New research from Age Concern and Help the Aged shows that seven in ten older people are resorting to thrifty skills picked up during the war and post-war years to help them save money and make resources go further during the recession.
Trying to fend off the blows of the economic downturn‚ 70 per cent of people over 50s say they are getting back to trusted money-saving strategies learnt during previously tough times or handed-down from their parents. The survey shows:
- 91 per cent of people over the age of 50 say they budget carefully and spend within their means
- 87 per cent cook from scratch rather than buying ready-made meals
- 71 per cent reuse leftover food
- 54 per cent shop for food in the reduced section or buy reduced food at the end of the day
- 50 per cent sew or mend items for themselves or others
- 29 per cent grow their own vegetables.
The research also shows nine in ten older people believe the ‘make do and mend’ mentality could help younger generations weather today’s recession. Younger people share the same belief with 84 per cent of people aged 18-24 thinking they could benefit from skills handed down from tough war and post-war years.
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Getting back to basics is a skill many Boomers learned not during tough times but as children of affluence. There was a time when we didn’t need much. The patches on our jeans measured our commitment to a simple life embroidered with beauty. But somewhere along the way many of us turned into Hippie-crites, becoming more materialistic than the establishment we condemned. As we enter the next phase of our lives we have to ask ourselves what all that consumption got us? Remembering the joy of simple abundance will serve us well in this time of economic upheaval, when living simply is becoming a must for nearly everyone but for us Boomers on the brink of retirement, it is urgent.
Thanks for this comment Regina and so beautifully expressed.
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