- They didn’t spend money on cable/satellite TV, cell phones, internet access, monthly subscriptions for video games, or any of the other crap people spend money on today.
- Most meals were prepared at home. At work, you brought your lunch with you.
- Taking the family out to a restaurant for dinner was a special treat, and usually planned in advance. It was rare. It was never because you “didn’t feel like cooking today”.
- The idea of paying for bottled water would seem ridiculous.
- They didn’t stand in line at Starbucks buying overpriced coffee.
- They didn’t buy junk they didn’t really need unless they were willing to part with their hard-earned CASH for it. Credit card use was minimal.
- Anything they had to finance, such as a car or a house, was accompanied with a large down payment. Loans were rare. Being upside down on a loan was more rare. They didn’t buy a bigger house than they needed, or a more expensive car than they needed.
- They committed to putting a portion of each paycheck into their savings account.
- No impulse buying. No online shopping, no Amazon same day delivery. Selection was limited to what was locally available, and you had to physically go look for it and pay cash. Spending money required effort.
- Less spending on entertainment in general. Most homes didn’t have a TV in every room - there was one TV in the living room, and it wasn’t something engineered to rival the local movie theater. Separate TV’s in the kids rooms were unheard of, they didn’t need that.
- There were no cabinets full of specialized cleaning products. You didn’t need a separate cleaner for your stove, your windows, your counter tops, etc. You had one cleaner for wood, and one cleaner for everything else. You may have made one or both of these cleaners yourself. Many families made their own laundry detergent. (My wife still does this).
- Energy costs were lower because you didn’t have a million devices in your home using electricity. You turned lights off when you left the room. You would yell at your kids if they forgot. Today, people leave their TV on all day on music channels so the freaking dog has something to listen to. You didn’t need a $500 app-controlled blender.
- You made your coffee by the pot, not by the cup. An 18 pack of basic Folgers K-cups costs $10, while a can of the same Folgers grounds that will make 125 cups costs $11. Let that math sink in… $10 for 18 servings vs $11 for 125 servings.
- People spent less on transportation; they didn’t move an hour away from their job because “you can get a bigger house there”. They got a smaller place near where they worked, and pocketed the savings. They bought a car that met their transportation needs. Cars were only considered a “status symbol” if you were already wealthy. If you weren’t rich, you didn’t care as long as it worked and fit all of your stuff. If it broke, you read the owners manual and figured out how to fix it yourself, or you took it to a mechanic. If you still owed money on it, you would never have traded it for another car until it was paid off.
- Saying “I can’t afford it” was perfectly acceptable. You didn’t need to keep up with the Joneses. If your neighbor was more successful than you, you thought “good for him” - you didn’t resent him, or think the government should do something to make life more fair. If your friends wanted to take a group vacation, and you couldn’t afford to do it, you said “Sorry, maybe next time.” - you didn’t say “Sounds great!” and put it on a credit card.
- They shopped by price, not by payment.
The second part of your question is wrong though; successful frugal people don’t struggle with these things today either. It’s just that most people aren’t doing them. Look at your paycheck - then imagine what your savings account could look like if that number wasn’t going out the door to monthly payments.
It’s just as easy to save money today as it was back then. You just have to have the will to do it.
-Ron Rule
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