Hot take: I called dollar store pasta a rip off for 3 yrs, then my grocery bill hit $210 and I caved
Bought 8 boxes of their spaghetti at 89 cents each last Tuesday, cooked it side by side with the $3.49 brand, and my kids could not tell the difference, so what cheap staples did you swear off until your budget shoved you into trying them?
Store brand cereal was mine. Swore by the name brand for years, then one week the box was $7 and I just couldn't do it. Bought the $2.50 version expecting a mutiny at breakfast and nobody said a word. Same thing with paper towels, the cheap ones work fine if you just use two. Frozen veggies too, the store brand bags are literally the same peas. Only thing I won't go cheap on is coffee, that stuff actually tastes different.