Some teachers added in some “economic” sections in some old classes, like how to calculate cost per serving (mostly replaced by unit pricing at the stores), and how to maximize the number of pieces you could cut out of a given piece of cloth, but the major focus was how to cook, sew, etc.
There was an episode of Roseanne where she showed a home ec class how to stretch a food budget by pouring generic cereal into name-brand boxes.
