I’m still experimenting with various spices and flavors. I don’t dare risk more than 3$ out of 30 to experiment with and see what I might like. I’m glad YouTube exists now to learn new things

Thank you for your story. So happy you survived it all and hope you are really doing much better now. I love Julia’s channel. She has helped so many. I wish schools would bring back home ec. That is really needed. So many don’t know the basics for living and parents can be so busy. We all pay a lot of taxes for schools and home ec should be required for everyone.

Poverty is freakin traumatizing , period

You’re a rockstar!

If you have internet access then you need to look at recipes online, maybe YouTube, but Pinterest is my favorite, my mom thinks I’m an amazing cook but really all my recipes are from Pinterest. I don’t make anything expensive it just looks pretty and tastes good too, and very healthy.

And please use food pantries.

Shop your pantry, fridge and freezer 1st. See what meals you can make from what you have on hand. It's fun to be creative. Meal plan using what you have, make a grocery list with what you need. Avoid recipes that need lots of ingredients you don't have on hand. Stick to your list when shopping. Ordering on line helps me from impulse buying at the store. Use the first in, first out method in pantry/fridge to cut down on food waste. Batch cook, soups, stews, casseroles, so you get more than one meal out of cooking. Avoid buying lots of snacks, individually packed items. These are tried and true methods for saving money on food. Like others have posted, shop fliers, sales. May need to use more than one store. I do Aldi weekly, Walmart on line order ever 6 weeks or so. Like anything else, the more you do it, the better at it you get!

Frozen vegetables. If you eat meat, be flexible and shop what’s cheap that week. If something’s reduced because it’s older, you can freeze it the day you buy it if you can’t cook it right away.

Check ethnic groceries. The Middle Eastern, South Asian, and Hispanic groceries near me have amazing prices on produce and meat, bulk spices and dried beans, etc. Plus a lot of things that are bougie or health foods are really just a normal food from another culture with a bigger price tag. 

There’s a series of cookbooks by Jenny Rosenstratch called “Weekday Vegetarians” that we love! But the concept is good - eat vegetarian on weekdays for cost and environmental reasons, then, if you’d like, make more involved meat meals on weekends.

Also, reframing your mind to envision meat as a condiment instead of the centrepiece of the meal is super helpful for traditional meat & potato people. My guys love a good slab of steak and mashed potatoes, but are also just as satisfied with a baked potato loaded with hearty bean lentil corn chili, with 1/4 of a good steak roughly chopped and sprinkled on top. One steak for a 3person family, plus enough for someone to have it for lunch tomorrow, is much more doable than 3 steaks for a single meal.

Shop at different stores and don't assume the big guys are cheaper than the little guys.

Notice the sale cycle, particularly for meats. For example, I see boneless chicken breast go on sale regularly at several stores for about 5 bucks a lb which is decent for my area. OTOH the "regular" price is easily double that. Same goes for beef and pork. Use a flyer app like Flipp to keep an eye out for sales.

Start to build a list (mental or notepad) of "baseline" prices for staples. You'll be able to tell when prices increase then you can exercise your power and not buy it, or look for something else.

Buy fruits and veg seasonally. You'll notice when certain things get cheaper and when they get more expensive.

For food shopping, I have done it since I was a young kid so I notice prices on everything. This is something that so many people struggle with. I also buy a lot of vegetables and it is very easy to change my shop list depending in the prices. But most veg is cheap and you can prepare great meals for very little cost. I can eat a big plate of veggies every day and I often wonder what people are spending their money on but it is usually junk food items  which cost more and offer little nutritional value.  I do eat meat and fish and try to buy free range if I can. Trade the junk food for better quality healthy food and save money.

Hassle at the farmers market. 

Buy ingredients, not products.

My #1 suggestion would be not to buy too much stuff at a time, especially of the perishable kind

Shopping in discount grocery stores, and cooking every meal (and meal planning for them) were the two biggest factors.

Next, when you're meal planning, try to be smart about it. I'll get a recipe that requires something like half a cup of coconut milk or a few tablespoons of tomato paste. I'll make sure my next recipes uses up the excess.

Lastly, there is usually a big price difference between perishable and non-perishable items and where they are cheapest. I may find that meat and produce are the most inexpensive in a specific grocery store, but I know that things like cereal and napkins and sponges are way cheaper at another store. If it's worth a 5 minute trip and there are more than 5 items that are significantly cheaper, I'll go to a second store.

