What’s your personal situation? For me I’ve got good freezer space, so a slow cooker and a bunch of freezer safe containers made for a really good investment. A slow cooker lets you use a lot of cheaper cuts of meat like beef chuck and chicken thighs, as well as making the cooking of beans and stews much easier. But it does tend to make larger portions then I need at a go, so I need to food prep and freeze a lot of stuff. On the other hand that allows me to buy in bulk, cook it all up and then freeze it. I tend to have like four to eight copies of a dozen different meals in our freezer so that does take up a lot of space.
this post was submitted on 14 May 2026
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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.
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.
Good point about frozen veggies. It's also easier to portion out what you need compared to the binary state of a can of food.
When it comes to prepping, cans should be reserved for calorie and nutrient dense ingredients that benefit from canning anyways, like canned meats, condensed milk, sardines and shellfish, or ingredients that primarily come in canned form like diced or pureed tomatoes. Like frozen food they're canned at peak freshness compared to store bought produce which has to be picked early to ripen in transit.
The biggest risk right now is food prices are going up due to inflation (plus corporate greed and food cartels like the meat cartel), but will soon be going up due to a lack of fertillizer globally due to the strait of Hormuz. Next year is going to be worse by far. With a lack of oil you might get rolling blackouts so be careful to not get too much frozen food...
A deep freezer can help though. You can freeze bags of water inside the deep freeze and as long as you don't open it during a blackout it can last for a day or two (depending on how much water you freeze in there) to keep your stuff from going bad.
Loss of appetite do to depression
Living abroad is very comfortable and means an instant, massive reduction in cost of living. if prices get too crazy or you're interested in the idea of living abroad, feel free to reach out or head over to Travel.
I've been meal prepping more and getting into tinned fish.
Sardines are nature's protein bars and are full of healthy fat and cholesterol. Lots of vitamins too plus calcium from their bones, plus they taste good! I quite like smoked sprats or just Deenz in olive oil or tomato sauce.
They also work well as an ingredient. I haven't tried this recipe yet but it looks fantastic!
I would get dried beans and rice and make that a staple. You can soak the beans overnight, rinse them, and then boil them for 10 minutes with salt and freeze them. Then when you need beans you take a bag out (I freeze mine in flat sheets. Same with soups stews and home made stocks) and either simmer them for 3 hours or you pressure cook them for 20-60 mins (depending on what type of bean)
Mexican and Brazilian recipes use a lot of rice and beans so you can use those as a reference on what to make and which seasonings to use.
$/kcal it's hard to beat those two.
I've found even tinned fish is getting muuch more expensive than I remember it being not that long ago
Yeah I've noticed the same... It's still worth the price for what you get out of it but it's gone up a lot
Occasionally you have to throw food that is spoiled. Not buying it in the first place is better. I'm very good at this, my gf is not. She eats half a corn cob, puts the rest in the fridge and two weeks later i have to throw it out after I find it grazing on the lettuce.
Most meat you can buy in bulk and split into smaller packages freeze If you have the freezer space. Vegetables are usually not cheaper in bulk here outside the occasional buy two for $X deal and they don't survive the freezer as a rule.
You can tinker with what you eat. But it's harder to do.
If you can stop eating candy and soft drinks that is probably the first I'd suggest. Zero nutritional value outside the sugar and a non zero cost.
Check what is most protein per $ in your area. Used to be ground beef here, but now it's frozen chicken filet and the leaner cuts of pork.
Garden, Aldi
Rice and beans are useful low cost calories. Canned tuna is an affordable protein source. There are often food kitchens you can access even if you don't qualify for SNAP
I used to make big woks of fried rice/quinoa, which stores and reheats well, and golgoppa is delicious, healthy, very cheap and easy to make.
if you are eating Out/take out i would probably stop, since its excessively expensive if done over a month/per month, although im not in a situation where food is costly. discount stores like grocery outlet, but the trick is eating the perishable as soon as possible, the ambient stuff you can save for much later especially things like beans and rice. as for veggies i usually buy coleslaw in those bags, since you can a little while before eating it, but fresh veggies often spoils quickly.
buying in bulk isnt useful if it expires too fast, unless you are buying things like canned goods.
Going into debt.
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