11 Brilliant Habits You Likely Inherited From Your Baby Boomer Parents
fizkes | Shutterstock Growing up, some people were never taught certain lessons or behaviors to help them succeed in life. However, there are brilliant habits you likely inherited from your baby boomer parents that not only help you manage your money as an adult but also influence you to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Baby boomers are anti-waste, and until something is absolutely out of commission, they will continue to repurpose the item over and over again. Financially, they prefer to save and avoid falling into debt, even if it means living below their means and rarely splurging. Their frugality and resourcefulness is likely the result of the habits that they inherited from their parents, and they are practices you shouldn't be afraid to consistently practice now as an adult.
Here are 11 brilliant habits you likely inherited from your baby boomer parents
1. Saving money
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Your baby boomer parents likely instilled the importance of saving money in you while growing up. And those same money-saving habits are probably the same ones they learned from their parents.
Baby boomers experienced an economic boom that was the result of consumer demand and robust expansion after the Great Depression and World War II, which their parents faced head-on. Prior to this strong economic growth, parents of baby boomers lived through an economy that was deflated and depressed, which influenced how they raised their own kids.
Much of the frugality and money-saving habits that baby boomers developed and passed down to you were the result of the financial hardships their parents dealt with growing up themselves.
2. Not wasting food
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Despite younger generations growing up in what seems to be a more eco-friendly world, baby boomers are still considered the most sustainable generation. Due to this, never wasting food is one of the brilliant habits you likely inherited from your baby boomer parents.
As the generation that were the first to experience the implementation of the Clean Air Act and the first Earth Day, they typically follow sustainable consumer behaviors. They are less likely to buy food and other goods that they do not absolutely need, and when they fix a plate of food, they never leave any to be thrown away.
3. Cooking from scratch
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Baby boomers are much more likely to cook meals from scratch and eat at home than younger generations are. Despite the growing unaffordability crisis, where Gen Z, in particular, can save when cooking from home, it's one of the life skills they may be losing completely.
But your baby boomer parents grew up in a time period where there were less convenient food options and not as many widespread fast food chains. This made cooking at home normal, and how they could control the ingredients used and preparation involved to help them reach their health desires.
4. Living within your means
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Baby boomer parents usually pass down the idea of living within your means. Being financially influenced by their own parents, it urged them to prioritize saving money and constantly value stability. If your parents are baby boomers, they have likely influenced you to do whatever you need to avoid owing money.
According to Midwest Financial Group, "Baby Boomers tend to make savings a top priority, with an eye toward conservative investments. Often disciplined and experienced at saving up for big-ticket items, many boomers have a 'pay-with-cash' mentality, looking to avoid new debt whenever possible, even if it means waiting to buy something until they can pay for it in full."
5. Keeping a physical calendar
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Boomers typically prefer to write things and plans down because they believe the act of actually writing impacts their ability to remember what they need to do. They also grew up in a time where technology was not nearly as advanced as it is now, so writing by hand instead of typing was much more common.
It was also probably common for them to see calendars hung up for household management, as it was their parents' preference for keeping up with the things that needed to be done around the home.
6. Recycling and repairing items before replacing them
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Baby boomers are known for their resourcefulness. Instead of instantly replacing things once they get worn out, they recycle or repair them as many times as they can before they truly can't anymore. And while it might seem counterintuitive, it's actually one of the brilliant habits you likely inherited from your baby boomer parents that has saved you money.
Boomers likely developed a scarcity mindset from their parents who experienced extreme financial hardships and inevitably passed the mindset and frugal habits down to you. However, this can still be considered a smart habit because it teaches an individual to get the most out of the items they spend money on and not become too materialistic.
Despite living more financially comfortable, an ingrained scarcity mindset does not just disappear overnight for neither you nor your baby boomer parents.
7. Growing and preserving food
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Baby boomers fear economic insecurity and prioritize growing and preserving food. If your parents are baby boomers, they probably influenced you to develop the same habits around food and sustainability.
While you and your parents may not have experienced severe economic hardships, if your parents' parents did, they likely still developed a similar mindset toward always being prepared for financial uncertainties. By growing and preserving their own food, they feel a sense of security.
8. Washing and reusing disposable cups and plates
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Your baby boomer parents likely have a "waste not, want not" mentality deeply ingrained within them. Habits, like washing and reusing disposable cups and plates, will typically be inherited by you because they are habits your parents inherited from their own parents.
Despite whether or not reusing disposable goods is necessary, you and your parents do this because it stems from that scarcity mindset. You start believing that if you just reuse these things, you can remain secure because you will not need to restock them. You develop a habit of deeply considering your consumption habits.
9. Stocking up on food when it's on sale
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While boomer parents may instill in their children that they should not be wasting food, if there's a sale, they will urge their kids to stock up. Baby boomers do this to combat the potential of prices increasing and it being more difficult to obtain certain products.
A 2024 study published in the journal Foods found that baby boomers who have developed this habit often end up wasting more food than they likely intend on wasting. However, the study still found baby boomer behaviors to be more aligned with sustainable customer behaviors, and they often do not buy food products while at the store that they did not plan on buying prior to shopping.
10. Wearing clothes until you can't anymore
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A baby boomer's parents, who were either from the Greatest Generation or the Silent Generation, had an upbringing revolving around resourcefulness and finding ways to get the most out of the things they spent money on, while also avoiding wasting anything. Because of this, wearing clothes until they couldn't be worn anymore is another of the brilliant habits you likely inherited from your baby boomer parents.
Instead of following the newest trends and overconsuming, you do as they do and view your clothing as a long-term investment. Instead of getting rid of clothes just to buy more, you continue wearing them until they can no longer be repaired or are no longer functional.
11. Staying engaged with your community
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Your baby boomer parents likely see this as one of their major values, so it's no wonder they wanted to pass it down to their kids. Being involved in your community comes with incredible benefits, and your parents didn't want you to miss out on them.
In turn, they might expect you to pass this same habit down to your kids as well, involving them in local events and programs that affect a community for the better. But not only that, your parents wanted to help you become a well-rounded, good person.
Kamryn Idol is a writer with a bachelor's degree in media and journalism who covers lifestyle, relationship, family, and wellness topics.
