my mom is the same and tbh altho she keeps a lot of her thrifty habits and passed them down to me she also likes some status stuff
she will talk about quality and heirlooms etc but honestly she just wanted an ethan allen cherrywood dining set, or a louis vuitton bag, or a sapphire ring

also she is wasteful wrt food i think as a direct consequence of growing up dirt poor
she won't eat leftovers and buys more produce than she and my dad could eat so she has variety for whatever she wants, then i go home and it's all dried out and/or rotting in the back of the fridge with new of the same kinds of produce at the front