How do they do it?

Decades ago I clipped a stew recipe from Woman's Day.  It became a favorite go-to recipe for fall and winter.  With the evenings becoming nippy, I had a yearning for that stew and for my Grandmother's Dutch Apple Cake.  

 At the grocery store today I picked up all the ingredients for both.  The bill came to $45, not including cough drops or cleansers.  I remember, in the distant "dark ages", feeding my young family of 4 -- meat, veggies, fruit and mostly homemade sweets -- for $30 a week.  How do young families today manage, especially if they have voracious teens?  

And still have funds left for fabric? 

Postnote from Tri & Goldie: We volunteer to taste-test  -- the stew, not the cake.