I've been poor for most of my life so that I am used to finding cheap alternatives to expensive things.
I find that if you cook food from fresh ingredients it's not only healthier and tastier but way cheaper than fast food, restaurant food or the semi-finished products you can buy in supermarkets. There are rather a lot of wild plants that are really tasty and cost nothing. I make my own elderflower syrup and rose jelly, and mushroom and berry collecting is a Bavarian tradition that even made it into our constitution (we are constitutionally granted the full right to enter any forest for the purpose of mushrooming or berry collecting; privately owned forests included).
That DIY is cheaper also goes for clothes; e.g. a homemade jeans fits better and costs 1/3 of a store bought one. And a quilted bedspread made of old clothes is warm, pretty, unique and a nice way of recycling.
Not having a car and neither smoking nor drinking saves a lot of money, too.
If you buy a new TV, washing machine or other electric device, try to get the one specimen they have in the showroom: it counts as used so that you get a few % off
Atm I have no pressing financial probs but I'm saving up for when I get pensioned off. And each month I put aside a small sum for the annual heating bill and a larger one for repairs (washing machines are outrageousely expensive!).
And by principle I never ever buy on credit or in installments or overdraw my account - the interest is waaaay too expensive.
But as my sis put it so perfectly: luxury is being able to go into a shop and simply buy whatever I'd like to eat [without having to look at the price tag]. And that's a luxury I occasionally indulge in
