Frugality always has to adapt to the times

As I’ve been working through our Tightwad Gazette series, I’ve been thinking about how frugal strategies have changed just since the 1990s.

a pregnant 1999 me

Since I moved out from my parents’ house in 1997, my own frugality has gone through a lot of iterations! But because I’m frugal to the core, I keep adapting as times change.

I thought it would be fun to reminisce about some of my past frugal practices, and then you guys can do the same in the comments!

2002 me. I look….tired. Which makes sense because I’d just had two kids really close together!

When online shopping first became a thing in the early 2000s, a lot of online stores had offers for things like $25/$25 purchase, just to make you brave enough to try this new e-commerce thing.

(No one trusted it at first!)

I took full advantage of those and I got quite a few of my kids Christmas presents for free that way.

Generic grocery store products did exist back then, of course. But I must say: the current generic products have improved a whole lot, both in terms of product quality and packaging. I remember them being far more plain and ugly 25 years ago.

Priceline had a grocery and gas system for a while at that time; you would actually bid for a price on groceries and gas, as wild as that sounds. I used it while it was available, but I do remember it being a rather annoying system, and I am not surprised it failed with time.

Around that same time, my area grocery stores doubled coupons up to $1, so I joined a coupon swap email list, where we mailed unneeded coupons to other people (one man’s trash coupon is another man’s treasure coupon!).

I got so so many products for free or almost free by combining doubled coupons with sales.

I used the coupons and sales to get Pampers diapers for cheap, because Pampers was offering a great rewards program where you could get Fisher Price toys for free with points you cut out from the boxes. I got my kids a toy grill, a toy tent with a campfire, and more.

Mail-in-rebates were also popular at the time; I was always mailing away for rebates for free toothpaste and such.

Now almost all internet coupons are digital, but back then, we had printable coupons. I remember there being so many fraud problems with those coupons because people were always figuring out ways to get around the printing limits.

I don’t use many coupons now; I mostly just shop at Aldi and Sam’s Club, or I use digital coupons in the Safeway app.

eBay debuted in 1995 and I was a pretty early adopter, unsurprisingly. But trying to sell items before digital cameras was a PAIN; I can remember taking film photos of items, developing the film, and then scanning those printed photos to upload them to the listing.

Also, back then every single listing was an auction; there was no Buy It Now option. The eBay experience has improved by leaps and bounds since then!

You want to know something kind of wild I did back in the 2000s? There were pay-to-read email programs, and if you opened the email, clicked on the ad, and let the time run for about 30 seconds, you’d get a penny. It was probably not the best use of my time, but I remember doing this while sitting on the couch nursing my babies. Ha.

That’s Sonia!

I tried so many now-defunct online rewards programs….basically precursors to Swagbucks. I remember one called E-Rewards and one called Milesource. MyPoints was one of the originals, and amazingly enough, it’s still going!

I think what I have learned in all my years of frugality is that there are always going to be opportunities to save money if you are willing to look.

Doubled coupons and mail-in rebates may be things of the past, but now I have Aldi.

Priceline for gas may be gone, but we have GasBuddy and GetUpside.

And the internet has brought us all sorts of wonderful frugal gifts like email, text messaging, free long-distance calling, Buy Nothing Groups, and online thrift stores (like ThredUp). Plus, thrifting has become cool, and no one could have imagined that 25 years ago. 😉

My Buy-Nothing cereal bowls!

You know that saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.”?

Well, if you are a person who is committed to saving money, you will always figure out ways to make that happen, no matter where you live, no matter your stage of life, and no matter what year it is.

Past Kristen was busy saving money.

Current Kristen is too.

And I’m sure Future Kristen will still be finding ways to pinch pennies in another 25 years. 😉

What are some ways your frugality has changed with the times?

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Lindsay B

Tuesday 20th of August 2024

Growing up my mom always couponed and mailed in rebates, so I did some of that too when I started living on my own. The only rebate I see/use now is the 11% back at Menards, which ends up being a good deal.

I remember a few years back (maybe 10 years? Time flies) that there were a bunch of free deals online on Black Friday. One of the frugal blogs I followed had a big list of them. So I got some free canvas art prints, free cleaning products, and Rx bars. I don't even think I paid shipping, or maybe it was something nominal like $5. I haven't seen anything like that since!

Overall I think my frugal abilities wax and wane with different seasons of life depending on my time and mental margin. For example, I've used e-Rewards off and on when I was unemployed/underemployed/during Covid lockdown when I needed to feel productive. Fortunately DH has always been employed but I need to feel like I am contributing too, so the gift cards I earned were fun money for coffee or other treats. Now that I have kids and an on-call job, I don't find survey companies worth my time. But that may change in the future.

Michelle H

I can remember collecting the Coke bottle caps of everyone at work, and entering the codes into the Coke rewards site to get Blockbuster gift cards!

Mary

Generic grocery items were around in the 1970s. They were plain with packaging with black typography. Lots of items had generic counterparts.

Kristen

Oh yes, I wasn't saying generics are a new thing. I'm just saying that the packaging has improved SO MUCH.

Paige

Monday 19th of August 2024

After kids I realized that restaurant meals were not going to be in our budget. So I learned to cook copycat recipes! Most great cooks I know have a similar story/background.

Selena

You think generics were primitive in the late 90s, they were uber primitive in the 70s. Generic cigarettes, red-white-and-blue beer, TP (the phone book pages were better), cans were labeled but for how long was a crap shoot. Oddly enough, I remember the local Shaklee salesperson promoting generics - likely so his customers would have $ to purchase his products. I also remember some senior citizens buying way too much tuna cat food. Food insecurity is nothing new. Double coupons were big thing - my greatest use was at a now closed local discount store where we never lacked for good TP, and other non-edibles. Was able to purchase so much cat food that I shared with the barn cats - no sense letting free go to waste. A chain store, which is no longer in my area gave case discounts - you could mix and match flavors of veggies, baby food etc. Mom would go with me, being in charge of infant daughter. Back to the house, I'd unload and store. She watched my daughter (pick-up service in the morning, what a game changer), I hauled out a week's worth of supplies each Monday. Frugal parents helping frugal kid/spouse. I still pick up small sticks to use for kindling in our wood stove. A never ending supply when you live on a wooded lot. Garage sales were also a better source - more USA made products (clothes, toys). I remember my mother boiling a few toys she purchased (stayed at their house). You boil a toy made today and it will melt! I did some coupon swapping and a lot of rebates/promos. Still have a number of cat food bowls.