Hamburger Helper Soup and Frugal or Cheapskate

I don't use Hamburger Helper much anymore, but when my kids were growing up Hamburger Helper was quick, easy; and, with thawed, already browned ground beef from the freezer, something that they could make.  We were not as concerned about additives and such back then.  Over the years I developed a soup recipe to make the Hamburger Helper stretch even further.  Nothing special, it consisted mostly of adding additional liquid to the liquid called for in the directions.  I would also add whatever bits of cooked veggies we might have in the fridge.

Continuing my pantry clean-up challenge, recently I came across a couple of boxes of Helper that had been around awhile.  I decided to resurrect my soup recipe with one of the boxes.  It happened to be a cheese-based flavor.
 
I made the soup, and we had it for lunch but the flavor was off.  I did not want to serve it again, but I did not want to throw away all the ground beef and macaroni.  So, I put the soup in a colander and rinsed off all the liquid.  I then made a new soup with the hamburger and macaroni and Lasagna flavored Helper, the other flavor I found in my pantry.  I will save the packet of pasta to put in another soup.  So tell me:  frugal or cheapskate?

For those of you who might like the recipe, here it is

Hamburger Helper Soup

1 pkg. Hamburger Helper such as Sloppy Joe, Chili any Mexican Flavored one with pasta
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce plus 2 can water
1 can (15 oz.) chili beans or pinto beans, drained plus 1 can water
1 –2 frozen whole kernel corn or 1 (16 oz.) can whole kernel corn, undrained
1 lb. lean ground beef browned with onion, celery and red pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary to get the soup consistency you like, until the pasta is done.

For Italian Style flavors of Hamburger Helper such as lasagna use above ingredients, but omit the whole kernel corn and add peas or green beans.

For  Stroganoff or Cheese flavors of Hamburger Helper use double the amount of milk and double the amount of water called for in the helper directions.