6 ways to save money you should learn from your parents

1. Buy goods for the future

Here, of course, there are nuances. Stocking up for decades ahead so that later archaeologists will rake pyramids of stew and sugar is hardly a good solution. However, you should not fall into product minimalism either.

For many, an ordinary situation is to decide what will be for dinner on the way home and buy ingredients at the nearest store. And if suddenly something was not at home, delivery will help out. This approach forces you to overpay, because it makes it impossible to acquire everything profitably.

When you use the same products or detergents over and over again, it makes sense to buy more of them or buy something for future use if you see a discount. Among other things, this will help to survive the period of excitement, as, for example, it was in beginning of the pandemicwhen many products disappeared from the shelves due to panic. In such cases, you do not have to buy something at a speculative price. You will simply wait out this time on stocks.

2. Take food from private sellers

Hypermarkets are convenient and often profitable. But sometimes it makes more sense to buy something from a private seller. For example, for reasonable money to save a neighbor from excess harvest from the dacha. Of course, this mainly concerns products that can be produced on a personal plot.

If there are no dacha neighbors, you should go to the market. Many cities hold agricultural fairs during the summer and fall, where people sell their surplus. The main bonus of the market is that you can to bargain. Don't miss this chance to save money and turn on the charm to the fullest!

At the same time, it is important not to fall into the illusion that private traders have everything natural, and firms supply one chemistry. In poultry farms, of course, they give medicine to chickens, but they follow certain protocols. Because no one needs inspections from inspection bodies and reputational scandals. Many private traders are also aware of what antibiotics are, fertilizer and so on. And they can be used randomly and in any quantities.

3. Learn smart recipes

The average mom seems to be naturally endowed with the ability to cook four dishes from one chicken, and turn the leftovers of yesterday's dinner into a fundamentally new treat for lunch. Although, most likely, life taught her this.

It is not at all necessary to wait for finances to perform a piercing romance. You can make the menu a little more rational now. (And the recipes are easy to find in Lifehacker's special project "There is time».)

However, many will see significant savings if they simply start cooking at home instead of going to a cafe and ordering food delivery.

4. Make blanks

In the store, pickles and delicious jams in winter can cost more than some exotic mangoes and avocados. So there is nothing shameful in taking care of your future and processing the harvest bought from private traders into mashed potatoes, compotes, salads.

The canning process itself looks like a tester of hell: hot, steam everywhere, everything around dangerously gurgles. But in winter, home-made salted tomato will quickly take you to paradise. Especially if before that you compare the costs of your blanks and the cost of jars in the store.

5. Learn to needlework

Do not be deceived: our mothers and fathers can do almost everything with their own hands, not because they are superhumans, but because of a difficult life. Not everything could be bought, and often there was nothing. Therefore, everyone got out of the situation as best they could: they repaired the broken, learned to create a new one from scratch.

Of course, there is no need to bring the situation to the point of absurdity. If you are a highly qualified specialist and your time is expensive, it is always more logical to work a little more in your profile and pay for other people's services. But, say, if you spend the evening scrolling through social networks, it is quite possible to occupy your hands with something other than a smartphone. And save.

For example, learn to knit winter hats and scarves made of yarn with the addition of wool - these will be many times cheaper and better than store-bought synthetic ones. To make a broken device work, sometimes simple manipulations with a screwdriver and a soldering iron are enough. Some items of clothing do not have to be thrown away immediately, they can be sewn up. If finances are tight, this is the way out.

6. Cooperate

The older generation is more likely to act collectively. And often this is a viable strategy.

For example, villagers often sell carcasses of meat. Buying a whole pig and finding a place for it in the refrigerator is not a trivial task for a city dweller. But if we cooperate, it will be cheaper and the problem will be solved with storage. Large packages of products bought at a discount in a supermarket can also be more profitable to split. And sometimes just timely transmitted information about store promotions plays its part.

What savings strategy did you borrow from your parents? Share in the comments.