Pick a better protein- I loathe beans but some people like them. However I don't need the most expensive cuts of meat. It's way cheaper to buy bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs so I buy them and take the 30 seconds to rip off the skin and cut out the one bone if I need to. We don't eat beef that isn't ground anymore either- it just seems... wasteful and I've kind of lost my taste for it? Now I'll have a steak like once every few months. We primarily stick to chicken- it's cheaper and healthier so why not?

I also do all the grocery shopping for the week in one day, and I'll only visit up to two stores to get what I need. The more times you're in the grocery store is the more opportunities to pick up things you don't need or didn't budget for.

Personally, I don't worry about grocery prices too much. You can try to buy only what's on sale or shop at cheaper stores, but prices are what they are.

I see the real waste in eating out. One meal out for a couple could be almost a weeks worth of groceries. I've almost completely cut this out of my budget.

Cook as much as you can from basic ingredients, rice, beans, plain veggies, spices, etc. Stay away from the packaged pre-prepared junk food like cereal, cookies, microwaveable meals, etc. That’s where the markups and ripoff’s occur

I put a sign over my trash for a few weeks that said 'no cash in the trash.' 5 years later, it's a habit to not throw things away and I've probably minimized food waste 95%

> FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early)

You uh...don't need to tell the literal FIRE sub what FIRE means ;)

Also, your question sounds more suited to r/leanFIRE

A friend went down the path of reducing wastage. She had a period of time seeing how much got thrown out, either because fresh ingredients spoiled before they were used, or too much was prepared and excess got thrown out.

She adjusted her shopping habits and saved money. If her meal plan for the week requires 5 carrots, she buys 5 carrots. Not a pre-packaged bag of whatever weight.

To get a handle on portions and how much to buy, she used a meal prep service for a few weeks to re-train her visual cues on the ‘right’ amount.

you can eat healthy for <<800 bucks a month for 2 average adults imo-what are you defining as healthy? are you buying organic indiscriminately? Do you produce any food waste/throw away any food (this is a good gage for lack of planning). Figure out what you’re throwing away and make an active plan to avoid that. Don’t buy expensive organic/healthy processed food, make them yourself. (Make your own sourdough vs buying the 7 dollar preservative free loaf, don’t buy seed crackers for 5 bucks a box make them yourself).

A good protocol, for me, is: Buy dry beans in bulk, plan for soup at the end of each week and throw in any vegetables that are going bad. Plan 1-2 meals in 3-4 servings, have veggies on hand for snacks. Make one batch of salad dressing and dips for impromptu snacks. I promise for your health you need 0 red meat, if you’re carnivore or something I’m not your doctor but buy less desirable cuts/organs. If you’re both truly busy and getting takeout is realistically not changing, consider freezing your own meal prep, buying healthy frozen meals from a farmers market (still probably cheaper) and/or being super diligent about where the takeout is from.

It takes a lot more time if you want to get fancy and cultivate nice meals but you just need to multitask. You’re watching tv or having a conversation while you’re cooking, while it’s coming to a boil clean the dishes you just dirtied. Wear your cushiest sneakers. If that work isn’t worth it eat salad/grain bowls.

That’s a pretty reasonable amount to be spending on food, especially if you’re eating healthy. Try swapping to store brand if you haven’t already and buying in bulk for better prices per unit.

Aldi’s

This helped me:

Create a spreadsheet and list all your food purchases for the past three months, listed by store.

So it would look like: September: Whole Foods $75 Starbucks $10 Restaurant $40 Whole Foods $150 Etc, til you list every food purchase that month.

If you use a debit card this might be easier than cash; if you don’t have receipts, then start this month and track it for three months.

Then, add up all amounts by store and divide by three to get your average amount spent, per store, per month. You might be surprised - you may be spending more when you eat out than you thought. Or you might just want to cut down the grocery bill.

Anyway, say that you look at your three month averages and want to reduce. Start reasonable - if you’re averaging $300 a month eating out, set the eating out budget next month for $200, no exceptions. If groceries were $1000, set next month for $800. You’ll find ways to meet the goal, but I recommend you meticulously track your food spending each week to make sure you’re within your budget guidelines. Good luck!

Browse the weekly sale ads for your local grocers, even if you aren't buying groceries there that week. Over time you'll start to pick up on cycles that stores have with their sales. Like one by me has a "truckload sale" about every 3 months where they sell canned goods by the flat for really cheap. I'll buy enough of canned items to last me 3 months when they have one of these (tomatoes, beans, some veg, "cream of" soups). You'll also recognize the rock bottom prices on items that can be expensive like meat so when I something crazy cheap I'll buy a lot, portion, vacuum seal, and freeze it.

