I save vegetable peels and scraps, freeze them, and use for making vegetable broth.
A Shabbos meal when times are tough is chicken wings- we use the wings for soup, serve the soup with potatoes, carrots, kneidlech, mandlen, and lokshen, and then we have the wings with bbq and hot sauce.
When times are tough, we also serve parve cholent for shabbos, but I put in a little liquid smoke to give it a nice ta’am, and also some dried mushrooms to add a meaty feel.
Wearing socks with holes in them until they wear out completely.
Extreme Couponing
Smaller meals
Walking as much as possible- I only use transportation when I am going a distance, or when I need to be somewhere on time. When going in Boro Park, Bensonhurst, Flatbush, Sheepshead Bay, Dyker, Bay Ridge, I walk, if possible.
Buying produce from the large fruit markets and buying kosher groceries on sale at chain stores.
Limiting sweets to shabbos and yontiff
Buying for Pesah ahead of time and doing as much as you can yourself (eg/ stick to fruits and vegetables, and minimize expensive and subpar Pesah processed foods. If you have a cuisinart, make your own matzah meal. And baking using a combo of Matzah Meal, Potato Starch, and Cake Meal is usually best).
Don’t buy bottled water. Use the tap.
Invest in a SodaStream to make your own seltzer
Learn to do your own repairs and tailoring.
Try not to eat in restaurants. If you can turn your oven to 500 degrees, you can even make your own pizza at home. L’havdil, kosher corned beef is $5.99 a pound. To buy it prepared, you’re paying as much as $25 a pound, when all they’re doing is boiling it in a pot with some pickling spices, water, onion, celery, carrot, and mustard seed.