My granddad gave my Nan the housekeeping but also money for herself that she didn't need to explain or try to hide. He also put money each check into a pension for her. I'm proud of how my granddad was not an exploiter.

My great grandmother, would take out change little by little when he was asleep. He was very abusive., beyond words. My great grandfather, wouldnt let her have any money. He was so controlling, she never had access to money. So, shed take a tiny bit of change out of his pockets. It took her 30 years, but on thier 30th anniversary, she bought a tiny house of her own, and left divorce papers. He thought she left for another man, she didnt she just didnt want to be abused anymore. She wanted peace before she died.

He told her shed never get a dime in the divorce, he made sure, so she took in kind to babysit, that paid her megar bills, till the day she died, never being able to retire, but died with reaching her goal of dying without abuse and with peace.

1990 I was married, had a 1 year old and 2 school aged step daughters.  Husband was on disability and post surgical procedure. The household income was $1500 and half went to rent. I worked a budget like and it was insane. Cloth diapers, made my own baby food. Bulk food for rice, pasta, oatmeal, snacks. Then I started an appointment setting service. I had 3 therapist I scheduled appointments and submitted billing. Brought in an additional $500 a month, but reported half to the household. The rest was secret stash for emergency, kids wanted to do something, etc. I also returned rebate coupons, surveys, recycled household bottles and cans. We also had a coffee can that we put in loose change. In 2 years we had nearly $200 ready to roll up.  When our relationship went south, my mother told me to look in the pantaloons of my rag doll. My mom had put in a blank check, $200 cash and a joint credit card in my name. She knew I would never leave the doll behind.

My grandmother didn't hide it. My grandmother was pretty badass, actually. In the mid-50s and 60s she raised four boys. She took some college business classes a few days a week while the kids were in school. Then she would come home, work in the garden, and cook and clean. No one ever fixed their own food, no matter how much we begged her to sit down and be waited on.
Buy the mid 60s she took my grandfather to the bank and got a lone in his name and opened a small grocery store. Grandpa did his day job, then managed the store in the evenings after her. The kids all helped.
She handled every bit of the money.
She was something else. 😂
I recall that, in the late 60s, early 70s, some of the men at church took their wives aside and told them to "have a firm talk" with Grandma about wearing slacks to church. They did. She said she understood. And every Sunday, from that day on, she made it a point to wear slacks.

I swear green stamps need to return. THEY were fun. The kids used to get to pick things with the books they filled.

And... sometimes the hidden money was her escape from a husband she had to hide money from. My family ALWAYS told a new bride this

I'm Irish and my father handed over the paypacket to my mother every week. My mother controlled the finances. My father got an allowance every Thursday. His day out to the pub or the betting shop was Wednesday. This was in the 1970's until I left home almost 20 years later. Pin money is derived from the word pinafore, which was an apron worn over a dress. It was to protect the fabric from the hard work of domestic labour. Think of the girls and women in Little House on the Prairie. My father had no idea how much money my mother had in her purse. He never touched her coat and purse. A purse in Ireland is a woman's wallet and not a handbag. ❤

The women of the 1950s were financial experts without ever getting credit for it. They kept families afloat during hard times.

50's HECK!  My LPN paycheck(1970's) was paper and my (Vietnam Vet., drug addicted husband) included that in our budget. What he didn't know was that I had a chunk of that check direct deposited into my side bank account. I just tore off the attached deductions strip off my check. He went through VA Drug Rehab (twice). He said he just bought his drugs while there from the orderlies. Wives have never been stupid. He spent his money on drugs, I provided for me, him and our kids until I finally left him.

My dad was much the same. He always made sure Mom had her own money every month, no questions asked. When he retired, she already had savings in her own name and never had to worry about being dependent on anyone. Looking back, that kind of respect and planning was worth more than any "secret" money trick.

My grandmother, mother and aunts. Always told me to stash money away and never tell your husband or boyfriend. If the relationship becomes bad, it's your escape fund. Only once did I allow a husband to completely control everything. American married in Ireland. I was a housewife for 2 yrs before I escaped. But he gave me money and I crimped and saved, coupons sales etc. When his birthday came I made the mistake of spending part of it on a gift. His 1st question was " where did you get the money?" when I told him 50 cents here a dollar there, on coupons I kept the difference as savings. Instead of being proud of me and enjoying his gift. He went into a rage. I'm 55 so many of these tricks were not available. But skimming this shop only works when he gives you cash.

The kotex:s box was a savings box now who remember that 😊

My mum saved a dollar here and there but my dad found out about it and abused her until she gave in - she was saving for a new couch for the family Olin the new home dad was building. But he was an Irish drinker and gambler. Got in trouble with the bookies and underground mafia. Mum couldn’t open a bank account in her own name and was told my sales people when she tried to buy a car “go back to your husband”.
I called her this morning after watching this video. She told me my grandmother told her as a bride and wife, she needed to keep impeccable books. Mum did an amazing job. She left my dad and took us with her when I was six. She worked in a bank and got a special day off because her records and books were always accurate. She would go to the beach on a Wednesday for an hour before we got back from school. It was her only time to herself.

my mother in-law saved money in shoes boxes, my father in-law never knew about, he trusted her with all the money handling because he's clueless about it and she's definitely a good person. some day he apologised to her that the house is old and broken and he has no money to fix it...and she smiled and said no problem and handed him the boxes full of money 😊it was as if he just won the lottery 😂 but the real lottery is her❤
he built her a beautiful new house with that money.
And it's a story we keep telling our kids so they will remember the importance of saving, and being responsible.

there was a sense of pride and practicality knowing you didn't owe anyone anything and that no one would be coming after you for what was due.

My hidden savings were fruitful on washday.... My husband never emptied his pockets 😊.... so those coins went in my Tupperware box!!!

My mother was so frugal, it was painful.  I father gave her everything and asked her for lunch money.  She insisted on top quality food and got our fruit, vegetables, and milk from the local farmers.  She sewed most of our clothes.  Never bought anything at full price.  Furnished our home at $3 an antique item.  When one of us require hospitalization, the money was there.  When it was time to go to college, the money was there.  My father trusted her completely.  I had great parents.

My grandmother trained as an RN in the early 50s, stopped working when she got married. 6 months after giving birth to my father, my grandfather broke his back in a workplace injury. No Worker's Comp or disability in those days, so she went back to work. It took the better part of two years for my grandfather to recover and return to work. My grandmother truly enjoyed her work as a nurse so even when my grandfather returned to his job, they agreed that she would keep working. And she did that until she retired at 65 in the 1990s. She was one of the classiest, most elegant ladies I've ever met.

If we, as a nation, go to all digital money, ie- a cashless society, this won't ever happen again. Don't go cashless, ever...!

The nights my father came home drunk my mom skimmed cash from his wallet...He just thought he spent it at the bar if she hadn't done that we probably would have went without many times