Well, here’s another reminder to thank my mom for teaching me home economics, how to create a budget and shop within it. But for those who missed out the New York Times article, Thriftiness on Special in Aisle 5 explains how stores are stepping up to teach shoppers how to cut their spending.

Home economics, that lost art in which generations of students learned to keep a household going on a tight budget, is making a comeback. Only this time,lessons in pinching pennies are being taught not in the nation’s classrooms but in its stores.

So the Stop & Shop grocery chain is offering “affordable food summits” where consumers are taught how to lower their grocery bills. Home Depot offers classes on how to cut energy bills. And Wal-Mart Stores hired a “family financial expert” who has used online chats to teach several thousand shoppers how to save money for college, whittle away debt and sell a house.