A few years back, my daughter came home from her first day of Middle School with a torn backpack strap. Yep, one side completely ripped off.
She was in tears and asked me if I could fix it.
I stared at it for a minute and realized that I couldn’t. The first “F” I ever got in school was in the same grade she was in then. It was Home Economics that was split into two sections: cooking and sewing. I aced the cooking part.
But the sewing. Oh my. I can still see that horrible green turtle pillow I was making. The stitching was awful and the stuffing was coming out in three places. I was, and am, terrible at it.
So, I was honest with her. I said, “Sorry, I can’t. But take a walk over to great-grandma’s house. She can for sure.”
My daughter was back in fifteen minutes and that backpack strap was as good as new.
I was always going to my grandma for stuff like that. If I needed dress pant legs taken up or a button sewn back on. She was my go-to.
And my grandfather was a guru at fixing small appliances and vacuum cleaners. He would see one on the side of the road and scoop it up. Nine out of ten times it would just need something like a new belt or other minor repair.
It’s funny, some of the things most of us consider hobbies these days were just part of everyday life when our grandparents were growing up. Sewing, preserving food, vegetable gardening, fixing things around the house. Stuff like that.
Now, we have fallen into the convenience trap. If something breaks, it’s just easier to replace it. Or if something big breaks, like the refrigerator or washing machine, we call someone else to fix it.
Uber Eats and DoorDash are making a killing because people would rather order their food out than make it.
My grandparents just knew how to do things that we don’t give much thought to today. And those skills can really come in handy.
Basic Clothing Repair
My grandma could sew on a button in about the same amount of time it would take me to ask her.
I remember when I was little, my nana lived with us. I was always playing outside and getting holes in the knees of my pants. Nana would either sew the hole or sew a small patch over it.
A simple sewing kit doesn’t cost much, it takes up almost no space, and you can save a ton of money by sewing on buttons, fixing small tears and loose seams, and even replacing drawstrings.
I think I’m going to challenge myself here like I recently did with candle-making. I may not be able to make a pillow, but come on, I should at least be able to handle the basics.
Smart Cooking
Could you imagine your grandparents waiting for the DoorDash driver to deliver their dinner? Or cringe more, their breakfast?
My nana could make a gourmet meal out of some vegetables and a can of tuna fish. And my grandma cooked for 37 people on holidays with nothing but fresh food and simple ingredients.
She even made the most delicious cake I ever had in my life. And it was a recipe she had from the Great Depression. She called it her sugarless, butterless, eggless cake. I wish I had the recipe today. It only had a few ingredients, and apples were one of them.
Sure, prepackaged meals are convenient. But learning to make simple meals from what you have in the pantry can help cut down on grocery costs by a ton. And they almost always taste better.
Some of it can be pretty easy, too, like cooking dried beans and making soups and stews. One of my favorites is figuring out ways to use leftovers. Yesterday’s pot roast is tomorrow’s barbequed beef.
Baking bread is a bit out of my wheelhouse, but it can be done with a little practice.
And then there is food preservation. I just put bananas in the freezer that were on the verge of going bad. We’ll use them for something. And I can’t tell you how many jars of vegetables I still have from last year’s harvest.
Sharpening and Maintaining Tools
I remember when I first moved into my house over twenty years ago, I was talking to one of my new neighbors, Pete. We just happened to be bringing the garbage pails out at the same time.
I noticed a pair of pruning sheers at the top of his pail. I asked him what was wrong with them, and he said they don’t cut very well anymore.
When I asked him if he sharpened them, he just looked at me like I made that up. Long story short, I took them home, sharpened them up and gave them back to him a few days later, good as new.
Same goes for knives, scissors, axes, chainsaw chains, and anything else you don’t want to be using with a dull blade. It takes only a few minutes and beats buying a new one for really no reason.
Growing Your Own Food
For me, this is one that hasn’t been forgotten. But you see less and less people doing it these days.
Vegetable gardening was just part of life for my grandparents. The house I grew up in was basically a farm years before I was born. They grew pretty much everything from potatoes to corn to you name it.
Now, I get not having the space, but even a few containers on your patio can save you money at the grocery store. And homegrown tomatoes taste a hundred times better than ones you buys at the store.
Lessons learned from my first vegetable garden failure taught me so much.
Fixing Household Items
We all have that neighbor who throws away a perfectly good chair or couch because the leg broke. I mean, that’s crazy.
Our grandparents lived in a time when if something broke, their first question wasn’t, “What will it cost to replace?” It was, “Can I fix it?”
Many common household problems are surprisingly simple to take care of. Tightening loose screws, fixing a sagging cabinet hinge or replacing weather stripping can often give things a few more years.
Sometimes replacement makes sense, but it shouldn’t be the first thought.
Knowing What You Have
Technically, I guess you could call it a “household inventory system.”
My grandparents were never surprised that they were out of C batteries. They knew there was enough flour left for two weeks of baking and how much meat was in the freezer.
Taking a page from their playbook, I have a running list of all the meat in the freezer and food items in the pantry. Plus, cleaning supplies, pet food, first-aid items, and paper products. It just makes sense knowing what you have so you aren’t overpaying for something that you don’t even need.
Basic Home Maintenance
Do you know how to test the smoke detectors? Is it time to clean the gutters?
If your electrical panel isn’t labeled, it may take you five trips to the basement to figure out what the right switch is.
And not knowing where the water shutoff valves are could cost you thousands of dollars in repairs if you get a leak.
These are things our grandparents prioritized, but what a lot of us don’t give much thought about today until we need them, or it’s too late.
Final Thoughts
Writing this brought back a lot of memories of my grandparents. At the time, I never thought much about the things they knew how to do.
Sewing rips in jeans, fixing a vacuum cleaner, growing vegetables, keeping track of household supplies. It was just normal life to them.
For me, it’s not just about saving money. I like the feeling of knowing I can solve a problem myself instead of immediately replacing something or paying someone else to do it.
That’s the kind of practical wisdom our grandparents had, and I think we could all benefit from a little more of it.
And who knows? Maybe one day when your kid comes home with a broken backpack strap, you’ll be the one who knows exactly how to fix it.
About the Author: Anthony Vion is a lifelong prepper from Long Island, NY, with decades of hands-on experience in self-reliance and practical skill-building. He writes about everyday prepping in a straightforward, realistic way, with a focus on simple steps that help families stay ready for the unexpected.
This article is just meant to share general ideas and personal experience. Always use common sense and take proper safety precautions, and if something is outside your skill level, especially anything involving electricity, plumbing, or structural repairs, it’s best to bring in a qualified professional.