Also in the ads you'll typically see what produce is currently in season for you. Go on some recipe sites and look up dishes that make use of whatever is on sale. It's a good way to eat cheap but still try new things.

Just keep in mind that just because it's on sale doesn't mean it's a good buy. If you aren't gonna eat it, or it's junk food, it's better to pass than to "get a good deal."

I’m not sure how many cats you have, but I buy a ~$14 large bag of dry food and that lasts me several months for my one cat. There’s no need to feed your cats wet food unless they have special needs. You can always do one can a week as a treat, that’d be significantly less money. I buy cheap meats like chicken thighs, pork chops and ground beef. Other groceries like rice, canned vegetables, fresh vegetables, scalloped potatoes to make dinners. For lunch I usually eat salads with the precooked frozen chicken or lunchables. Sandwiches are also extremely cheap to make. I spent about $60 a week at the grocery store.

Not blowing the lid off anything when I say some calorically dense, nutritious and inexpensive staples are

• Oats (steel cut)
• Rice
• Beans

I cook all the above in an Instant Pot pressure cooker.

Just made 16-bean soup from a dry bag yesterday in about 1hr20min from lid on to lid off. Total recipe has 1,500 calories, cost me maybe $5 for everything. (I figure it costs 40% less than the comparable on-sale store-bought.) Extrapolating outwards you can put together days where you spend $7-10 on food, and weeks that are running you $50-70 instead of $100. I'm sure some penny pinchers not in NYC like me can crank the figure down even further.

Jesus, how many cats do you have? That's a ludicrous amount of money to spend on cat food. Consider buying in bulk online to save money on that stuff.

As far as human food goes, learn how to cook with inexpensive cuts of meat. Skirt steak is very cheap, as is most pork. Whole chickens are a great value, and come with another budget-friendly skill to master: butchering your own birds. You get to save money while looking like a total boss in the kitchen. Speaking of butchering...

Use everything you buy, or as much of it as is reasonable. Don't toss that chicken carcass once you've taken off the good parts. You can use it to make stock with whatever vegetable scraps you've got about after you're done prepping. My go-to chicken stock is a blanched carcass, water, and peppercorns. That's it. It's super easy.

Teach yourself how to make the things you like to eat from scratch. For example, you eat a lot of pasta, learn how to make pasta. It sounds daunting but it's so simple once you practice, and you can practice a ton because flour, eggs and water are all very cheap. It is always less expensive to make things yourself, and it's also rewarding to know that you kicked some culinary ass.

I go to an asian grocery store for vegetables. Considerably lower prices a much bigger selection. There's also a lot of good staples for a vegetable heavy diet that are entirely missing from standard groceries, like vietnamese herbs, a decent pepper selection, etc.

Plan out a week of meals and then go to the grocery store and price out the ingredients. Multiply that by 4, that's roughly what it will take to feed two people for a month. You know if that amount is OK for you to spend by looking at the rest of your budget and seeing if this food expense fits.

If it doesn't, or you want to reduce it, use resources like /r/eatcheapandhealthy to find cheaper recipes, as well as going to multiple stores to determine which are cheapest in your area. You should also look at the sale flyers and try to plan your meals around the staples that are on sale that week.

$100 $?? a week per person is what a lot of people budget for. You can live on less with meal prep and buying lower-priced meats and sale items.

EDIT: Scrap this suggestion. Your food budget will depend on where you live, what you eat and if you eat out. I couldn't buy one steak for $10 let alone two.

I got into extreme couponing this year and my food budget has gone from $400-500 a month down to $200 a month or roughly $50 a week for three people, sometimes less depending on how well I did the week before finding sales (particularly on meat, which is what's most expensive for me). I cook all meals, including breakfast and lunch for my son. Couponing is so easy these days with digital everything, and it's easy to make simple, healthy meals in a wok, oven, crock pot, or easy pot. I spend about 30 minutes a week couponing and planning so it's not super time consuming either.

Food is a tough one. Its the place where a lot of people overspend. Then you have a pissing contests on who can spend the least. I'm not one to eat the same food every single day. I'm good for about 3 days. I also like higher quality foods. Others will eat beans and rice every day. Good for them, I choose to have a higher budget and cut elsewhere.

