Launch price$27until November 30·Then $37·30-day money-back
My mother's old ways, written down

My grocery bill went from $142 to $64 a week.

Here is every rule my mother and my grandmother kept house by, in four little books.

In 1985 my mother fed four of us on one factory paycheck in Kettering, Ohio. She never called it a budget. She had a list on the refrigerator door, a price book in her purse, and a pot on the stove every Sunday. At 55 I went back to her ways, one at a time, and wrote down every dollar.

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Carol in her kitchen holding her old $142 receipt and her new $64 receipt
My grocery bill, then and now
4little books
66rules and habits
30Sunday suppers
40kitchen cards
575pages, with cards and large print
One cold month

One cold month in my house

January was the way I'd always done it. February was my mother's way. Same small house, same one woman.

The modern way

How I used to live, one month
Four weeks of groceries, shopping whenever$568
Gas and electric, January$557
Phone payment, protection plan, internet$109
A month$1,234
$570 less in one month

Carol's way

My mother's rules, one month
Four weeks of groceries, Mom's twelve rules$256
Gas and electric, February, Mom's winter habits$362
Same old phone, cheaper internet plan$46
A month$664

That's $570 back in one month. The whole set is $27.

Start with one rule this week

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Where it came from

Where the money came from

Nothing fancy. Just my mother's rules, one at a time, and a pencil.

What each of Mom's rules saves me, a week

The list goes on the door$11
One trip, one day$16
Cash in an envelope$7
The meat stretcher$8
The Sunday pot$10
The plain label$6
Shop the freezer before the store$5
Read the little tag, not the big price$3
Wait one week$4
Leftover night is a real night$6
Grandma Ada's price book$2
$142 a week became $64$78

These are my own numbers, for one woman in a small house in Ohio. Typical amounts; yours depend on your town, your store and your household.

The money is nice. The best part is that I don't dread the mailbox anymore.

What comes in the set

Four books, one for each part of the house

Every rule gives you the story it came from, the steps, what it costs, what it saves, what to do if it doesn't work, and a warning right beside it wherever something could hurt somebody.

Cover of Carol's Old Way Household Book
Book one · Groceries

Carol's Old Way Household Book

66 pages

  • Mom's twelve grocery rules, one page each, with a checklist
  • Grandma Ada's price book pages, and a blank one for you
  • The freezer sheet, the menu plan and the pantry list to print
  • Mom's winter checklist, her mending basket, her Christmas page
Cover of Mom's Sunday Pots
Book two · Suppers

Mom's Sunday Pots

51 pages · 30 recipes

  • 30 cheap Midwest suppers: soups, bean pots, oven suppers, skillets
  • The cost of every pot and every serving, priced October 2026
  • Two weeks of suppers for one person, and for two
  • How long each one keeps in the freezer
Cover of The Things I Stopped Paying For
Book three · Bills

The Things I Stopped Paying For

31 pages

  • Twelve things my mother never paid for, and how I stopped too
  • Thirteen "poor" habits that quietly save me money
  • How I read my heat, light, water and phone bills
  • A Household Savings Ledger to print and fill in
Cover of Grandma Ada's Depression Rules
Book four · The old rules

Grandma Ada's Depression Rules

36 pages

  • Fifteen rules from a girl who grew up in the 1930s
  • Her 1938 prices next to mine today
  • A one-paycheck year, one habit a month
  • A Christmas the way Ada did it
And these come free with the set
FREE

Large print editions

All four books in big type, one item to a page, for tired eyes and for printing.

350 pages · a $22 value
FREE

Carol's Kitchen Cards

40 of my lists, one to a page. Tape them inside the cupboard door, right by the stove.

40 cards · a $17 value
FREE

I read you the Twelve Rules

29 minutes of me reading Mom's grocery rules out loud. Put it on while you do the dishes.

29 minutes · a $17 value
The four books in Carol's set

These are PDF files. Read them on the phone you watch my videos on, or print the pages you want.

$27$172Launch price · you save $145
What comes in the set
  • Book one: Carol's Old Way Household Book66 pages · the Twelve Rules, 14 freezer rules, 6 pages to print$39
  • Book two: Mom's Sunday Pots51 pages · 30 suppers, every pot priced$29
  • Book three: The Things I Stopped Paying For31 pages · 25 things and habits, a 5-page ledger$24
  • Book four: Grandma Ada's Depression Rules36 pages · 15 rules, her 1938 price book$24
  • Carol's Kitchen Cards40 cards to print$17FREE
  • Large print editions of all four350 pages, one item to a page$22FREE
  • The Twelve Rules, read by me29 minutes of audio$17FREE
Total value$172
YOUR PRICE TODAY$27

This price lasts until November 30. After that the set is $37.

Get all of it · $27

Instant PDF download·One payment, no subscription

30-day money-back. If the books aren't right for you, reply to your delivery email within 30 days and the full $27 comes back to you. You keep the files.

Payments are handled by Gumroad. The download link comes to your email right after you pay.

One from each book, free

Try one this week

These are copied straight out of the books. If they work for you, the rest will too.

