20 Old-Fashioned Skills That Are Saving Families Money Right Now

Comments · 277

• MO

  @mountainmamashome · 6 months ago · pinned

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• MA

  @marisameans9859 · 6 months ago

  Had a challenging time writing down your tips...missed 6, but 7 was twice? 15 &amp; 16 skipped and 17 twice.. ultimately, &nbsp;I came up one short. Listened 3-4 times.<br>1. Cook from scratch<br>2. Use every scrap of food, <br>3. Bake your own bread<br>4. Make do, make over<br>5. Gardening<br>7. Cook simple meals<br>7. Food preservation<br>8. Buying foods in season<br>9. Keep chickens<br>10. Hang dry your laundry<br>11. Homemade cleaning products<br>12. Hand-me-down clothes<br>13. One pot meals<br>14. Well stocked pantry<br>17. Barter with neighbors <br>17.sewing<br>18. Homemade gifts<br>19.live below your means<br>20. Contentment

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• AN

  @anna-marieastbury2102 · 6 months ago (edited)

  The main reason for scratch cooking for us was because I got diagnosed with Crohn&apos;s disease and nothing was working to control it. Switching to whole foods and extremely minimal amounts of processed foods let me manage it fully :) vitamins and whole foods! Food is medicine :)<br><br>Edit: You&apos;re glowing Shayla 😊 you look beautiful!

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• MO

  @mountainmamashome · 6 months ago (edited)

  🚨🚨🚨🚨Because this keeps coming up. I love our grandparents&apos; generation. I said so in the video. But some young pumpkins are commenting to argue that the economy hasn&apos;t changed, so let&apos;s look at actual numbers because numbers DON&apos;T LIE.<br><br>🏠 HOUSING<br>• 1960 avg home: ~$12,000<br>• 2024 avg home: ~$420,000<br>• That&apos;s a 3,400% increase<br>• Median household income in 1960: ~$5,600/yr<br>• Median household income today: ~$80,000/yr<br>• That&apos;s only a 1,300% increase<br>Housing cost outpaced income growth by more than 2x.<br><br>📊 Key stat: In 1960, a home cost roughly 2x the average annual income. Today it&apos;s closer to 5–6x.<br>➡ Source: U.S. Census Bureau data via The Zebra (thezebra.com) &amp; Clever Real Estate (listwithclever.com)<br><br>🚗 CARS<br>• 1970 avg new car: ~$3,500<br>• 2024 avg new car: ~$48,000<br>• Income did not keep pace.<br><br>🛒 GROCERIES vs. TOTAL BUDGET<br>• 1950s families spent ~30% of income on food — but food was cheap relative to wages AND housing was affordable<br>• Today, families spend less % on food but housing, health insurance, and childcare have exploded as fixed costs<br>• You can coupon your groceries. You cannot coupon your mortgage.<br><br>💰 WAGES<br>• Federal minimum wage: $7.25/hr — unchanged since 2009<br>• If minimum wage had kept pace with productivity since the 1960s, economists estimate it would be $25+ an hour today<br>• It has not.<br>➡ Source: Center for Applied Research on Work at Cornell University, via Virginia Commonwealth University (rise.vcu.edu); Economic Policy Institute (epi.org)<br><br>📋 NEW EXPENSES THAT DIDN&apos;T EXIST<br>• Health insurance: The average employer-sponsored family plan now costs $25,572/year total premium (2024). Workers pay $6,296 of that out of pocket.<br>➡ Source: KFF 2024 Employer Health Benefits Survey (kff.org)<br>• Internet/phone (now functionally required for most jobs)<br>• Two-income tax brackets that penalize single-income families<br>• Student loan debt (college was a fraction of the cost)<br><br>📚 WANT TO VERIFY ALL OF THIS YOURSELF?<br>Here&apos;s where to look:<br>• U.S. Census Bureau historical home values: <a href="http://census.gov/">census.gov</a><br>• Federal Reserve Economic Data (housing, wages, income over time): <a href="http://fred.stlouisfed.org/">fred.stlouisfed.org</a><br>• Wage vs. productivity gap: <a href="http://epi.org/productivity-pay-gap">epi.org/productivity-pay-gap</a><br>• Health insurance costs: <a href="http://kff.org/health-costs">kff.org/health-costs</a><br>• Historical income data: <a href="http://census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty">census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty</a><br><br>I am not saying our grandparents had it easy. I am saying the MATH IS DIFFERENT. Skills that once stretched one income comfortably now require creativity, sacrifice, and intentional living just to get close.<br><br>That is the whole point of the video. Watch it again if needed. 💛 If you would like to see a video I did discussing this watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxDsXY-35no">https://youtu.be/HxDsXY-35no</a><br><br>If you still do not understand the numbers, schedule an appointment with a financial advisor, and they can draw you a picture as they did for me, lol.

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• RO

  @roninelenion4805 · 6 months ago

  I talked to a mother of seven a few years ago. She told me that the best way to save money was to reuse and fix things instead of buying new stuff, especially clothes.

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• KA

  @katieb0613 · 6 months ago

  I was unprepared for you to say skills from the 1900’s. I shall continue on now through the rest of the video because I do love my ✨grandma era✨😂

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• LY

  @lyrablack8621 · 6 months ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=208">3:28</a> cook from scratch (1)<br>(2) use every scrap <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=226">3:46</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=256">4:16</a> bake bread at home (3)<br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=485">8:05</a> make do &amp; over (4)<br>(5) garden <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=547">9:07</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=569">9:29</a> preserve food (6 called 7)<br>(7) cook simple meals <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=595">9:55</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=621">10:21</a> buy in season (8)<br>(9) keep chickens <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=644">10:44</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=680">11:20</a> hang laundry to dry (10)<br>(11) homemade cleaning products <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=708">11:48</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=723">12:03</a> hand-me-down culture (12)<br>(13) cook one pot meals <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=745">12:25</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=775">12:55</a> keep a pantry (14)<br>(15 called 17) barter with neighbors <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=834">13:54</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=852">14:12</a> sew (16 called 17)<br>(17 called 18) make homemade gifts <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=884">14:44</a><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=903">15:03</a> live below your means (18 called 19)<br>(19 called 20) be content (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOr44YuQ3s&amp;t=935">15:35</a>)

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• AU

  @AuntBeppie · 6 months ago

  My in-laws paid $18,000.00 for there first house in 1957, when she died 8 years ago we sold the house/land almost $800,00.00.

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• TI

  @Tigertame4 · 6 months ago

  My dad was born in 1919. They ate pinto beans and cornbread pretty much every day.

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• WR

  @wrenjacobs9392 · 6 months ago

  When one cultivates skills, the income becomes less relevant.

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  @rebeccafreeman6623 · 6 months ago

  I don&apos;t currently have a clothesline, but I used to, and keep saying I&apos;m going to put another one up. I&apos;ve always said, after drying bed linens outside, and a shower right before bed, it&apos;s like being back in my Grandma&apos;s bed again. Nothing compares!

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• SA

  @salo81 · 6 months ago (edited)

  Hi, I am 44 years old from Germany , the region former eastern Germany (DDR).<br>In my childhood nobody had a dryer an until today many older people don&apos;t owe one. We do have 4 seasons but if it was not possible to hang clothes outside due to the weather they got hung up inside.<br>My parents have a big attic for that or people have laundry rooms where the clothes got hung up.<br>Hand me downs also still exist here.

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