10 spending hacks boomers still swear by that Gen Z doesn't even know exist

My mom handed me a stack of coupons the last time I visited.

Actual paper coupons. Clipped from the Sunday newspaper with scissors.

I looked at them like she'd just handed me a floppy disk.

"You can save fifteen dollars on your next grocery run," she said, completely serious.

I thanked her, took the coupons, and promptly forgot about them in my car for three weeks until they expired.

But here's the thing: my mom's grocery bill is consistently half of mine. She's not eating less. She's not buying worse food. She's just using strategies that my generation either never learned or actively dismissed as outdated.

Boomers grew up in a different economy, sure. But they also grew up with a different relationship to money. They clip coupons. They comparison shop. They wait for sales like it's a sport.

And while some of their advice feels irrelevant in 2025, a lot of it still works. We've just convinced ourselves that we're too busy, too tech-savvy, or too above it to bother.

Here are ten spending hacks boomers still swear by that Gen Z doesn't even know exist.

1) Actually using coupons

I know. Coupons feel ancient. They feel like something your grandma does.

But they still work.

My mom saves hundreds of dollars a year by spending twenty minutes a week going through coupon apps and store flyers. She stacks manufacturer coupons with store sales. She uses cash-back apps on top of that.

Meanwhile, I'm out here paying full price for everything because I can't be bothered to check if there's a deal.

Gen Z grew up with promo codes, but we treat them like optional bonuses. Boomers treat them like mandatory strategy. They won't buy something unless they've checked for a coupon first.

And honestly? They're right. Most stores have some kind of discount running at all times. You're just leaving money on the table if you don't look.

2) Buying generic brands

Boomers don't care about brand loyalty the way we do.

If the store-brand cereal is three dollars cheaper than the name brand and tastes the same, they're buying the store brand. No hesitation.

Gen Z, on the other hand, has been marketed to our entire lives. We've been conditioned to believe that brands matter, that the label says something about who we are.

But most generic products are made in the same factories as the name brands. Same ingredients. Same quality. Different packaging.

My dad has been buying generic everything for as long as I can remember. Paper towels, canned goods, pasta, cleaning supplies. He doesn't feel like he's sacrificing. He just thinks paying extra for a logo is stupid.

And when you look at the math, he's not wrong.

3) Keeping a price book

This one sounds intense, but hear me out.

A price book is a notebook or spreadsheet where you track the regular prices of things you buy often. That way, when something goes on sale, you actually know if it's a good deal or just marketing.

Boomers do this. They know that chicken goes on sale every six weeks at their grocery store. They know the lowest price they've ever seen for olive oil. They know when to stock up and when to wait.

Gen Z just buys whatever we need when we need it and hopes we're not getting ripped off.

I tried keeping a price book for a month, and it was eye-opening. I realized that half the "sales" at my grocery store weren't actually deals. And the things that were genuinely discounted, I could stock up on and save a ton over time.

It's not glamorous. But it works.

4) Shopping at thrift stores first

Boomers grew up thrifting before it was cool.

They go to Goodwill, estate sales, and consignment shops not because it's trendy, but because it's practical. Why pay full price for something when you can get it secondhand for a fraction of the cost?

Gen Z has embraced thrifting for fashion, but we still default to buying new for most other things. Furniture, kitchen stuff, books, electronics. We head straight to Target or Amazon without even considering secondhand options.

My mom furnished half her house from estate sales. My dad's tools are almost all secondhand. They're not sacrificing quality. They're just refusing to pay the new-item markup.

And in a world where everything is designed to break in five years anyway, buying used makes even more sense.

5) Paying with cash to stick to a budget

This one feels almost archaic, but it's wildly effective.

Boomers withdraw a set amount of cash for discretionary spending each week. When the cash is gone, they stop spending. Simple.

Gen Z uses cards for everything, which makes it way too easy to overspend without realizing it. Tap, tap, tap. The money disappears digitally, and we don't feel the impact until we check our account and panic.

There's actual psychology behind why cash works better. When you physically hand over money, your brain registers the loss more acutely. It creates friction. It makes you think twice.

