Heh i remember back when i was just losing my jobs and going on social welfare... the council was messing up with some papers i sent in and i had to re-send them in, which reset the dates, meaning i had to wait another 1-2 months.. it was january, cold as hell, i was broker than a tramp.. i had 20$ that was going to last for 3 months/12 weeks.. What i did was buy yeast, flour and the cheapest raspberry jam, and bake bread, while consuming whatever i had in the cupboards in between for variety, which wasn't much. Jeez that was really dismal times. I decided to play because i wanted to show the council that i can manage with very little if i have to, without complaining.
Jeez i remember too that i couldn't pay the rent either, and the landlord locked himself in one morning and wondered if i was dead xD I was just apologizing and explained the situation and he was actually understanding. For which i was grateful. I rented the cheapest place i could find, 300$ a month not including electricity, tv or internet. Just a 1 single room apartment ^^ with a 5 square meter bathroom, and washing machine in an outside basement ^^ Jeez once again it was quite dismal. But, i actually thrived, because i knew i was living very rationally and it was also a central place, meaning i could go into town when i wanted and take the bus anywhere.
Managed to get a few jobs again, that candy factory through an agency, i tried to make that work. Went there for a few years on and off. Then got a job through the same agency for a warehouse in a next town, i had to drive there, and managed to impress the boss there which was an old-time hardcase. So i managed to get a job there for 2 years making a .. well, normal wage, 1800$ a month. But couldn't save much because i had to move into a much more expensive place there, i thought i was going to be working there for like 10-20 years and save money .. but didn't turn out that way.
So regarding the topic, spending habits, i try to spend as little as possible always. I have learned the value of a dollar, as they say. But what matters to me is quality. If one can find quality on a cheap price, then that's what i tend to stick to for a long time. I can go up a little bit in price to get a higher quality than the very cheapest. But i have found out that spending on the most expensive things is never worth it, the quality is never 2-4 times better just because the price is 2-4 times higher. But that little jump from the absolute cheapest to the low-mid range quality stuff is usually worth it. The cheapest stuff seems to be full of additives and just taste bland and unfulfilling.
Even back then, i did manage to have money to spend for a pizza or something like that once a week. Prices for that has at least doubled these days from back then, 15 years ago. Today i payed 25$ for a large kebab pizza. It 's not even 2 years ago it cost 16$.