I grew up in a very large family (12 kids), so we had to be thrifty!
FOOD: To feed our little army, Mom bought just about everything in bulk--even dry milk, frozen juice, dry goods, large sizes of everything, etc. Mom also grew a vegetable garden in the backyard and around the house (rhubarb, tomatoes, you name it).
To complicate matters, many of us (we were adopted) had various medical and dietary needs. In my case, I was often syringe-fed a liquid diet, so our green 1982 Vita-Mix earned its keep. I also needed softer foods often. I also needed whole milk and high-calorie supplements (eg. Ensure and its related products). Many of us also had allergies; I developed a dairy/milk allergy later in life.
VACATION/TRAVEL: We travelled almost everywhere with our camping trailer--camping was the best way to save on restaurant and lodging expenses with our large family. Camping was both the destination and the way to get there. We did some long-haul road trips with the trailer--the east coast several times, as well as across the Mississippi River.
However I am no stranger to hotels and restaurants. As a child with craniofacial anomalies who needed to travel frequently from Fort Wayne, IN, to St. Louis, MO, for surgery, my parents would always stop at a Best Western motel in central Illinois on the way down to St. Louis--the Best Western Stuckey's Carriage Inn in Altamont, IL, just off I-70. I became a Best Western brand loyalist in my childhood! This was from 1982-1991, back when Best Western had the gold crown logo. The motel had a restaurant next to it, with a yellow three-pyramid roof.
CARS: We generally bought used cars--we were a station wagon family through and through. I remember the "newest" used station wagon we ever bought was a "nused" 1978 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country Station Wagon, green inside and out with woody trim. We bought it in 1978; it was very briefly used (we were the 2nd owners). We also had a 1976 Buick Century Custom wagon (brown with tan interior). I don't know what station wagons our family had before I came to the family (I was adopted at age 3, in 1978). The only "new" car our parents had was a 1970s Toyota station wagon (light blue) that Dad once bought Mom when it was brand new. Later, as our family grew yet again, our parents bought used vans to haul us around (as well as pull our big old travel trailer). Speaking of RVs, we always bought used. The first trailer I remember as a child was an old Coleman fold-down trailer, replaced by an Apache fold-down. Later came a 1975 Concord Traveler travel trailer (28 feet). Still later came a 1973 Titan motorhome. The last RV Mom and I used (in the 2000s) was a 1975 Dodge motorhome. We wore our cars out, then bought used again. We made them last as long as possible.
In my own case, I have always bought used cars myself. My first was a 1989 Dodge Aries K-car (bought in 1996 with cash), then a 1992 Chevy Cavalier (bought in 1999 after my K-car was totalled by a deer). My current car, a green 1998 Pontiac Bonneville, bought in 2002, remains with me and has served me well all these years (11 years now). If I ever buy a car again, it MUST be a used/classic large station wagon (US make or a Volvo)--I love station wagons!
CLOTHES AND OTHER GOODS: We generally bought on sale, or at thrift stores, or handed them down to the younger siblings. We only got "new" at Christmas or other very special occasion.
We even had one of my sisters' weddings in our home once--in 1994!
Our home, in Garrett, IN, was an 1850s vintage large, ex-funeral home (2 stories, 14 rooms, full basement, embalming room, the whole works)! We bought it for a song back in 1979, after it had been put out of business by a rival funeral home in town, and no one wanted to buy an ex-mortuary. We fixed it up ourselves, inside and out. Mom sold it in 2008 and downsized to a 1950s ranch in Fort Wayne, IN.
In a nutshell, we bought used, in bulk, on sale, handed it down, and made it last as long as possible (and fixed it when possible) before replacing it with something used.
