The "Embarrassing" Habits Millions of Seniors Quietly Use to Stretch a Fixed Income

A calculator clipped to a pocketbook strap in the cereal aisle, and a young woman sighing behind it. That is where these frugal habits for seniors on a fixed income start, and every one of them is something our mothers and grandmothers did right out in the open without a second thought. Somewhere along the way, folks started doing these things quietly, like stretching a dollar was something to hide. In this video I go through twenty-five old-fashioned money habits a lot of us still keep on Social Security and a fixed income, and why none of them is a thing to be ashamed of. Keeping a running total so nothing goes back at the register. Asking the manager for one price on the whole day-old bread rack. Folding the Christmas wrapping paper the way my uncle did with his pocketknife. Taking the cans back for the deposit you already paid. Pressing the soap sliver onto the new bar, saving the butter wrapper, keeping a rag bag, carrying a handkerchief, and darning a sock over a light bulb the way grandmother did on the front porch. There are habits for the church supper and the repast too, how to carry a plate home and keep it safe, plus the supper you would never serve company, the store brand on the belt, and asking for the senior discount at every register. The hardest one on the list is saying out loud that you can't afford something, and I tell you how that phone call went for me. Tell me in the comments which habit somebody in your family laughed at you for, and whether they do it now. I'm not a financial adviser. This video is general information from my own experience and the official sources above. Rules and amounts change every year and differ from state to state, so confirm anything with the agency before you act on it.