In the 70s with 6 kids, ~15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 4. I fed our family of 8 on $200.00 a month, including paper goods. That was tough, but we all survived.
I still dilute shampoo 50/50 w/water. I use small bars of Irish Spring to scrape (with potato peeler) to keep deer from eating my hosta and small trees. I use very little laundry detergent (liquid). Read somewhere that you do not need ANY detergent. Dye my own hair. Cut my own hair. Do my own nails. Mow the lawn. My husband and I remove our own dead trees and cut them up and stack the wood for winter. I don'' wear "designer" clothes.