But seriously, my go to fast dinner takes minimal storage space.

A couple of large tortillas (I like the spinach ones,) spread some canned beans on top, (black beans for me.) Start building layers. I usually add a little salsa, peppers, sour cream or plain yogurt, and top off with shredded cheese. I may throw in whatever leftovers we have in the fridge, like turkey or other veges. Nuke for 2 or 3 minutes, and consume, open faced--its pretty sloppy.

Quite tasty, cheap, and filling!

I like your recipe. I can use leftovers but we don't have much.

I made a tasteless joke.

he does help me make up our shopping list after we get each week's circular. He has a chart, everything broken down into categories to make my shopping easier. and he puts the groceries away for me

I have a planned route through the store so I don't have to keep running from one section back to another for something I forgot. When I get the item I check it off. Only two bags per visit and my cart near the driveway so I can unload and wheel in the bags.

Last time I actually got 3 bags but that was necessary.

In the store. I hear it's good if you stay in the aisles along the walls, avoiding processed foods.
If I buy meat, I buy family packs, repackage into meal size and freeze. When I do ground beef, I flatten the pack, so it takes less room in the freezer. I cut chicken breasts into chunks, and divide into meals to freeze. I can make anything from soup to stir fry. I flatten those packs, too.
If you have room for storage, dried beans, rice, and root vegetables store well in a cool, dry place. I put a small shelf in the spare room, and use it as a pantry.
Instead of deli chicken, I'll get a can of chicken. I can add the broth to soup I usually make about 2 qts of soup, and don't add salt, so with other liquid, it is salty usually enough, but not horrible. (You can try to get reduced salt, or discard the broth) I use the chicken to make creamed chicken, over mashed potatoes, or homemade biscuits. I can divide the can and get a small chicken sandwich, too.
Anything I make with meat is usually a casserole. I keep frozen mixed vegs and California blend handy. Easy way to make stir fry or soup.
I bought bouillon cubes to use rather than cans of broth. They last awhile and don't take much space.
I look at the bargain stores for deals on food. Recently got dry spinach/cheese tortellini 3 servings, 1.25. I will get 4 decent meals out of it.
If you have room on a window sill, you can try growing some herbs. A tip I picked up was putting a green onion root/bulb in a small bit of water, and it'll grow, just enough for a garnish
If you have friends or neighbors, you might try sharing a bag of pototoes, or other bulk items. 5lbs takes less room and eadier to use.

I also need to watch sodium content in foods, plus saturated fats and cholesterol. In addition, there are a few foods that I have to avoid because they interact with one of my meds. And, I have some food allergies.

Therefore, I buy very few prepared foods and make most dishes myself. I shop at a grocery chain here in the east and northeast, Wegman's. They carry some expensive high end foods, but their house brand is good quality and cheaper than other stores. Their every day items that are not high end are lower priced than other stores, too.

To keep costs down, I try to make casseroles and other dishes that last more than one meal. I am cooking only for myself, but that habit would work for a couple, too.

Example: My own version of sweet and sour pork. I use one very thick, boneless pork chop, cut off all the fat that surrounds the edges, and dice it into 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch pieces. I do not coat it with anything. I slice and dice a whole or half green bell pepper depending on the size, half of a medium onion (or all if a small one), and one clove garlic (2 cloves if small ones). Sautee the green pepper in olive or canola oil over medium heat and add the onion after 2 minutes. When they are translucent, add the garlic for a minute. Then remove the pepper, onion, and garlic (or push them to the outer edges of the skillet) and add the diced pork. Cook the pork THOROUGHLY, stirring often. Add half or a whole can of petite diced pineapple and the juice. Stir everything together, cover with a lid, and reduce heat to simmer for about 5 or 10 minutes. Add salt and ground blackpepper to taste. Pour over cooked rice. You can cook the rice while doing the pork and veggies. I use "regular" rice, not pre cooked or minute rice. It comes in a bag, is cheaper to buy, takes a little longer to cook, but is more nutritious. I prefer brown rice.

