The engineering mind + domesticity = scary. :) Here are some of my own Martha-style suggestions:

Since I started cooking again, I wanted to restock my spice cabinet. Those little bottles of McCormick's or whatever can run $4-5 each, so I visited the little Mexican section in the grocery store (Publix and Wal-Mart have them). There you can find baggies of spices for 59 cents each. Then I put the contents of the baggie into the empty plastic spice container. World Market also sells lower-priced baggies of spices. I don't know why that little plastic container carries a $3 premium. It's a racket.

Another thrifty thing to do is buy the four-packs of screw-top wine bottles when cooking with wine. That way I don't have to open up an entire bottle of white wine and use only 1/2 cup of it for a recipe.

Every once in a while I cook up a huge pot of spaghetti and meatballs. I put the leftovers in 2-serving containers in the freezer for anytime I want to cook up a quick meal.

I keep a cheese pizza in the freezer (DiGiorno or Freschetta or whatever). Frozen pizzas usually have sucky toppings but with a cheese pizza it is easy to cook a decent meal with fresh tomatoes, artichoke hearts, canadian bacon or ham, chicken, bell peppers, etc.

Also I keep frozen strawberries in the freezer if I want a smoothie but also for anytime I make pancakes or waffles and did not have any fresh fruit in the fridge.

I harvest seeds at the end of each summer and put them in ziplock bags in the fridge with the date written on the bag. This year I have basil, sunflowers and zinnias.

My tomato plants will soon need staking or cages. In Alabama it is too hot for metal cages, in my opinion. (They burn the plants.) It is also not good to use treated wood, but untreated wood decays quickly. I am going to try bamboo poles this year.

The cheapest and most delicious snack in the world: Popcorn kernels + canola oil + Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning on the popcorn kernels BEFORE cooking on the stove. The seasoning is evenly cooked into the popcorn.