I have now lived long enough to become my own generational difference. I am lucky that, I live within my means, though not quite as tight on the budget as previous. Still, I did learn to be frugal and it becomes ingrained to maintain careful budget practices.
I watched my mom at a young age make home made jams/jellies in summer. She did this mostly as a cost saver and we seldom had store bought. She didn’t have the patience to teach me. We had a garden, but the only thing I learned was, what are you doing, go weed or pick this colander with green beans/ peas/ etc. Not a lot of learning took place.
As a young adult I spent several summers helping at a friend’s cucumber farm (3 acres) during cuke picking seasons. As luck would have it, & unbeknown to my friend, his place was within a stone’s throw of my great aunt, a Great jelly maker. She taught me how to make crab apple jelly, choke cherry jelly, wild raspberries, canned gooseberries and beet pickles, plus how to determine when to harvest domestic and wild fruits. Sheesh, get up a four a.m., pick cukes by the pick up truckload, done by noon, a siesta and then over to Aunties some evenings to “help” her/ teach me important stuff. I realize Now, she would probably have liked to do these things earlier in the day, before it got hot, and I now realize too as I get older my energy is greater earlier in the day. What I’m saying here is, we still make jams/jellies with the fruits we grow, supplemented with an occasional crate of peaches etc. This has been a life long pastime as well as a budget saver. Grow food in your own garden if you can.
As far as budget saver meals, I make lots of tacos/ burritos/ enchilada type dishes. Stir fry is another way to stretch meal $$, more veggies, less meat. Learn to make different sauces and stop buying jarred ethnic sauces. I make 99% of my own salad dressings, could make them all, I get lazy sometimes. I buy herbs/ spices at a bulk food store. None of the above were in my cooking vocabulary 30-40 years ago. Ok, brown rice and veggies ( mostly onions and carrots) +tamari, cold rice with honey/cinnamon for breakfast. I don’t do this but should. I think Red Beans and Rice would be good. Frozen pot pies are no longer 10/$1 or whatever, and home made ones are practically a gourmet treat and not expensive I have cut way back on pastas. I think that is more a diet thing although I’m not on a diet per se. Pastas / rice are very much a meal stretcher. Pizzas with a coupon, good for several people servings, or multiple single servings. You can add you own toppings to a plain cheese pizza. I think cheese per pound is one of the more expensive things I buy.
I prefer to re-purpose meals into a different dish rather than simply have the same thing as a leftover. Sometimes this begats even more than the original dish. If it’s too much leftover-leftovers, into the freezer for awhile. I try to not have too much Tupperware surprises at a time in the frig.
I too am making more soup meals. I have been following the several DC bread (and pizza) discussions lately and they make me want to try my hand at bread making again So far, it’s just a thought, not an action verb up up and off my butt.
Other budget stretchers:
If you have a Costco, shop there for some stuff, not all. We are a family of two households so we split a lot of things.
Make grocery lists, and stick to them. Every grocer in my area has websites, so it’s easy to check who has good deals, if any. Weekly shopper ads in the mail, not so much. Their coupons are most often things I don’t use.
I am my own dishwasher and keep a supply of plain cotton dish towels.
I gave up Cable tv. Not everyone likes or wants to do this. I have always been an avid reader, so not much sacrifice for me. I Unplug the tv except during football season, although basketball and hockey have been sneaking into viewing time lately too. The reason I unplug the tv is my hand independently keeps reaching for the remote. Ok, not a meal stretcher thing, but easier on the budget.