A paper bag grocery list taped to the refrigerator door with a strawberry magnet
From book one

Rule 12. The list goes on the door

  1. Tear a strip off a paper bag, about three inches wide.
  2. Tape it at eye level on the refrigerator door, with a pencil on a string beside it.
  3. The moment something runs low, it goes on the strip. Not later.
  4. Shop from the door list on your one shopping day. If it isn't on the list, it doesn't come home.
About $11 a week for me
Potato and egg hash in a cast iron skillet
From book two

Ada's potato and egg hash, about 95 cents a serving

  1. Cook 2 slices of chopped bacon in a cast iron skillet until crisp.
  2. Add 2 pounds of cubed potatoes and an onion. Cook 20 to 25 minutes, turning every 5, until brown.
  3. Make 6 little wells and crack an egg into each.
  4. Cover and cook on low 5 to 8 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are firm.
Supper for four, about $3.85
Blue food coloring dropped into a toilet tank to test for a leak
From book three

The blue water test

  1. Take the lid off the toilet tank and set it somewhere it can't fall.
  2. Put about 10 drops of food coloring in the tank. Don't flush.
  3. Wait 15 to 30 minutes, then look in the bowl.
  4. If the color shows up, the flapper is leaking. A new one is about $6 at the hardware store.
My water bill came down $9 a month
Careful: if the shut-off valve behind the toilet won't turn, don't force it. Old valves can snap. Call a plumber.
A full oven with chicken, potatoes and cornbread baking together
From book four

Never heat the oven for one thing

  1. Pick one or two oven days a week.
  2. Before you turn it on, plan to fill it: the main dish, potatoes, a pan of cornbread.
  3. Things that cook around 375 or 400 go in together. The longest one goes in first.
  4. Use what comes out all week. The potatoes become hash, the chicken goes in sandwiches.
About $3 a month on my bill
Careful: never use your oven or stovetop to heat your house. It can put carbon monoxide in the air.

Bought the books? Tell me how it went. Write to me at carolsoldway@gmail.com and I read every letter.

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Carol at her kitchen table, writing in a notebook
At my kitchen table in Kettering
A letter from Carol

Why I wrote these down

My mother, Ruth, kept house in Kettering in the 1970s and 80s on one factory paycheck. Her mother, Grandma Ada, grew up in the Depression and kept a little price notebook until 1998. I rolled my eyes at both of them for most of my life.

This past January I sat at my kitchen table with a week of groceries that came to $142 and a gas and electric bill of $557, for one woman in a small brick house. So I went back to their ways, one habit at a time, and wrote down what each one did.

When Mom died in 2019, my daughter Megan asked me for "Grandma's recipes." There weren't any, not really. There were a few index cards with grease spots and a lot of things Mom just knew. These books are what I wrote down for Megan. A few friends asked for a copy, so here they are.

If you do one thing this week, tape a strip of paper to your refrigerator door.

Love, Carol

Carol Ann Whitaker · Kettering, Ohio

30day
money back
My promise

If they aren't right for you, you get your $27 back

Read them, try a few rules, cook a pot or two. If within 30 days you feel they weren't worth it, reply to your delivery email and the full $27 comes back to you. No questions, and you can keep the files. And if you can't open or print them, write to me at carolsoldway@gmail.com and I will help you, or send your money back.

Before you order

Straight answers to fair questions

What exactly do I get?

Four PDF books (184 pages together), large print editions of all four (350 pages), 40 Kitchen Cards to print (41 pages), and 29 minutes of me reading the Twelve Rules. You download them right after you pay.

Can I read them on my phone?

Yes. They open on any phone, tablet or computer. Most people read them on the same phone they watch my videos on, and print the pages they want to keep.

Can I print them?

Yes, on any home printer, on regular letter paper. The Kitchen Cards and the price book pages were made for printing.

The print is small for me. What can I do?

Use the large print editions. They come free in the set, with big type and one item to a page.

How do I listen to the audio?

It's an MP3 file. Tap it on your phone and it plays, or play it on your computer while you cook.

How do I get the books after I pay?

Right away, Gumroad sends you an email with a link. Tap it and every file is there to open, save or print, on your phone, tablet or computer. If anything goes wrong, write to me at carolsoldway@gmail.com and I will help you.

Will the price go up?

Yes. $27 is the launch price until November 30. After that the set is $37. If you buy now, you never pay more and you keep every file.

Is this a subscription?

No. One payment of $27, and the books are yours.

Are the prices and the food safety advice real?

Yes. The prices are Midwest store prices from October 2026, and the food safety guidance follows the USDA and the FDA. Where something needs a plumber, an electrician or your doctor, the book says so.

Cover of the free booklet, My Grocery List Strip
Not ready yet?

Take my grocery list strip. It's free.

Three cards for the cupboard door, the way my mother shopped: her twelve grocery rules and your first seven days, one day at a time.

Send me the free list

Free. Gumroad sends it to your inbox. I never sell your address.

Have them in the kitchen this week

My mother's rules, all in one place

Four books, large print, 40 kitchen cards and the Twelve Rules read out loud. One payment of $27, and if they aren't right for you, the full $27 comes back.

Get the set · $27

Launch price until November 30·Then $37·30-day money-back

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