I think $100 a week is a good starting point. Then make adjustments as needed. Maybe you have dietary restrictions that make you spend more or even less? Maybe you don't have $400 a month to even spend?

Location can play a part. I live in a town with 2 stores, one being Whole Foods. Little room for comparison shopping. Other towns have multiple stores so they get the best deal.

Start meal planning. There are a lot of good resources out there. Many people waste food because they buy items for one time use. Cross utilizing items is key to keeping costs down.

Since you will be moving out expect your first few months to be higher as you start buying stables such as oils and spices.

The USDA actual puts out a food cost report, with so many people giving you different figures, finding a reliable baseline really helped me. I would try an ammount for a month, and see if you feel it could be adjusted after the month is through.

Here is the USDA Cost of Food link: https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPlansCostofFood/reports

Get a rice cooker. Rice is cheap and can be infused with tons of different flavors.

Get some sort of slow cooker, I highly recommend Ninja foodie deluxe, and cook instead of eating out. Instant savings.

Also, keep up with subscriptions and cancel ones you really don't need or use.

Think about the cost of an item based on your hourly wage. How many hours will you have to work to afford that item? Is it worth it?

Also think about what you are truly gaining from purchasing something and if it’s a long-term gain or short-term.

It will help you spend less and be more conscious about what you are buying.

Learn ways to get enjoyment from simple or modest things.

Allow me to give more then 1 answer since a singular answer isn't enough.

1. Generic Brands are less expensive then Name Brands.
2. If it's not on sale/clearance, don't pay full price.
3. If you can't pay something in full, it's not worth it. If it has a payment plan, try checking and see if you can afford it.
4. Compare around. What's the rush? Another business/competitor could have a better deal.
5. Analyze your income and budget accordingly (example: 60% bills, 40% groceries, 20% splurging).
6. Don't splurge more then you make. Also see 3 about budgeting.
7. Do "Payment Plans" for more expensive stuff. Looking for a $23k car? Set aside 1% of your income every pay cycle to save up for it.
8. Check with your bank about getting a savings account started. If you meet the minimum amount, do it to build passive income. Only touch that money when it is an emergency.
9. The Dave Ramsey Show (Youtube) has lots of videos with financial advice. One of them is to set aside an emergency fund of $1,000.

I like the website Budget Bytes. I also like sitting down with my husband and doing meal planning for the week. This helps us be on the same page about what we are eating and when, and helps me figure out when he or I need to go to the grocery store. During this process we are putting specific emphases on how to make multiple uses of ingredients we buy to reduce food waste and increase cost efficiency. If you and or your partner is open to it, maybe doing a meatless Monday or something to reduce cost of protein. If not, trying to find ways to sub meat protein for beans and other healthy items. Fiber keeps you fuller longer is one hack. I don’t have much in terms of how to reduce cost. Grocery expenses are crazy these days.

I have a rancho Gordo bean club membership and the excitement of all my new fancy beans has effectively taken the sting out of less takeout!

I do a lot of trader Joe's and buy groceries every 3 days or so (mainly because I find that produce doesn't last long). Most of the time I eat some variation of baked chicken + veggies + sauces and throw some rice in the rice cooker + seasoning ( mostly for my partner since I eat low carb)

E.g. pesto + chicken + beans baked and some pasta on the side

Another option - salsa Verde + chicken + peppers and taco shells on the sides

Salmon + asparagus

Meatballs + a yogurt Greek dip situation + cucumbers/tomato salad + seasoned rice

For a lazy meal, I do the same but buy the ready made chicken options, e.g. trader Joe's has pulled chicken/pork and marinated meats, or meatballs.

Not to be that vegan, but a lot of vegan food options tend to be really cheap! You can get tofu with 70 grams of protein at Trader Joe’s for $2.69. Their canned beans are also $.89 and they have dried ones for an even better price per ounce. Add a veggie (besides salads, I always do frozen as they last forever and are dirt cheap) and grain and you’ve got dinner. Lots of yummy sauces to throw on top!

If you still want pasta, I would see if bean based pastas meet your current dietary needs. They’re more complex carbs and so may work for you.

Beans and greens is my favorite quick healthy dinner. It’s so flexible—sauté up some sort of bean and some sort of green with whatever spices you feel like. If to feel fancy, start with some onion and garlic, add tomato paste, put a fried egg or toasty breadcrumbs on top. If you have other veggies on hand, toss them in. So healthy, so easy, so fast.