Aldi and Lidl.

Only buy in bulk what you can and WILL eat before it spoils. Staring into a cupboard that’s empty except for a huge box of something that seemed like a deal but now makes you gag is … a life lesson.

Since it’s just you, buy cooking vegetables frozen in bags, so you can take out one serving and don’t have to hurry to eat up the broccoli wilting in the fridge. Unlike canned, frozen veg keep their nutrients. Which you do need. Being unhealthy isn’t frugal.

When I had no money and no time, I relied heavily on a rotation of the following meals, with current 2026 costs in my expensive city:

• Chili Mac: 1 lb dried pasta ($1.25 for 1600 calories, 54g protein) boiled in salty water (let’s call salt and water basically free), a can of chili ($2.50 for 540 calories, 32g protein), 2 oz of shredded cheese ($1 for 220 calories, 12g protein), 0.25 oz of hot sauce ($0.25 for flavor but negligible calories/protein). Total: $5, 2360 calories, 98g protein.
• Stir fried chicken and broccoli on rice: 1 lb chicken thigh ($4.50, 600 calories, 87g protein), 1 lb broccoli ($1.50, 150 calories, 9g protein), 1 lb rice ($1.50 for 1600 calories, 32g protein), $0.50 of condiments/seasoning. Total: $8, 2350 calories, 128g protein.
• Ramen with enough stuff to make it not suck: 1 package of Shin Ramyun ($2 for 500 calories, 10 g protein), 2 eggs ($0.30, 150 calories, 12g protein), 4 oz frozen edamame ($2, 90 calories, 9g protein), 2 oz scallions ($0.20, let’s round down to 0 calories and 0g protein). Total: $4.50, 740 calories, 31g protein.

I’m an old guy. I usually go to my local grocery store when the kids get out from school for lunch. It gets really crowded in there and everyone is looking at the kids with suspicion while I’m shoving cans of beans and lunchmeat into my haversack.

While pretty much everyone here is taking a moment to talk about beans, peas are higher in a lot of nutrients and a lot easier to digest (I think they are tastier to). You can often get them frozen in bulk if you don’t want to deal with dried and they can disappear into a lot of recipes.

Consider backing up your rice dishes with peas if you aren’t a bean fan.

Start with a goal of no food waste. If you manage your food inventory like rations in a bunker then the savings on wasted food can help offset the expense.

Together with inventory management is preserving your food. Not jarring your stuff or pickling. Utilizing your fridge and freezer to limit food waste is good at saving you money.

Learning to cook and tapering your food expectations helps a lot with savings. Also learning that cooking with vinegar or acid can extend cooked food just like sweeter food lasting longer.

Or get a partner that came from poverty and learn how to cook(/s).

1. Buy a rice cooker. Not only does it make rice so much more convenient, you can make meals directly in it.

2. Get a deep freezer, its useful for the points below. Honorable mentions go to a label printer and a vacuum bag machine.

3. Buy in bulk, but repack your bulk goods as soon as you buy them. I use cleaned, cylindrical PET bottles but you can use vaccum bags, glass jars (purchased or repurposed) or food storage buckets. The reason you repack them right away is because bulk goods aren’t as clean, sterile and impervious to atmosphere as you might think. There can be microscopic insect eggs in them, mould spores which will activate with the slightest moisture, and the packaging is often damaged in microscopic ways. I like to use PET bottles, washed, dried, and then pack an oxygen absorber into each one. Then I fill it with rice, small pasta, dried beans, chick peas, grains, lentils, etc. All these dry goods are way cheaper to buy in large qty. Once packed, I seal them, freeze them for 48 hrs, thaw them for 72 hrs to allow any dormant eggs to hatch, then freeze again for another 48 hrs. The oxygen absorber will collapse the PET bottle around the dried goods so you get a satisfied hiss when you open it. This way, when you get some rice, you’re only opening a single 1 liter bottle which might take a month or so to use up rather than a 25kg bag of rice which will take a year or more to use up while it gathers insects, dust, rodents, mould, moisture, etc. Stored in PET bottles, these dried goods will last for 20 years or more. I also store sugar and salt this way, but I don’t use an oxygen absorbers because these things don’t really expire at all.

