About 35% of what we buy is "ready to serve". The average cost per meal per person of such foods is about $3.50 - still cheaper than a fast food meal.

We shop once a month. This saves on opportunity costs like time, gas, and mileage on our vehicles.

And like your household, nothing gets wasted. (You’re right about spaghetti)

We also have a bread machine. When the price of bread went over 2 dollars a loaf I found it hard to buy. Now we can throw together a 2lb loaf in under 4 minutes for just pennies. It's already paid for itself.

I looked at Washington states food stamp program and at a max benefit of $263/mo for a single parent with two kids it looks like recipients are being well taken care of.

Finally, thrift is not an indication of a low income level. I saw some statistics the other day that showed a large percentage of millionaires drive used cars.