When we were kids, my mom had a list of things she used to do on vacations- baggies (the kind with twist ties) in her purse at buffets - she was even too cheap to buy real Ziplocs back then - until one leaked all over her purse. Mmmm, fried chicken from mom's purse, three hours later.
At every restaurant breakfast, she'd bring canned oj to the restaurants. We were never allowed to order drinks, except water, then she'd start pulling the canned oj out and we had to drink it in the restaurant, because dad would never let us drink anything in the car, and didn't want to stop long enough for us to drink it in the parking lot. The rest of the meals we just had to drink water.
When we got to our destination, my parents would go out for dinner, but often us kids had to eat in the hotel room - 'yummy' dishes my mom had made at home, frozen, and then slowly defrosted in the cooler during the drive. Mmm!
On many vacations, my mom still always packs some random food she has in her fridge, if it is a 'cooler' trip. Things like a half eaten jar of olives (Even though there's nothing to go with them), or pickles.
A few years ago, my mom brought a whole suitcase full of cereal to FL. They didn't get eaten, so she brought them HOME. Sadly, the suitcase was now so crammed with stuff, that it opened up - and little boxes of cereal were all over the conveyor at the baggage claim. My mom tried to make my sister get the luggage, but my sister refused to pick them up.
As kids, we were always "under six," or "under twelve" due to our small statures. It was a regular drill that my father practiced, "If someone asks, how old are you? Remember, you're eleven."
The hotels we used to stay in were so cheap, they didn't have room service, the 'pools' were often bath tub sized (and full of floating stuff). One hotel featured an orange tree outside our room - the rotting fruit had fallen off the tree and littered the area outside our door. The smell was something!
My brother's 'bed' was always couch cushions in the bathtub, but this was in large part due to the fact that he snored.
My parents outfitted the station wagon with a homemade 'mattress' pad so we could take turns sleeping in the car for part of the drive.
Some people might consider me a snob for this one, but the biggest cheat of my childhood involved college. My parents always pushed me to get good grades. I was the smart one in the family, and they put dreams of ivy league schools in my head. I was seriously injured as a child, and the insurance settlement money for 'cosmetic surgery' to repair damage to my face (I did get some surgery following the accident, this money was for a future treatment) went into the college fund, and I was not allowed to get the surgery. Supposedly, this money was going to give me extra funds for a better education, but when it came time to submit applications, they revealed the truth - I was only allowed to apply to two schools - the state university, and a local college that I could commute to. The university proved to be a fine school - I just think it was lousy of them to lie to me like that for so long.
Ah, that felt good!
We did the same thing, only it was Beech Nut baby food. I have twins, and they are now eating 3 jars of food per day per baby. It adds up. our local grocer put it on sale buy 1 get 2 free but limit 5 offers. i went every day. DD3 was thrilled to get to be her own customer. Dh thought it was hilarious and participated a few times. Friends neighbors relatives, no one was spared a trip. LOL 
Did I mention that I used $1 off 10 jars coupons too 
) in hand, we followed the bus all around the town... reading about the sites as they went... The only thing we missed was the bus tour in the cemetery... We caught that the next night by getting to the cemetery before the bus...
