The Wisdom of our Elders

[freedomnow7]

My grandmother owned her own home outright, never had any credit cards, and used things to the fullest before throwing them away.

For those of you that were fortunate enough to have known your grandparents, or even your parents or anyone old and wise, what wisdom can you share, specifically about money and finances, that they passed down to you?

[Peeps]

One of my grandparents used to say:

"Break it in, wear it out, and when it dies do without."

I always got the impression it was a pretty common saying for those who lived through the Great Depression.

[debee]

My grandparents were profligate. Debt collectors used to call and my Grandmother would tell them, "You can't get blood from a stone." I guess that is a form of wisdom.

[Flamingo]

My grandmother owned her own home outright, never had any credit cards, and used things to the fullest before throwing them away.

For those of you that were fortunate enough to have known your grandparents, or even your parents or anyone old and wise, what wisdom can you share, specifically about money and finances, that they passed down to you?

Credit cards did not come into existence until the mid to late 1960's. Prior to that time, people either ran tabs at their local mom and pop grocery store or had hardly any debt at all except maybe their mortgage. The only debt my parents had was their mortgage which was paid off in 1960. My grandparents came to this country at the turn of the century and made out well due to my grandfather's job which he kept through the Depression. There were no such things as credit cards. My mother always used to tell me about the depression and how her family and her neighbors got through it. They were lucky as the father was working in the family (my grandfather). But they still took in laundry and other odds and ends to keep afloat - my mother remembers helping to scale fish as a young girl in their basement. She always told me as I was growing up that the Depression could happen again and to save money and not spend - she was so right.

[goodyphilips]

Yes any body who has lived through a massive downturn and could survive it would always give you the best lessons in fiscal management. My grandparents were also one of those who saw depression and managed to live through it with some difficulty but prudent financial habits help the sail through it.
So they always found credit cards amusing and discouraged me to use them.