• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK WOMEN COME FIRST

Every day we're serving Black women deeply. Come get a plate of goodness! Sign up for daily content and exclusive offers you'll love!

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and that you have read our Privacy Policy
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Money & Career

These Old School Money Tips Will Never Go Out Of Style

Common sense will never go out of style and if you incorporate at least one of these old school money hacks into your life, your dollars will stick around as well.
These Old School Money Tips Will Never Go Out Of Style
Getty
By Kara Stevens · Updated December 6, 2020

Before we had social media and personal finance experts to tell us how to stretch a penny or make our money grow, many of us had our parents and grandparents to show us the way. Their savvy thinking and proactive approach to living helped them survive the leanest and the meanest of money times. 

Their foolproof financial advice will always be in style. Here are few of their money gems to refresh your money memory:

1: Repair before you replace

This advice usually applies to clothes, shoes, and accessories like handbags. Sometimes we doll out our hard-earned cash for a new item because we don’t want the hassle of taking our clothes to a tailor, dry cleaner, or better yet, our dinning room table to mend an imperfection ourselves. This simple yet powerful act really demonstrates caring for things that you have so you can hold on to them for the long haul.

2: Shop your closet

This old school advice complements the “repair before you replace” advice.  One of the reasons we have duplicates and even triplicates of items is because we’re unaware of what we actually own.  Take a weekend to Marie Kondo your closet so you can declutter. This process allows you to take inventory of what you actually own rather than live in sartorial ignorance. The money that you save from avoiding unnecessary shopping can be used for bulking up your emergency fund or paying down a credit card.

3: Phone a Friend

We’re living in a crowdsourced economy. The traditional carpool structure has become a business model for companies like Uber and Lyft. Use this same structure to your household and in your immediate circle. 

It’s not tacky to share or to borrow large, seasonal items like lawnmowers, snow blowers or hedge clippers to keep from having to buy your own. And for super close girlfriends, there’s not a darn thing wrong with asking to borrow jewelry for a special event or a business suit for an interview if your money is funny, but you still want to make a good first impression. Just remember to make sure to return the items as promised, contribute to the costs of repairs, and be open to sharing in kind to avoid souring a friendship.

4: Use it before you lose it

If you have a collection of perfumes, lotions, make-up, or any other consumable, then you don’t need to buy another. These items are meant to be used and enjoyed, not stored and admired. You’re actually wasting your money and risking your safety the longer you don’t use these goods that carry implied or explicit expiration dates. 

5: Eat everything in your refrigerator before your next shopping haul

We are all guilty of buying groceries and letting them go bad because we’ve opted to eat out or called for take-in. The latest USDA estimates calculate that American food waste costs about $160 billion (yes, BILLION) in a single year.  

To save the planet and your budget, consider shopping with a list, shopping by meal, and hitting up Pinterest and Google, or calling up Grandma to give you some ideas on what to do with the ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator. 

Common sense will never go out of style and if you incorporate at least one of these old school money hacks into your money toolkit, your dollars will stick around as well.

TOPICS:  finances GI bill mona scott young State Farm work and money workplace wellness State Farm women women
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now