Things Your Grandparents Taught You about Money
Money Saving
Add on anything else your grandparents taught you. This is what my grandad taught me about money:
- It's only a bargain if you were going to buy it anyway.
- Charity starts at home.
- If it isn't broke, don't fix it.
- If you can walk there, do walk there.
- Father's day and Valentine's day are commercial events. Make something handmade, it means more.
- Never waste food, save it for later.
- You have to be in it to win it.
Spend half on living and half on surviving
Living = going out in the world
Surviving = paying bills roof over head
My nan was famous for her βroad killβ pies bless her heart. My uncle was a milkman so used to be out and about early mornings and used to pick up all sorts. Not much went to waste !!!
Wow I don't think I could eat that 
but it is amazing how much better with money their generation was x
I didn't have any grandparents but necessity is the mother of invention and when you had nowt, credit cards were not invented, there were no atm 's and your wages came in a sealed brown envelope in cash weekly, you had no choice but to make do and mend.
You couldn't get into debt cos no one would or could lend you anything. But we did share.
I sometimes had bread and bovril gravy for dinner and cardboard stuffed in my shoes when they wore a hole! And believe me, the generation before me (wartime) had it much worse.
Oh wow that must have been hard times. I think the past few decades have been good to most in comparison but I see a lot more homeless people this past year, and a lot more people struggling financially.
Tasha042 I would not dare criticise (there but for the grace of God etc.) But I imagine many homeless people are addicted to drugs or alcohol or have mental health issues. I think much of it is a modern phenomenon as I do not recall any of those issues being problematic when I was a teen, though of course they have always been there. I think many of the homeless who refuse aid are scared that they will be forced into becoming clean against their will, especially when you consider the iron grip addiction can have on a person.
I am not sure that the homeless crisis will ever be solved because while people are unable to turn away from addiction they cannot possibly keep a roof over their heads.
Having said all that I do realise that some homeless are in the situation through no fault of their own.
I once chatted to a Scottish guy who had been part of a labouring gang. The job folded, he was given the elbow and that meant losing the caravan he had shared. I gave him enough to get a room, meal and train ticket back to his family in Scotland and I truly hope he didn't take me for a ride. He was very reticent to take the money and was tearful so I think he was genuine.
Lynibis yes he sounds genuine to me. That was very thoughtful of you to help him out like that. Hopefully he will have rebuilt his life with help from his family. You may have saved him from a life on the streets.
Tasha042 This will sound disgusting but I also remember sharing a tin bath in front of the fire as a child! In fact, one of the places we lived in when I was a teen did not even have a bathroom. There was a bath on one side of the kitchen with a flap down lid which was used as a worktop when the bath was not in use. It was horrible trying to get a bath when the kitchen was constantly in use and no lock on the door!!!
My grandparents never really taught me anything about money. I remember my granny saving into her post office account and my grandad was always very good with money. It was my dad that taught me. He made sure that I knew the value of money. He was always one for if you can't afford it you don't buy it, don't get a credit card if you make the payments in full each month and ask do I need it before buying it. I remember when I started working and had my own money, whenever I went out and went to buy something I would always go, it took me this many hours to earn that amount, do I need it and how much use will I get from it. My mum made me earn my pocket money. In the summer I had to weed the garden whilst she was at work and my parents have a huge garden! I also had to look after the cats, do the dishes, clean the bathroom and my bedroom. Taught me early that you had to earn your money and they both made sure that I saved my money from a young age.
That's really good. I want my girls to earn their pocket money too. I had to do jobs but I rarely earned any money for doing them. And I never learnt to save because my pocket money was so rare that I couldn't save it. My eldest gets a few coins every week and saves up to Β£10 then we go to the toy shop 
Tasha042 I didn't get pocket money every week. My parents would give me money every so often for all the wee jobs I'd done. I remember someone from the local bank used to come into the primary school once a month and we paid our money into our child savers account. It was a good way to encourage us to save money and you didn't get a debit card for the account until you were 16.
Aww I think that's lovely that she saves up to buy a toy. She will appreciate it more.
Well, mine didn't teach me anything useful about it. They pretty much got dried of the money they worked hard for as their daughters decided to be in charge of it.
My gramps might have still be around if his daughter cared more about his health than his money.
Letting someone control your money is a terrible idea unless he/she is someone you trust 100%.
If you can't pay for it outright don't buy it! Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. Never spend everything or you'll have nothing left for a rainy day - and there will be plenty of those!
I think everyone gets better at saving when they need to. you just have to. there are many good money saving sites nowadays but my grandma made us clothes and knitted toys so that parents didn't have to buy those things.
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