4. You can buy bulk fresh vegetables (and even meat) and process it yourself. For meat, buy in bulk and portion it out into vacuum bags or ziploc bags. For fresh vegetables, buy them when they are inexpensive (usually when they are approaching the end of their shelf life, or from farmers market. I get a ton of very cheap veg from asian grocers near me) One of my favorite things to buy is butternut pumpkin for very cheap. I roast a couple of them, cut in halves, for a few hours. Then scoop out the flesh with a spoon, put it in ziploc bags, and freeze it into flat plates. When frozen, I break it up into chunks and keep them in a big tupperware in the freezer. I use them to thicken stews, pasta sauces, and make really quick soups. You can do something similar with any vegetable, whether you’re blanching them and freezing broccoli florets, or making apple sauce, or diced carrots. This also makes meal prep much easier.

5. Make more soup. Soup is really easy to make, but is infinitely variable. I have about 10-12 that I rotate through, but even if you’re just trying to use up leftovers or deal with wilty veg, you can make a soup

6. Learn how to make a bread that you like. I’m not suggesting you make loaves of whitebread, but you should try making a few different kinds of bread and find one that you like making and like eating. My go-to is foccaica, because its simple, easy, no-knead, and its not boring, it has salt and olive oil in it which makes any sandwich tasty. I make one a week, it takes about 30 minutes of actual work, and lasts me a long time. Sometimes I make mini loaves and use them for sandwiches and hamburgers. If you make your own bread with plain flour, which is the cheapest kind, it will cost you way less than storebought bread.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the label printer is for labelling all your repacked food, meal prepped food, and vacuum bags with the date of purchase, date of packing, and expiry date. Super helpful.

Not really financially constrained, but I also don’t spend a lot on groceries as I just don’t like wastefulness. Some tips:

• No alcohol.
• No tobacco.
• No branded products.
• No soda. I drink mostly tap water, though considering you’re American that might not be a viable option.
• I eat quite a lot of bread, though again it might be difficult for you to get edible bread.
• Frozen vegetables are good, decently healthy and easy to buy in bulk.
• Rice and dried pasta are cheap and easy to combine with the above.
• Modest amounts of animal protein, if any. Cheap alternatives include tofu and peanuts.
• Since you’re alone, you can cook for two or three days and save some time and money. One option is to cook for two servings but alternate, so that you eat the second serving 2 days after. That way you don’t have to eat the same thing twice in a row.

Dumpster diving.

You’ll be distressed to find out how much shit your local supermarket throws out.

For dinners and lunches, buy grains like rice, bulgar, farro in bulk. International grocery stores sell big bags on the cheap. Buy protein in bulk at a store like Aldi. Simple meals are 2 parts grain, one part protein, one part vegetable. Sautee or roast and sauce.

Breakfast, buy oats. Lots of ways to do oatmeal/hot cereal.

Cooking for yourself is the cheapest way to eat. My wife and I spend around $120 per week for all the meals for a family of 4 because we can cook.

Not sure if it’ll help, but I don’t think soylent prices have gone up. At least not in Canada.

I usually only have it for breakfast and lunch especially to avoid those shitty factory burritos.

Bean beans n more beans

rice, beans, canned meats, food banks.

if you can, grow a garden with staples that you can eat.

squash, tomato, eggplant, potato.

anything to add to a meal that can stretch grocery ingredients out and make them not as expensive.

not enough room to grow your own? find a community garden in your area. not find one? reach out to city planning and ask if there’s anywhere you can use for a community garden. they might even have some funds to help you get it established.

The main thing I find helpful is planning meals for the week. If you have a solid plan, you’re less likely to get takeout, which is were the biggest meal cost is.

Find many ways to use the same/similar ingredients for your weeks meals.

Maybe Monday is grilled chicken BLTs. Tuesday you use the leftover chicken in a pasta. Wednesday you use the leftover sandwhich toppings in a salad with something. Thursday you have eggs with whatever bacon is left.

Also pay attention to sale flyers with all your local stores. If chicken is cheaper than normal, that’s the time to buy in bulk. After a while you’ll get a feel for a stores sale patterns, maybe chicken goes on sale every 3 months, so if you can afford to, you get enough for 3-4 months. Holiday sales help too, for my local stores, memorial day is usually a good time to get enough hotdogs for the summer.

Dry goods. Bulk bags of dry rice, beans, lentils, corn grits. That stuff will last forever, and are healthy!

If you and some friends/family can pool your money together and afford it, buy a whole entire cow. Parcel out the meat, and freeze it. My family has been doing this for a long time now, and a whole cow, split between 3 households, lasts a little over a year.

Get into canning, pickling, etc. Don’t let the fresh produce you buy at the store, or grow in a garden, just flounder in your fridge, preserve it!

I can a lot of salsa over the summer. Its easy, and it’s easy to make in big batches that last awhile.