With parents and grandparents coming out of the depression plus being a single mom, I've always been frugal. My sister and I dressed our Barbies with all handmades. The lids to a can of spray starch covered with scraps of fabric and trim made great pill box hats :) My husband thinks it's silly that I cut lotion bottles in half to get every last bit. Same with toothpaste. I can brush my teeth for a week after he thinks the tube is empty. A dollar bottle of shampoo will get your hair just as clean. When ketchup and mustard bottles get low they stand upside down in the fridge. I've been known to pull them out of the trash after he throws them away. He is a sports fanatic so we are stuck with the cable tv bill. I listen to music a lot. It's way calmer than tv anyway. Only one quilting magazine subscription. The library is a once a week stop. I print postage and leave pkgs at the mailbox to save a trip to the post office. I do almost every "handyman" thing I can around the house. If we need something I can't dream up a substitute for, I look at the thrift store first.