You can also do rice and ground beef (or black beans instead of beef), with green pepper, onion, garlic, and a can of petite diced tomatoes. Only seasoning is salt and pepper. Quick, simple, and cheap.

I do soups in my crock pot, most often chicken or beef. I use skinless chicken breast (lower fat than other parts of the chicken) and trim away any fat that I see. I add onion, celery, baby carrots or sliced fresh or frozen carrots, diced garlic, and frozen veggies - green beans, limas, corn, peas. No store bought broth or bullion. Just 5 cups of water and seasonings -- some poultry seasoning spice, 1/4 tsp turmeric, a sprinkle of paprika, some marjoram, dried parsley flakes, 1/2 to1 tsp salt, pinch of black pepper, and 1 bay leaf. Cook in crock pot for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. You can cook rice or noodles separately to add when the soup us done. Or, make biscuits or dumplings for the soup. Nutritious and long lasting if you make a big batch. Leftovers can be frozen in sandwich size zip lock bags.

Same veggies for crock pot beef soup except add one can of diced tomatoes and one medium sized, uncooked, diced potato. Same seasonings except no poultry seasoning. Can also add barley if you have it on hand. For beef, I use a cheap cut like top round steak. Does not take a large steak since meat is only a part of the recipe. Can use cubed steak, too. Since it cooks a long time at low heat, it will be tender.

Lentil soup is nutritious and cheap. There is a recipe on most lentil bags. You can vary it. Add a meat if you want to.

Bread is high in sodium so read the labels. Most are around 250 mg sodium per slice. I found that Pepperidge Farm whole grain breads are around 110 mg per slice, and a near equal amount of potassium to balance out the sodium.

I make my own pizza and spaghetti sauce with either low sodium canned tomatoes or low to no sodium canned tomato sauce. Just add onion and garlic powder (or dried, minced onion and garlic), oregano, basil, dried parsley flakes, olive oil, and 1/2 to 1 tsp salt. Simmer to let the spices blend.

Many of the circulars can be had on line. They are full of loss leaders. Shop the lower priced loss leaders and stock up.

They don’t take up much room in the freezer. Chopped up and added to pasta/rice/quinoa etc with some veggies makes a nice fast meal. Shredded with BBQ sauce makes a great sandwich.

I definitely consider the price before I order. I do store pickup, which is free and no tipping. I stay true to my list that way.

I do a lot of sheet pan meals, like roasted chicken breast pieces or legs with roasted vegetables. I can’t stand at the stove for very long. My legs and feet start to rebel. I usually make enough for two nights.

me from impulse purchases.

I'm very fussy when it comes to selecting produce and I carefully check expiration/best before dates. I don't believe the store-hired "pickers" would be so discriminating.

So I make 3 shorter trip instead of one long trip. I go every other day or two. The store is within 2 miles of my house so I'm not using that much gasoline. And I get what I want.

So quick, and if you cook enough, you have leftovers that can be combined with rice or whatever for variation later in the week.

Do I need 3-4 varieties of tea & do I really need agave nectar for my tea? I can just use sugar. Same with condiments & spices, especially since I don't cook as much anymore. I look at everything & ask how badly I need/want it & can I get by with something I already have.

Go to Publix for their bogos.

Buy from wal mart

Coupons

Rarely if ever go to Whole Foods or Mollie Stones. Because you know you pay twice for the food. Only go there if I can’t find a particular thing like I brought malt vinegar from one of those expensive stores for fish and chips.

Grocery Outlet can have some REALLY good prices. Having said that, I've realized that I can't necessarily count on getting things there that'd be a staple item at other stores. But what happens is that I'll end up getting something really tasty I wouldn't have gotten otherwise at a very good price. I pay about 20% less than I pay (even at Walmart which is where I go too).

I also buy generic or the store brands most of the time (based on the item)....

The prices are so good. And sometimes you find delicious frozen food.!

Buy sale items otherwise when I can.

And online and cherry pick at the local Shop-Rite’s weekly sales. We also grow our own vegetables and freeze and can them for the offseason and buy directly from local farmers, vegetable /fruit outlets, Walmart and farm stands. We eat little processed foods and save at least 35% off a normal food bill if we were to shop totally at the local Shop-Rite.