I'm not saying you need to go full cash-only. But if you struggle with impulse spending, pulling out a set amount for the week and leaving your cards at home can be a game-changer.

6) Waiting 30 days before making big purchases

Boomers don't impulse-buy big-ticket items.

If they're considering a new appliance, a piece of furniture, or any purchase over a certain amount, they wait. Thirty days. Sometimes longer.

If they still want it after a month, they buy it. If they forget about it, they saved themselves money on something they didn't actually need.

Gen Z lives in a one-click purchase culture. We see something, we want it, we buy it, and it's at our door in two days. We don't give ourselves time to sit with the decision.

And then we end up with a closet full of stuff we used once or regret buying.

The 30-day rule isn't flashy, but it's one of the most effective ways to avoid buyer's remorse and unnecessary spending.

7) Repairing instead of replacing

When something breaks, boomers try to fix it first.

A torn jacket? Sew it. A broken lamp? Replace the bulb or the cord. A wobbly chair? Tighten the screws.

Gen Z has been conditioned by planned obsolescence and convenience culture. Something breaks, we throw it away and order a new one. We don't even consider repair as an option.

But repair is almost always cheaper. And in a lot of cases, it's not even that hard. YouTube has tutorials for basically everything.

My dad has repaired the same vacuum cleaner for fifteen years. I've gone through three in five years because I just replace them when they stop working.

His way is objectively smarter.

8) Splitting bulk purchases with friends or neighbors

Costco memberships. Bulk rice. Giant packs of toilet paper. Boomers figured out a long time ago that buying in bulk saves money, but you don't have to use it all yourself.

They split purchases with friends, neighbors, or family members. Everyone saves money, no one has to store fifty pounds of flour in their apartment.

Gen Z tends to buy individually, even when pooling resources would make way more sense. We're so used to convenience and immediacy that we don't think to coordinate.

But if you've got roommates, friends, or family nearby, splitting bulk purchases is an easy way to cut costs without any real downside.

9) Actually reading the fine print on bills and subscriptions

Boomers check their bills. Every month.

They notice when a charge goes up. They call to negotiate. They cancel services they're not using.

Gen Z just lets subscriptions auto-renew indefinitely. We don't check our credit card statements. We assume everything is correct until something goes catastrophically wrong.

My mom once called her cable company, spent thirty minutes on the phone, and got her bill reduced by forty dollars a month. Just by asking.

I've been paying for a streaming service I haven't used in over a year because I can't be bothered to cancel it.

Boomers treat their bills like something they have control over. Gen Z treats them like inevitable background noise.

One of those approaches saves a lot more money.

10) Cooking at home and meal planning

This is the big one.

Boomers cook. They meal plan. They grocery shop with a list. They use leftovers.

It's not that they love cooking more than we do. It's that they see eating out as a special occasion, not a default.

Gen Z has been raised in a takeout and delivery culture. Cooking feels like a chore. Meal planning feels overwhelming. So we spend a huge percentage of our income on food that we could make at home for a fraction of the cost.

I'm not saying you have to become a chef. But learning to cook a handful of simple, cheap meals and making them a habit will save you more money than almost any other change you can make.

Boomers know this. They've been doing it their whole lives. And it's a big part of why their grocery bills are lower and their savings are higher.

The real lesson here

It's easy to dismiss boomer advice as outdated. And sure, some of it is.

But a lot of these habits aren't about being old-fashioned. They're about being intentional. They're about refusing to let convenience culture drain your bank account.

Gen Z has access to technology and resources that boomers didn't. We can compare prices in seconds. We can find deals with apps. We can learn anything on YouTube.

But we've also been conditioned to spend impulsively, to prioritize convenience over cost, and to believe that budgeting is something only "old people" do.

The truth is, these strategies work. They're not sexy. They're not trendy. But they'll save you thousands of dollars a year if you actually use them.

And in an economy where rent is unaffordable and wages haven't kept up, maybe it's time to swallow our pride and take a page from the boomer playbook.

Because at the end of the day, they're the ones who own houses and have retirement savings. And we're the ones drowning in student debt, paying full price for everything, and wondering why we're always broke.

Maybe they know something we don't.