Money has been around for centuries and before the banking institutions, ATM machines and credit cards came, women have known a thing or two about saving money.
Back in the days, our mothers saved money in some interesting ways. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Bargaining
Most women of old have a Ph.D in bargaining. They would stay in the market and haggle prices until they buy that particular item for way less than how much it was originally sold for. While this method ensured that that spent more time in the market, it also ensured that they came home with some extra change that could be channeled into tending to other expenses.
DIY (Do It Yourself)
A few years ago, women saved money by doing a lot of things themselves. Think knitting of sweaters, planting of vegetable gardens, designing of wall crafts, baking and more. D-I-Y is making a comeback in our world today and Teig Stanley, a certified financial planner opines that doing a bunch of stuff yourself is a smart way to cut cost and save money.
Bulk buying
The trend is still in place with most women today, but it started many years ago. Women always knew that bulk buying meant spending a little less on items and they made good use of that knowledge. Even today, women still employ this method to cut back on cost and save time as well.
Envelope budgeting method
Yes, women of old also knew what budgeting was all about even if they never had budget calculator or budgeting apps to help them. They usually just made a list of what they would spend money on and then share the money into different envelopes marking which expense each was for. Then they stuck to using the money for what it was cut out for.
This method worked for them and it is interesting to note how much discipline it must have taken for a woman not to touch money that she had readily available because it was for some other need.
Giving a trusted friend or hiding underground
Women are smart and always find ways to make the best of every situation. Back then, a woman who was determined to save would do that even if it meant giving it to a trusted friend to keep or digging a hole and putting it so that she doesn’t spend it.
Women have since evolved from these archaic ways of saving money and more women are making the old ways better while building wealth by not just saving, but investing their money.
But it is only right that as we celebrate women this March, we remember the smart women of old who paved a way for the women of today to soar in making good financial decisions.
