What you had before you saved w/`previous_changes`

When you set values into the ActiveRecord object the previous values are still available with changes, but when you save, however you save, those changes are wiped out. You can access what those values were before saving with previous_changes.

> thing = Thing.create({color: 'blue', status: 'active'})
> thing.color = 'red'
> puts thing.changes
{"color" => ['blue', 'red']}
> puts thing.previous_changes
{}
> thing.save
> puts thing.changes
{}
> puts thing.previous_changes
{"color" => ['blue', 'red']}