Squaredeal!

I also use coupons.

Helps.

I just typed this into google and found a bunch of great ideas on how to eat without spending a mint.

But home made bread is cheap, I just use yeast, flour, salt, and water - with a splash of Olive oil.
Pair that with soup and you have a filling meal - we keep packages of Alessi soups for last minute meals and add in extra beans or whatever we have as leftovers. I think they’re less than $3 a pack.

We buy a roasted chicken (it’s cheaper than fresh) and for 2 of us it’s 2 dinners each plus wonderful meals with the leftover bones and such - soup, chicken and gravy with biscuits or dumplings,

Eggs make frittata with leftover veggies and cheese.

Other people call it American Chop Suey

1 lb Ground beef, cooked
1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 T tomato paste
Seasonings to taste (I add garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning)
Simmer until heated through

Makes a ton and fairly cheap

called this slumgullion. Definitely one of my all time favorites!

We call that goulash.

We get most of our meat in a subscription box (Butcher Box) and most of the rest in quantity at Costco. Freeze it. Veggies from a farm stand and eat seasonally. Lots of pasta, rice, and the like. On Fridays and during Great Lent, of course, it's mostly vegetarian and occasionally fish. I'm pretty good at saving since my parents grew up in Depression years and mom raised us as GI Bill babies and then on a TA's salary and and assistant professor's salary before my dad got his promotions and the book royalties. Also my late ex wasn't exactly wealthy for quite awhile so there was that. I had lots of practice!

Crack an egg yolk into a bowl. Boil a square of Ramen. Drain water out when done. Drop noodles into bowl with egg yolk, sprinkle some of the seasoning pack on it (depending on how much sodium you can tolerate) and mix it up. The hot noodles cook the egg yolk enough but not so much that it scrambles. It creates a creamy sauce with the noodles. Cheap and delicious. You can throw in some cooked veggies and/or meat if you like.

bunch of money. Using beans or even grains like farro, quinoa, and wheat berries as our “base” makes a huge difference. I know it’s not for everybody, but we like it.

I bake my own bread, buy meats from local butches shops in Dayton, Ohio... surrounded by farm country helps...oh, grown my own veggies, do home canning....I also get fish from fish market..

I freeze my own meals like soups or chili from scratch...casserole meals like lasagna, mannicotti...

just some things I do...

Less meat in general has made a difference. I make rice/quinoa 50/50 for more protein and with veggies it’s really just like good rice. Legumes, mostly in salads, like a vitality bowl that uses sprouted Mung beans. If something is on sale that we use regularly, hoard some.

(If someone had told me 40 years ago that I’d be saying I make a vitality bowl with mung beans, I would have died laughing!)

And for wine? Trader Joe’s or Costco.

In Arizona Safeway has free curbside pickup. It’s great because you don’t have to wait all day around the house. You don’t even need to shower. You have to order online, and they tell you when it’s ready. I think other stores in PHX offer it too,

to go out quite a bit, but no more (or for those unusual occasions, such as birthdays and such, we'll go out to like Golden Corral. But the thing about GC, is that you can't take leftovers home afterwards. So we go only on special occasions, which aren't too many.

Another thing to save on meals, is to have plenty on hand already made, that is, make casseroles (one or two of them), and if they are readily available, it's easy to grab and eat, and not go out, and a good casserole or two around will last a while too.

I know you said that you keep lots of meals in the freezer, but that means that you'll have to remember what you have in the freezer, and install the discipline to constantly go through the freezer and get stuff out or it'll freezer burn. My Mom and Dad had a deep freezer and large refridge, but to give them credit, they lived pretty far away from the store, so hard to just jump in the car and run and get something. So that's one reason to have a freezer. However, when they passed, it took my sister quite a while to finally empty their freezer. Tons and tons of food, too much I'd say, my Mom believed in sales and she took advantage of it. Don't go crazy on sales, restrain yourself too, buy what you use and/or need.

