HERE KITTY KITTY

Old Mother Frugal is old. Just how old? A testament to old age maybe that you can remember a time before credit cards.

It was an era when one either paid in full by cash or by check at time of purchase. There were some retail establishments that had an in-house payment plan. The concept was called “lay-away”. It may have been the precursor to credit cards.

The buyer would make a deposit towards a large purchase, take it home and pay it off over a period of time, with interest as determined by the retail store. A monthly bill would arrive in the mail and payment was made to the store. This practice still exists today.

Old Grandmom Frugal was a bookkeeper and not a fan of the lay-away program. She and Old Granddad Frugal were children of The Great Depression. If they didn’t have the cash on hand to make a purchase, the purchase waited until there was money “in the envelope”. It was a time in history when "you just make do”.

Ah, the envelopes. They were yellow in color and were housed in a brown vinyl pouch. The hand-held device was aptly inscribed “Envelopes”.

Every yellow envelope was given a name and a dollar amount. It was their “kitty” or “petty cash” that contained the money for all things being purchased or utilities to be paid. Each month, the amount of cash grew in the envelope or was emptied when a bill was paid in full. To this day, Old Granddad Frugal still uses his yellow envelopes.

Old Mother Frugal used a jar system for her Mother’s Little Helpers. The concept was to save for an item that was “wanted”. There was a time in our family when cell phones were a “want”. Today, they appear to be a “need”. Establishing one’s needs from one’s wants was lesson number one.

A middle-aged Old Mother Frugal did not “want” to be chasing down teenagers for cash to pay their bills. They had to save in advance and then they could make their prideful purchase.

Lessons from The Great Depression have much to teach a new generation of learners. If you have the time or desire, you can read online stories from “The Greatest Generation”. There may be some tips and ideas from yesterday for handling your frugality today.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Do you still occasionally get hardcopy bills with an envelope to return your payment? If you are paying online (tip: saving money on a stamp!) use the envelope and begin your own kitty system. Mark each envelope with a purpose (movies, gym, vacation, dry cleaners, fun, etc). After you have paid your mandatory monthly bills, deposit any remaining money as cash into your envelope/jar/Excel spreadsheet. The tech savvy readers may want to try YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com. Some months, there may be no money to deposit but the feeling of relief when you can pay in full will be priceless.