9 “Cheap” Habits I Picked Up From My Grandma That Save Me Hundreds

Last Tuesday I was standing in the Target checkout with a cart full of “little” things: three tubes of toothpaste, a pack of berries, a birthday card, and the cereal my middle kid swears only tastes right in the red box. The total popped up and I actually laughed. Like, out loud. The cashier gave me that tiny pity smile.

On the drive home I could hear my grandma in my head, in her no-nonsense voice: “You’re bleeding money in the aisles, honey.” And annoyingly? She was right. I started doing her so-called “cheap” stuff again, and the first one is the one I used to roll my eyes at the hardest.

1) Grandma’s “Price Book” on a 99¢ Spiral Notebook

My grandma kept a beat-up Mead spiral notebook in her junk drawer with the “real” prices of things. I copied her and started writing down what we actually pay for our staples: Cheerios, chicken thighs, peanut butter, diapers, coffee. Nothing fancy, just the item, store, and price. Three weeks in, I realized I’d been buying the same 12-pack of LaCroix for $6.99 at Target thinking it was normal, when Kroger rotates it to $3.99 every few weeks. That one notebook has saved me $187 since February, mostly because it stops me from panic-buying at the first price I see.

2) Rotisserie Chicken Night Turns Into Three Meals (Costco, Every Thursday)

My grandma would’ve called a rotisserie chicken “a smart hen.” Every Thursday after carpool, I grab the $4.99 Costco rotisserie chicken. Night one is chicken + bagged salad + whatever carb my kids will eat without negotiating. While the dishwasher’s running, I pull the rest of the meat and toss the carcass in a freezer bag. Night two becomes quesadillas or chicken fried rice. Night three is soup from the bones (yes, I used to think this was unhinged). One chicken reliably covers 6–8 servings in my house. If I buy the same amount of cooked chicken breast, it’s easily $18. That difference adds up fast.

3) Freezer Bread: Two Loaves from Aldi, One Goes Straight In

I used to throw away bread like it was my part-time job. My grandma froze everything, including bread, and I was convinced it would come out tasting like a sponge. Wrong. Now I buy two loaves of Aldi L’oven Fresh Honey Wheat for $1.45 each, and one goes directly into the freezer the minute I get home. We toast it or thaw a few slices at a time. The real savings is waste: before this, I was tossing half a loaf every week because someone “doesn’t like crusts anymore.” I did the math after four months and I’d stopped throwing out about $43 worth of bread, buns, and bagels. Not thrilling, but it’s real money.

4) Vinegar + Dawn in a Spray Bottle Instead of Fancy Cleaner

My grandma cleaned her kitchen with white vinegar like it was holy water. I finally tried her mix: half white vinegar, half water, and a tiny squeeze of blue Dawn. It smells like a salad bar for five minutes, then it’s fine. I use it on the stove, countertops, and the sticky handprints on the fridge. What it replaced in my cabinet: Method spray, Mrs. Meyer’s, and that one “disinfecting” lemon thing I bought because the label looked responsible. In March, I didn’t buy any spray cleaners at all, and the total I didn’t spend was $26.74. My sink has never looked better, which is irritating because she’s been right since 1984.

5) “Eat the Fridge” Soup on Sunday: The $0 Grocery Run

Sunday at 4:30 p.m. used to be my personal grocery-store doom spiral. I’d run out for “just a few things” and come home with a $68 receipt and a new candle I didn’t need. My grandma’s rule was: before you shop, you eat what you already bought. Now Sundays are “eat the fridge” soup or pasta. Half a bag of baby carrots, the last sad zucchini, two cups of leftover chicken, the heel of parmesan, a can of diced tomatoes. One time I even chopped up two forgotten hot dogs and nobody noticed. Cutting that one extra grocery run per week has saved me $273 in the last two months, mostly because I stop impulse-shopping hungry.

6) Bar Soap at Dollar Tree for Kids’ Handwashing (Dial, Not the Cute Foaming Stuff)

I fell for the adorable foaming hand soap dispensers. I also have three kids, which means we go through hand soap like we’re running a public restroom. Grandma would buy plain bar soap and call it a day. I started grabbing Dial bar soap at Dollar Tree and putting one bar at each sink in a little dish. The kids complained for exactly one day, then forgot. In January, I compared: I’d spent $19.92 on liquid soap refills the month before. With bar soap, it was $5.00 even. Also, the foaming dispenser no longer “mysteriously” gets emptied for bubble experiments. That’s priceless, but also it’s probably another $9 I’m not pouring down the drain.

7) Library Holds + “No New Books Until You Finish Two” Rule

My grandma loved the library like it was a luxury store. I used to buy books because I wanted the feeling of being the kind of mom who reads, not because I had time to read. In April, I checked my Amazon history and I’d spent $61.38 on books since New Year’s, and half were still stacked on my nightstand like guilt decor. Now I put everything on hold at the library, including the kids’ graphic novels (those are basically currency in my house). We also have a rule: you finish two before you get another. Last month I spent $0 on books and still read two new releases. The real win is I stopped buying my “fantasy self” a cart full of hardcovers.

8) Grandma’s “One Card” Trick: Skip the $6.99 Greeting Cards at Target

She kept a shoebox of cards for every occasion: birthdays, thank-yous, sympathy, new baby. Nothing fancy, just a stash so you’re not sprinting into Walgreens paying $6.99 for a card that gets opened, smiled at, and recycled. I copied her and bought a box of Hallmark assorted birthday cards at Walmart for $12.98 (it’s 24 cards). I also keep a roll of stamps in the same drawer because future-me is not to be trusted. In March alone we had two kid parties, my sister’s birthday, and a baby shower. I would’ve spent at least $27.96 on cards; I spent about $2.16 worth. I feel slightly smug every time.

9) “Heat the Humans, Not the House”: Space Heater + Heated Throw at Night

My grandma wore a cardigan like it was part of her body. I used to crank the thermostat because I hate being cold, and I’d complain about the bill like I wasn’t the one touching the buttons. In November, I bought a basic Honeywell space heater for the living room and a Sunbeam heated throw for the couch. After the kids go to bed, we drop the thermostat from 71 to 67 and camp under the blanket like it’s a movie night, even if I’m just folding laundry. Comparing my December bill to the previous year (same house, same utility company), it was $83.41 less. I’m still annoyed that a woman who saved twist-ties also solved my energy costs.