My parents grew up during the Depression, and tho dad never hid money, my mom hid money everywhere...in her little change purses, in the pockets of clothes hanging in the closet, in between the linens in the linen cupboard, in her shoes, anyplace she could think of...
When she got old, she got Alzheimers....but she still liked having money she could 'play' with and hide...so since she was living with me, and in my house, I would always just hand her a few bills, and let her go at it...she would disappear a few minutes later, without the money, and she could never remember where she put it... but she was so happy with her little cache of hidden money, even if she could not remember where she put it...
After she died, we went through most of her things...gads, nothing like having $1, 5$, $10, and $20 bills flying out at me, from all her little hiding places....I figure she was happy playing with and hiding her money, for it kept her smiling and busy, and years later, I had a nice little accumulation of money...
Your mom sounds like she was a wonderful woman and you are a wonderful daughter. It was a blessing for me to be with my mom before she died. Unless you've been there you can't understand. I gave their generation a lot of credit for making it through tough times and still offer so much love and fun!