I live in Highland Park. Not exactly the slums, but I still pride myself in being a cheap bastard. I had to take action a few years ago when I noticed my wife would consistently spend $400 per week on groceries, mostly at Whole Foods and Tom Thumb. We are a family of 4 with two daughters, 6 and 4. Just to prove a point, I took over grocery shopping and was able to bring our bill below $100 every single week by shopping at Walmart and being cheap AF about what is bought. I try to avoid food that comes in "boxes and bags" - that's where the money is pissed away. I won't pay more than $1.99/lb for chicken breasts and the hamburger meat we buy is the cheapest chubb available (the meat tubes). If the wife has pleasured me in the past few days, she might get a few name brand items like dannon yogurt, otherwise there's a whole lot of Great Value brands. Absolutely nothing from the dreaded "cheese island" of expensive, wasteful cheeses are found in our home any more. Almond and/or Coconut milk....hahahaha NOPE, try Great Value 2% milk.
Unrelated, but the other big win I had was to buy a $30 bidet attachment for my toilet. I get a much better cleanse and cut my toilet paper purchases tremendously. Plus the tingle from the bidet is a freebie.