27 Great Depression Frugal Living Tips to Try in 2024

Sharing is caring!

Clever Girl Finance recently wrote an article sharing frugal living tips from the Great Depression. I thought it would be fun to compare and see how many of these I actually do. You can play along too!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

What was the Great Depression?

It was the longest and most severe economic downturn in modern history. It was marked by steep declines in industrial production and in prices (deflation), mass unemployment, banking panics, and sharp increases in rates of poverty and homelessness.

My grandparents lived through the Great Depression as young, married couple. My grandparents continued to live this way and this had a trickle down effect. My father was the youngest of five and this is how they raised all their children. In turn, he raised me this way. I am now here, encouraging you, and my own children to live a beautiful life on less.

The Great Depression should not be taken lightly. We have a lot more support and systems in place now than they did then. Even though we are dealing with inflation, high interest rates, and other economic challenges, there are certainly many Great Depression frugal living tips we can learn and apply today.

Great Depression Frugal Living Tips to try in 2024:

(1) Make your own soap

I get a CHECK for this one. While I would love to create all my own soaps, for now I just make my own hand soap. Want the recipe? Here it is. Super simple and costs very little!

(2) Wear clothes more than once before washing

Another CHECK. Obviously, I am not talking undergarments or socks here, but I will re-wear the same pair of pants and tops if they’re not dirty or smelly.

(3) Keep warm with a hot water bottle at night

X for me. My husband is a furnace, so he keeps me nice and warm. The baby also sleeps on top of me, so there’s that. We do keep our house at a low temperature in the evenings though.

(4) Learn a few sewing skills

CHECK for me. My eldest son expressed an interest in wanting to learn this as well. He took a few free classes at the local library and loved it! I’m not a whiz at sewing, but mending a few things every now and then has been super helpful!

(5) Do all your errands one day a week or less

CHECK, we did this religiously when we lived in the country 30 minutes outside of town. Now that we’re back in the city, we could do a little better, but we combine them pretty often.

(6)Track your spending

This one is a check for me. Tracking your spending is imperative to keeping your budget in check! Do it however works best for you. On paper, through your bank app, using a calendar. Whatever works!

(7) Make a herb garden

Unfortunately, I get an X here. I have been slowing upping my gardening skills every year. I know that growing herbs can be as simple as setting them on your window sill, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Probably because I kill just about everything.

(8) Cook with leftovers

Absolutely, CHECK. We strive to use up ALL of our leftovers. It’s one of the ways we save so much money on our grocery budget. We prefer our leftovers for lunch or making a whole new creation.

(9) Look through the pantry before going to the store

YES! CHECK for that too. This is one of the important steps of every meal plan. You have a meal plan, right?

(10) Purchase a whole chicken

CHECK again, but this isn’t something I do super often. Unless I can get a whole chicken on markdown, it just doesn’t seem worth it to me. My family doesn’t eat chicken on the bone, so I tend to have to pull all the meat off the entire bird. I also love using it for homemade chicken stock.

(11) Eat less meat

Less meat is another strategy we use to keep our grocery bill low. We try to have several low or no meat meals a week, substituting beans or other forms of protein. So that’s another CHECK.

(12) Buy reusable products

Specific reusable products are so much more accessible than they were in my grandparents day. They used to have to create a lot of their reusable products and we’re blessed to be able to go to the store and buy items we can use over and over again. I use several reusable products, like cloth diapers, menstrual cups, metal straws, and so many others things that save thousands of dollars and are much better for the environment.

(13) Start a vegetable garden

We started growing tomatoes in 2022. We did pretty well, so we expanded to a few more tomato plants and jalapeños. Unfortunately, a bunny ate all of our jalapeños but we had a beautiful bounty of tomatoes from spring to fall. We could definitely use some work on our homesteading skills though.

(14) Invest in quality

This is something we recently started doing. We had little money, so instead of getting a few quality items to last us for years, we would get the cheapest thing and have to replace it every few years. Luckily, we learned!

(15) Upcycle furniture instead of buying

My husband and I enjoy upcycling furniture as a summer project together. We purchased an old dresser at a garage sale for $20 back in 2011. My eldest son used it in his room for a good 5 years. We then used it as our TV stand in our living room. After about 10 years, we finally painted it and installed new hardware. It still sits in our living room to this day. It’s not in perfect shape. However; having small kids, it’s probably better we upcycle while we can now and invest in more quality pieces when they know not to climb, color, or smear dirt on the furniture.

(16) Buy things second hand

This is something my husband and I excel at. Thrift store shopping is an absolute family favorite. We even enjoy getting our vacation souvenirs from the thrift store versus buying new. Most of our house is from thrift stores, consignment sales, hand me downs, or garage sales.

(17) Make your own cleaning products

I could probably do better at this, but it’s a CHECK as well. I make my own all-purpose spray and my own room spray. It’s super cost effective and works just as well!

(18) Share with your neighbors

We do share with our neighbors some, but we do generally try to borrow where we can, even if not from neighbors. If my husband needs a tool for a home project, he will call his stepdad. If I need a pair of shoes for an event, I will ask a friend. We try not to buy things unless we will get a lot of use out of them.

(19) Learn how to store and preserve produce

I’d say this is a CHECK, but not so much canning. I am pretty good at picking up bargains and freezing them. I do this with meat, produce, bread, tortillas, etc. I have canned my own salsa and garden tomatoes, but I’d love to be able to make it through a whole winter with my own fresh fruits and veggies from summer!

(20) Learn to DIY around the house

Youtube is such a wealth of knowledge. I remember my dad having to borrow library books to find out how to fix something. Now you simply search it and BOOM. You can do it yourself in no time. We do this for home renovations, car repairs, just about everything.

(21) Use less electricity

We are always striving to keep our electric bill down. I try to use the clothesline in the warmer months, keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature, and keep the lights shut when they’re not needed.

(22) Relax by candlelight

This is an X for me, but I love the idea! I’d love to get some beeswax candles around the house and use them in various rooms in the evening.

(23) Just a dab will do ya

In the article, this was discussed as toothpaste, but it can work for many things. You don’t need near as much product as most people think you do. We use a pea of toothpaste, a dot of dish soap, and probably 80% less laundry detergent than it recommends on the bottle.

(24) Use things up before replacing

Ever heard the moto “use it up or do without”? We try to stick to this in most things. Unless we know we will use something and there is a good stock up price, we try not to purchase anything until we use up what we currently have.

(25) Go to restaurants less often

We definitely fall into this category. When we started living below our means, our restaurant budget went right out the window. Now, we only eat out on special occasions, vacations, or long car trips. It makes it more special and a real treat, plus it saves a lot of money!

(26) Entertain yourself for free

This is another one we started implementing in order to live on less. We love finding free or cheap things to do around our area. Need some ideas of your own? Get my free printable with a ton of ideas!

(27) Make payments in cash

I don’t quite do this as much as I used to. I know some people still use the cash envelope system religiously. I certainly could do better at this in certain categories, like groceries and household products. Using cash certainly makes sinking funds much more fun as well.

23/27. I’d say that’s pretty darn good. How many Great Depression frugal living tips do you follow? Let me know in the comments below!