Frugality is power. Growing at least some of our own food; doubling-up to reduce housing costs; avoiding car ownership or at least minimizing driving; minimizing household energy use; getting clothes and furniture from thrift stores or curbside. I always knew this but learned it on a deeper level when I went through years of living on 7k-10k a year, self-employment income, before taxes.
I am also at the same time working to change the rigged system that is trashing the planet and creating untold human suffering. But as long as the system is as it is, frugality is one of the best ways for a person, household, and community to get out from under the thumb of parasitic and usurious entities. And take control of their lives and livelihoods!
It’s also how to dismantle the corporations that profit by trashing ecosystems and indigenous economies. Not to glamorize poverty — I would like for everyone to have their basic needs met without having to struggle. But, if you have to pinch pennies, don’t think of it as deprivation; think of it as mastering valuable resilience skills, and squeezing the profit margins of corporations that are draining the life from your community.