I have always been frugal and thrifty regardless of income. I think it has a lot to do with my grandparents growing up during the depression and with starting our married life during the rise of superinflation in the late 70s. I hang laundry, especially jeans and towels, on drying racks for several hours prior to drying them. They dry in about a third of the time and in the winter time, we can use the humidity. I buy beans, rice, sugar, flour and oatmeal in bigger sizes and vacuum seal them in Mason jars. I buy only what is on sale and in season at the grocery store. It takes a while to be able to stock up so you can do this. I use coupons when I can on the sale items and I enjoy Dollar Tree, too. We plan out trips to the store as gas is so expensive. Hard to believe that it only cost a little over $2 to fill up a car when I was in high school and it is almost $60 today. I also use microfiber cloths instead of swiffer type- got them at WalMart in the automotive section- I think a dozen was $10- a whole lot less than over in the cleaning section. And they come in 3 flourescent colors so DH knows he is to use only the lime green ones in garage. I buy fabric online mostly, a little at LQS, some thrift store fabric finds and Craigslist has been good, too. You have to do a little planning but it only takes a little time to get started. Then it becomes a habit. DH travels and often needs a travel size toothpaste. At WM and other places, the travel size (.85 oz) costs about a $1. Recently found a 1.9 oz size of Colgate Total at Dollar Tree- meets the airline travel size and is a nice size tube-almost 2.5 times the amount for the same price. One more thing - I make my own glass cleaner and DH says it is the best-got recipe online. Here it is: one cup Water + one cup Rubbing Alcohol + 1 Tbsp White Vinegar. Smells great and works even better!