Depression, Recession, and Thrift

History has been captivating my attention lately.

I was flipping channels last month and the documentary title ‘Stock Market Crash of 1929’ made me stop for a minute.

After 30 seconds, I was hooked. I couldn’t look away for entire hour – and that was tough because there were no commercials since it was on GPB.

It’s no secret that I love talking about money and news, so I guess it’s not really surprising that I spent an hour of my down time learning about the stock market. (If none of these things interests you, now is a good time to hit the little ‘x’ in the corner.)

Here is what I learned:

• The time leading up to the crash of ’29 was a time of excess and wealth. Hmm…
• The stock market was run by a small handful of extremely wealthy men that could control the entire market by pooling their money together. (although that didn’t work when everyone else started to lose confidence)
• People borrowed [lots of] money from banks and other lenders so that they could buy stock and gain wealth. Wow – not scared.

Because of this one day in history, there is an entire generation of people that had to grow up living a thrifty lifestyle. What’s amazing is that they still continue that lifestyle even now. Saving everything, making from scratch, reusing, and stretching every dollar. A lesson that my generation could clearly learn from.

Here’s to saving, stretching, and living life with a little more thrift!