Old-school habits like fixing and budgeting still hold power in a fast-spending world.
Many Boomers grew up learning how to make do with less, a mindset built on resourcefulness and patience. From home-cooked meals to mending clothes and tracking expenses by hand, these practical habits offer real solutions for Gen Z facing rising costs and financial pressure. While times have changed, the core values behind these skills—frugality, consistency, and purpose—can help anchor modern money management with surprising strength and simplicity.
1. Cooking simple meals at home instead of ordering takeout.
A home-cooked meal often begins with basic ingredients—pasta, canned tomatoes, a clove of garlic—and ends with something far cheaper than restaurant takeout. Prepping food at home anchors spending; ingredients stretch across multiple meals, and the upfront cost is lower per serving.
Time becomes the main trade-off. Boiling rice takes longer than tapping a delivery app, but the savings scale over weeks. A pot of chili simmered on Sunday can make lunch through Wednesday, adding both stability and flavor to daily routines.
2. Repairing everyday items instead of replacing them too quickly.
Worn-out zippers, scratched chairs, or flickering lamps don’t always need replacing. Repairs—sewing on buttons, tightening screws, swapping lightbulbs—often restore function without new purchases. Boomers learned to diagnose minor issues before heading to the checkout line.
A dented toaster or frayed shoelace might get tossed today, though simple fixes cost little and stretch a budget. The know-how to sharpen kitchen knives or patch a tire extends an item’s usefulness and teaches patience over quick replacements.
3. Shopping secondhand to find quality goods at lower prices.
Secondhand shops and online marketplaces offer everything from faded denim to vintage cast irons at steep discounts. Boomers grew up scanning church rummage sales and classifieds, where utility mattered more than packaging. Many of those finds still hold up decades later.
New doesn’t always mean better. A $20 wool coat from a thrift store hangs through five winters just as reliably as a department store version for ten times more. Patience and persistence often turn up surprising gems at overlooked prices.
4. Creating and sticking to a realistic monthly spending plan.
Budgeting starts with knowing what’s coming in and what’s going out. Paper ledgers once tracked paychecks against bills, grocery slips, and gas fill-ups. Boomers built plans before credit cards became common, basing spending on real-time bank balances, not projected income.
A handwritten list or simple spreadsheet does the same job today. Clarity grows when each dollar has a job. Instead of floating from café to rideshare to impulse purchase, money becomes something you guide—not something you chase.
5. Using cash to control impulse buying and overspending habits.
Handing over cash triggers physical awareness that swiping a card often bypasses. Watching bills leave a wallet acts as a brake, one Boomers knew well before digital wallets existed. Cash makes spending decisions feel heavier, literally and mentally.
A crisp twenty handed to a clerk lands differently than a tap on a screen. The nudge may stop an impulse buy in its tracks, especially for non-essentials like lattes or extra deliveries that quietly stack up.
6. Mending clothes to extend the life of a favorite item.
A worn hem or dropped stitch doesn’t mean a shirt’s lifespan is over. Boomers often learned to sew patches, replace buttons, or darn socks as part of regular upkeep. A sewing kit lived in many hallway closets, right next to the light bulbs.
Repairing clothes means one less trip to the store and one more season of wear. A frayed collar or missing cufflink doesn’t mean buying new—just a quiet pause with needle and thread before tossing out what still has life.
7. Growing a small garden to cut costs on produce staples.
A tomato plant in a sunny window can produce more than a week’s worth of salads for the cost of a single grocery store trip. Boomers often kept backyard gardens—or porch pots—not just for fun, but to stretch food budgets quietly over time.
Sprouts take effort. Water and soil don’t yield overnight results, but cucumbers from the yard feel different than shrink-wrapped ones. A few planted herbs or an onion patch can offset frequent store visits and build long-view habits into mealtime decisions.
8. Comparing prices before buying instead of rushing into purchases.
Pausing to compare prices—across aisles, receipts, or product labels—was second nature before smartphones made it instant. Boomers often saved circulars and clipped price charts to map cheaper options. The habit centered on observation and timing, not urgency.
Hurrying to buy often costs more. A detergent brand, for example, might swing by two dollars depending on the store or week. Watching patterns across flyers or shelves feeds a slow rhythm that favors planning over convenience every time.
9. Seeking value over brand names when making buying decisions.
Brand loyalty can tempt shoppers into choosing logos over logic. Boomers often had fewer choices, so selection focused on value—what lasted, not just what looked polished. Store brands weren’t snubbed if they cleaned just as well as premium labels.
A simple bar of soap or pot for boiling beans doesn’t need prestige. Swapping image-heavy labels for tried-and-true function can shave real dollars off routines. Prioritizing substance over marketing means choosing things that work, not just shine.
10. Saving loose change regularly and building it into a habit.
Coins at the bottom of bags or glove compartments once found their way into glass jars on bedroom shelves. Over time, that loose change grew. Boomers often routed quarters into laundry, bus fare, or grocery cart locks—physical reminders that small amounts build.
Tossed aside, they disappear unnoticed. Left alone for a season, they might buy lunch. Turning coins into habit—whether saved, tracked, or rolled—fosters attention to details other spending habits might overlook. Momentum builds penny by penny.
11. Prioritizing needs over wants when making financial choices.
Wants offer thrill; needs anchor function. Boomers often split the two by asking whether an item helped daily routines or just filled a fleeting craving. A working fridge mattered more than trendy headphones or another kitchen gadget to store.
Choosing based on utility steers spending toward stability. A winter coat blocking wind at a bus stop does more than three party shirts that stay in the closet. Filtering purchases through purpose helps focus budgets on life’s core ingredients.