I’ve been thinking the same thing.
I remember my grandmother’s obsession with money.
It wasn’t like today’s obsessions with McMansions, cars, gadgets, etc....
She was someone who never threw away cool whip containers or bread bags. They could always be used again!
She skimped on eggs in her cake recipes.
She ALWAYS shopped at the Salvation Army.
Since she was frugal, she accumulated a comfortable sum of money for her old age.
Her habits were so deeply ingrained in her, she never really enjoyed the money herself.
The most frivolous thing she ever did?
In her will she set aside a sizeable amount for her family to have an “irish wake” at a local establishment.
She loved parties, and she wanted her loved ones to live it up.
Me, too. You could skimp when large eggs were actually large. Today's large eggs are yesterday's small ones. I have some pasanki eggs I made about 20 years ago from HEB store bought large eggs. They is a significant size difference compared to the HEB large eggs today. Back then they sold small, medium, large and extra large. We don't have those various sizes today because they've labeled the smaller ones as large. Same as tuna cans have shrunk by a third and the tp has to be changed every couple days, etc. but that's another soap box.
Talking about those who survived the depression reminds me of my grandmother, who lived through that era, including the Holocaust in Germany / England.
She used a white quart-sized bag as her trashcan. She didn’t throw away much. When we cleaned out her apartment after she needed assisted living, we found hundreds of twisties, bread bag closers, wooden (used and washed) ice cream spoons, rubber bands, and of course birthday candles, used and cleaned of previous cakes, ready for the next grand child’s big day.