The great depression forced a lot of people to start being creative with ways to save money while some of them may be a little extreme I think we can definitely learn from them and adapt them into our day to day lives to start bettering our finances.

Frugal Living Tips From The Great Depression

<img width="755" height="560" src="https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-684x1024.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-684x1024.jpg 684w, https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-200x300.jpg 200w, https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-1367x2048.jpg 1367w, https://gabebult.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/clay-banks-UmGWlfbWQvs-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1709w">The Great Depression was a worldwide economic disaster that happened in the 1930s. Times were extremely hard and this led to a lot of people finding creative ways to keep food on the table and bring in a little extra money. We’re going to go over some tips we should try to apply to our lives today.&nbsp;Tip 1.) They Didn’t Waste Anything&nbsp;This might seem pretty simple but especially when it comes to food, this can make a huge difference. Right now, the average American household wastes about 30% of their food. That’s a lot of food. The best way to save money, be frugal, and just overall more efficient, is to just eat or use all the food that comes into your house. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Grocery shopping is where we go wrong. We pull random things off the shelf with no plan on how we’re going to use them and then it sits in the back of the fridge or cabinet and goes bad and you’re now throwing away 10 lbs of food. Your food is roughly 25% of your budget and if you’re throwing about a good portion of that, well, you’re basically throwing away money.&nbsp;Tip 2.) Get Creative With Housing&nbsp;This could mean that if you’re living in a 3 bedroom house with only 2 people, you might need to downsize and get a smaller house. If you don’t want to move, they would get a roommate (which people still do today) and they can pay rent to help out with the mortgage. Housing expenses are the biggest money consumer in the US so if you can save even a little on that, then you’re doing good.&nbsp;Tip 3.) Avoid Debt and Use Cash&nbsp;They would also only buy things if they had the money for them. This meant they only used cash. Not checks or anything else that they could avoid debt. This is definitely something we should all be trying to do. If you don’t have cash or don’t want to use it, try a debit card. This way you’re not wracking up a ton of debt and only spending money you already have.&nbsp;Tip 4.) Buy Used, Not New&nbsp;A lot of times, they’d buy used items like furniture and cars, or clothes because it was cheaper than buying new ones. You can also sell used things and make money back from those purchases. This was harder to do back then because like stated above, they wouldn’t waste anything so they would use something right up until it fell apart. I try to do this as well and have had several pairs of pants turn into threads… They also knew the difference between wants and needs and while a lot of people think they NEED something, it really is just a want.&nbsp;Tip 5.) Find Ways To Make More Money&nbsp;For a lot of people, this looked like starting a trade like sewing or construction so they could make money in hard times. Nowadays, trades are as popular but side hustles are! A side hustle is anything you can do extra to make more money. Youtube started as a side hustle for me and now it’s my full-time job.&nbsp;Thanks for reading! I did this on my YouTube channel about a year ago if you want to go check that out. Have a good week!&nbsp;

I love finding new ways to better finances. These are some great and different ways of thinking about Monday and finding the balance between needs and wants. 

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The Great Depression was a worldwide economic disaster that happened in the 1930s. Times were extremely hard and this led to a lot of people finding creative ways to keep food on the table and bring in a little extra money. We’re going to go over some tips we should try to apply to our lives today.

Tip 1.) They Didn’t Waste Anything

This might seem pretty simple but especially when it comes to food, this can make a huge difference. Right now, the average American household wastes about 30% of their food. That’s a lot of food. The best way to save money, be frugal, and just overall more efficient, is to just eat or use all the food that comes into your house. This is a lot harder than it sounds. Grocery shopping is where we go wrong. We pull random things off the shelf with no plan on how we’re going to use them and then it sits in the back of the fridge or cabinet and goes bad and you’re now throwing away 10 lbs of food. Your food is roughly 25% of your budget and if you’re throwing about a good portion of that, well, you’re basically throwing away money.

Tip 2.) Get Creative With Housing

This could mean that if you’re living in a 3 bedroom house with only 2 people, you might need to downsize and get a smaller house. If you don’t want to move, they would get a roommate (which people still do today) and they can pay rent to help out with the mortgage. Housing expenses are the biggest money consumer in the US so if you can save even a little on that, then you’re doing good.

Tip 3.) Avoid Debt and Use Cash

They would also only buy things if they had the money for them. This meant they only used cash. Not checks or anything else that they could avoid debt. This is definitely something we should all be trying to do. If you don’t have cash or don’t want to use it, try a debit card. This way you’re not wracking up a ton of debt and only spending money you already have.

Tip 4.) Buy Used, Not New

A lot of times, they’d buy used items like furniture and cars, or clothes because it was cheaper than buying new ones. You can also sell used things and make money back from those purchases. This was harder to do back then because like stated above, they wouldn’t waste anything so they would use something right up until it fell apart. I try to do this as well and have had several pairs of pants turn into threads… They also knew the difference between wants and needs and while a lot of people think they NEED something, it really is just a want.

Tip 5.) Find Ways To Make More Money

For a lot of people, this looked like starting a trade like sewing or construction so they could make money in hard times. Nowadays, trades are as popular but side hustles are! A side hustle is anything you can do extra to make more money. Youtube started as a side hustle for me and now it’s my full-time job.

Thanks for reading! I did this on my YouTube channel about a year ago if you want to go check that out. Have a good week!

Frugal Tips From the Great Depression – Gabe Bult Blog

Frugal Living Tips From The Great Depression

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