Yes, but I'll bet her standard of living was much lower then. She probably didn't have cable television, a cell phone, all sorts of home electronics, etc. Take these things out of a typical family budget today, and you'd be amazed at how far a dollar can go.
Of course we didn't have much of that stuff back then.
But, I seriously doubt that one can save enough by foregoing cable TV and a cell phone to buy a house.