Heh, I use generic instant coffee so there’s no waste, and generic teabags. I don’t tend to reuse teabags but… if it’s still sitting in the cup from having been left in there… 🤔

There might be more tolerance now, sure. I just see people who are uh, perhaps a little new to being skint. I think what’s been happening is that working class (and underclass) have been forced to be frugal for a very long time so people’s expectations are lower and adaptability is higher. But conditions are now getting so bad that they’re starting to hit the middle class and it’s causing a real culture shock.

Like you suggest an occasional treat that can be made with leftover amounts of stuff you already have/buy in bulk - so they go out and buy large sizes of new ingredients they don’t have another use for, and then tell you that it’s not working out cheaper than bought :|

Or this weirdly rigid handholdy article about recipes you can use if you can’t afford olive oil anymore… It’s like darls, those aren’t the only recipes you can use now. There may be specialised uses like animal fat or peanut oil for extremely high heat/deep frying but for general cooking you won’t explode if you substitute a more affordable oil. It’s usually just a spoonful anyway. Even canola and sunflower oil have essential fatty acids so there is still a little of a health benefit there.

Or news articles will come out with the most obvious cost cutting tips presented like nobody has thought of them when… it’s something everyone you know has been doing forever.

It makes me feel weird to say stuff like I haven’t bought olive oil in years, have never had a Netflix subscription, I don’t buy takeaway, grew up wearing op shop and hand me downs, I would always darn socks and replace zips or elastic rather than buy new clothes, I would use dried or tinned foods… Poor shaming has been such a thing for so long that something very normal for me might be a bridge too far for someone who hasn’t quite adjusted to ‘the new normal’.