to eventually replace something that was running low -- like, we still had dishwashing soap left, but not much -- he'd put the new bottle BEHIND the old bottle in the cabinet so we were forced to use up what's left first. It seems like common sense but DH does not do that! And then we end up with two cartons of milk gone bad instead of just one ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43462 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:23:37 +0000 Modern Daisy 43462@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My mom used to make clothes for me and my sister! Anytime we needed a party dress, halloween costume, etc. instead of going to a department store she would head right to the fabric store! I also never saw the inside of a restaurant until I was 8 when my Dad's career started to take off. Before then we ate at home every day. And I look back at videos of our birthday parties, all of the favors were somehow always made from paper grocery bags! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43456 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:20:55 +0000 mynoahbear 43456@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: that's so funny because my mom is here with me now and in tokyo we have to wash all glass jars before we throw them away. I had a few washed ones ready to be thrown out and my mom thought I was saving them,so she soaked them in hot water to get the labels off and put them away with the rest of the dishes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43432 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:50:49 +0000 banana 43432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My mom used to save all the tiny leftover pieces of bar soap and put them all in a pantyhose and use that to scrub her body in the shower. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43416 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:39:40 +0000 Mrs. Bee 43416@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mynoahbear: my mom was here over christmas and washed all our empty jars. i threw them out after she left! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43392 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:29:24 +0000 MsMamaBear 43392@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Reuse plastic grocery bags for a small trash can or any other kind of use.</p> <p>Save ketchup packets.</p> <p>Save napkins to keep in the car.</p> <p>On vacation, while driving to the destination, we'd eat a packed lunch instead of eating food we could buy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43097 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:37:20 +0000 Clementine 43097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All of this sounds familiar. Makes me miss my parents! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43095 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:30:08 +0000 heffalump 43095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My dad refuses to pay for parking. He'll pay hundreds of dollars on a ticket to something and then make us walk miles to save $5 on parking. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43085 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:55:11 +0000 mrbee 43085@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mynoahbear: so funny, my mom did all of those too! Except for the drier one... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43082 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:43:56 +0000 mynoahbear 43082@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My mom used to wash and reuse ziplocks too. She got that from my grandma. She also reused aluminum foil. She never used the clothes dryer even in winter. After she fried stuff in oil, she would pour the oil into a jar and it for next time. she would mend the holes in our socks, instead of throwing them out. She would wash and save all glass jars and use them for different things around the house, as well as for storing leftovers. Once she couldn't mend my dad's undershirts anymore, she would cut them up and use the scraps for housecleaning. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43079 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:25:32 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 43079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn't go out to eat a lot. I took my lunch to school instead of buying it every day. When we went on vacations we always drove instead of flying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43068 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:30:38 +0000 Andrea 43068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't remember my parents doing those types if things to save but they never wanted to spend money on anything. They never went out to eat, bought very few things, didn't have any hobbies, etc but just worked and worked and saved all their money. </p> <p>I reuse Ziploc bags too but I do it more for the environment! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43063 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:29:16 +0000 autumnlove 43063@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NYCaliMama: my mom would do the same thing! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43047 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:04:30 +0000 Rosie Girl 43047@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wash and reuse Ziploc too! And tinfoil. </p> <p>Get paper at the store for groceries, and use it for everything from lunch sacks to fire starter.</p> <p>We wore hand-me-down clothes, and my mom would also make us clothes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43032 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:55:12 +0000 SAHM0811 43032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When toothpaste was getting low, my mom would cut the tube in half with scissors so that she could scrape more toothpaste out that way.</p> <p>When hand soap or dish soap was running low, she'd add water to the bottle to make it last longer.</p> <p>I used to do the toothpaste thing til a few years ago, but stopped. I still do the soap dilution thing occasionally. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43027 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:31:39 +0000 s2kheartmustang 43027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My Mom saved everything cause there was 7 of us. Here's some just a couple of her frugal ways I've picked up:<br /> -Buy clothing off-season. It is much cheaper.<br /> -Buy multiple qty of items if on sale. I do this for clothing, shoes, food, paper, etc.<br /> -Buy bulk. You can never have too much paper products.<br /> -Freeze. If you purchased bulk, freeze what you can not use before food expires.<br /> -Save paper bags/plastic bags. Great for throwing aways diapers, food scraps, using as liners for wastebaskets, etc</p> <p>I can keep going cause I'm definitely my Mother's child. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43025 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:14:25 +0000 Meridian 43025@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: haha, I wash and reuse freezer bags (not bags that held meat, though)... And my drawer is full of soy sauce packets which I never use! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43016 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:31:44 +0000 eeh 43016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Saved extra napkins from restaurants to use in the car when something spills or we needed a tissue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43014 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:30:51 +0000 Rubies 43014@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Same as what you wrote plus:<br /> - we used to reuse foil and wax paper for as long as we could </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-some-frugal-things-your-parents-used-to-do#post-43009 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:23:00 +0000 Mrs. Bee 43009@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My mom would wash and reuse ziploc bags and save all the ketchup/soy sauce condiment packets from restaurants. I'm sure there are many more that aren't coming to mind right now!</p> <p>I definitely need to adopt some of my mom's frugal ways!</p> <p>What are some frugal things your parents used to do? Do you do them too? </p>