Use It Up, Wear It Out – Consumers Hold On to Stuff Longer – NYTimes.com. My grandmother who had a large family during the depression held onto everything no matter how small “just in case I need it.” It drove me crazy. She used to save the plastic butter containers. Wash them and then have stacks of them in her shelf. I never understood the mentality of saving like that. This article says that as a society we seem to be moving toward the depression era saving.