Saving Like Grandma: What the 1950s and 1960s Can Teach Us

When I think about saving money, I often picture my parents doing everyday things that, back then, just seemed normal—but today feel almost revolutionary. For some reason, my mother’s sewing cupboard always comes back to me when I think about my mom. She had a huge cupboard that had been built over our back stairs, and it was full of remnants of fabric, zippers, thread, and all things to do with sewing. She used to sew our clothes when we were young instead of buying them. She could make any item she put her mind to. She used to even make my Barbie dolls the same outfit that she would make for me with the leftover scraps of fabric. How neat is that?

My beautiful mother and myself

I have 3 siblings, and my mom used to sew all of our clothes, including clothes for my Barbies

Back in the 1950s and 60s, saving money wasn’t a lifestyle trend. It wasn’t about aesthetics, challenges, or apps. It was simply how you lived. You stretched every dollar because you had to. And honestly? There’s a lot we can still learn from that way of thinking.

At House of Six, our journey with saving money started out of necessity, too. With four kids and one income, we didn’t have a lot of room for waste or impulse buys. But what we do have is a deep respect for making things last, getting creative, and finding joy in the simple stuff—values that came straight from generations before us.

How People Saved Money in the 1950s and 60s

Our parents and grandparents were frugal out of habit, not inspired by Pinterest. Here are a few ways they made it work:

Use a bicycle

If you can, use a bicycle to get around instead of using your car for everything

• Home-cooked meals, always. Eating out was a rare treat. People cooked from scratch using what they had, and nothing went to waste. Leftovers became lunch, and bones became soup stock. My mother used to make her own pasta, and I remember her rolling out the dough and cutting it into strips with a knife, and letting it dry before she would store it.

• Hand-me-downs and home-sewn clothes. If a seam ripped, you fixed it. If the knees wore out, you patched them. Clothes were passed from sibling to sibling, and no one batted an eye.

• Homemade cleaning products. Vinegar, baking soda, and a good sponge could clean just about anything.

• Layaway and cash envelopes. Credit cards weren’t common—if you couldn’t afford it, you didn’t buy it. Instead, people used layaway at stores or cash tucked into labeled envelopes for groceries, rent, and clothing. I remember my father always doing a monthly budget, and he would have different labeled envelopes for groceries, utilities, clothing, etc.

• Gardening and canning. Even a small backyard had a few rows of vegetables. In late summer, kitchens smelled like pickles and jam as families preserved food for winter. My favourite was my mom’s mustard beans. I can still taste them now!

• One car per household (if that). Walking, biking, and carpooling were normal ways to get around.

• Simple home entertainment. Card games, puzzles, listening to the radio, reading books, and talking around the dinner table were nightly routines.

Simple entertainment

Remember a good old-fashioned record player? Now you can get record players that look like the vintage ones we had as kids

How We Save Money Today

Fast-forward to now, and things look a bit different. We have access to more technology and tools, which makes saving easier in some ways—but harder in others because of all the temptations. Here’s how saving money looks in our modern household:

• Budgeting apps and online tracking. We use tools like spreadsheets or budgeting apps to keep everything organized—something our parents did on paper.

• Meal planning. We still cook at home most of the time, but now we meal plan around sales and what’s in our pantry.

• Couponing has gone digital. We use apps to find deals and cashback offers. No need to clip from the Sunday paper anymore.

• DIY is making a comeback. From repairing clothes to upcycling furniture, we’re starting to rediscover the joy of fixing what we have.

• Thrifting is cool now. Vintage, secondhand, and sustainable are all buzzwords—but they’re really just updated terms for what our grandparents did by necessity.

• Streaming instead of shopping. Entertainment doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We keep things simple—board games, baking, and movie nights at home.

At House of Six, I still hang laundry out to dry when the weather’s nice, and I have knit some gifts instead of buying, and we try to use what we have before buying anything new. It’s not just about saving money—it’s about being intentional.

Hang laundry outside to dry

I still do this every summer into the fall. It’s a great way to save energy by not using your dryer

What We Can Learn from the Past

There’s something beautiful about how people lived back then. Sometimes, I think we’ve lost a lot along the way. Yes, life was harder in many ways—but it was also simpler. They knew how to stretch what they had, and they valued things differently.

When we slow down and take a page from their book, we start to see that saving money is more than pinching pennies—it’s about building a life that isn’t driven by constant spending. It’s about teaching our kids how to be resourceful. It’s about enjoying what we have instead of chasing what we don’t.

Blending Old and New

We don’t have to choose between eras. We can blend the best of both. Use a budgeting app and keep an emergency cash envelope. Plan your meals on your phone and cook from scratch like Grandma did. Download coupons digitally and hang on to a good ol’ fashioned box of baking soda for cleaning.

If you’ve never tried a vintage saving tip, start small. Make a meal from pantry staples. Mend a torn seam. Skip a shopping trip and borrow or swap instead. You might be surprised how satisfying it feels.

At the end of the day, the goal is the same now as it was back then: take care of your family, live within your means, and find joy in what you already have.

What about you? Do you remember how your family saved money growing up? Or do you use any of these vintage tips today? I’d love to hear what’s worked for you—drop a comment or message me anytime. 💛

PLUS: Download the Vintage vs. Modern Checklist below and have some fun this week seeing how you can save money by trying out a vintage and modern way to save.

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From our cozy home to yours.