We don't buy meat in quantity either. It's either ham (sliced) or other sliced meats, you can make sandwiches or the like, or use in recipes for flavoring. If you buy those large Chinese meals where 1/2 the can is the veggies, and the other half is the meat, then I always cut off the meat portion and use it in some other recipe. The veggie portion I'll use later, perhaps adding some other component to it to add to it.

Of course Aldi's is one of our favorite stops, but I've noticed that other competitors are getting to the point of matching Aldi's price points too, so don't rule out the others (like in my area, we have Schnuck's too, which are getting pretty competitive and plus, I trust them too (Schnuck's)).

Stay away from chips (potatoe), snacks, cookies, etc. You can make your own cookies if you want, it doesn't take that long to make.
Since there is only two of us, shopping is fairly easy, thank goodness. And, we do like veggies, so there is nothing like having veggies simmered w/ butter to eat, very easy and simple to fix. We used to go to the farmer's market, but found that the veggies and such were usually picked over after a bit, and thus, weren't that great. Plus, where do you go if you have bad veggies? You can't get a refund for the veggie farmers are gone already for the week (our farmer's market in STLMO is only open mainly on Sat.), so you're out of luck, and plus, the so-called bonus in going to a farmer's market wasn't as good as I have been led to believe. Schnuck's, I can go anytime, and get refunds on my 'bad' veggies, which doesn't happen very often, but for those several times, I got my money back. Savings!

HT has a 5% discount on Thursday for those 60 and over. That plus buying items on sale and with coupons and buying HT branded items saves a lot. Probably 30% on average

I eat almost no red meat and rarely cook it at home. And we often share an entree when eating out. Lots of leftovers.

$6 a pound, buy a big one and cut it up for steaks and small roasts. Whole chickens can usually be found for a buck a pound and pork roasts for $2 a pound. Aldi's is a good place for veggies. I'm shocked that people can't find good food for a decent price, maybe it's because we have a Costco, Aldi's, Shop Rite, Stop and Shop, Big Y, and a small independent grocery near us that all have sales or good prices.

Way back in the earlier times of the inter webs, there was a post on a frugal living board that really stuck with me. The poster called it something like "stepping down to savings". The basically idea was to consider an ingredient in a meal and think about how to obtain that ingredient cheaper.

An example would be chicken. Let's say I was making a salad and wanted some flavorful chicken on top. The most expensive (but easiest) way to get some flavorful chicken would be to buy a rotisserie chicken and shred some of the meat. Or you could pay a bit less and buy some chicken breasts and season and cook them. Slightly cheaper might be some canned chicken, much cheaper would be to roast a whole chicken that was purchased on sale (using the bones and some veggie scraps to make chicken stock and pressure can it), and maybe somewhere along the same lines of cheapness would be to buy some chicken pieces on sale (bone in) and cook them. Even cheaper may be to raise and slaughter your own chickens, but let's face it, not many of us are doing that unless we're living on a farm. I raise hens for eggs not meat and the old ladies live out their lives without worrying about me going all Lizzie Borden on them.

But that idea of stripping down the cost of ingredients has worked its way into how I keep a pantry. Tonight I'm making meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits - a rare Sunday meal. I have time today and a pound of lean ground turkey meat. Some of the ingredients are store bought - the turkey, parmesan cheese, sour cream, gravy mix, butter, flour, baking powder, buttermilk and honey for the biscuits. Breadcrumbs? Those are mine, created from bits and piece of bread that I've made but we've burned out on eating, dried up and ground up. I'll add some dehydrated parsley (from the garden) and some grated parmesan to the bread crumbs to make them "Italian". The eggs in the meatloaf come from my hens, and I make my own marinara from tomatoes, basil, garlic and onions grown in my garden. The chopped onions in the meatloaf come from my cabinet - dehydrated onions from my garden. The potatoes are fresh from my garden. I'll probably crack open a jar of plum cardamon jam to go with the biscuits in addition to the honey. I can't say that the plums grew on my plum tree this year (we had to remove it and just replanted a new one) but the plums were a generous gift from a neighbor. The corn was from a farm stand, bought fairly cheaply and the cobs processed for kernels and the kernels frozen.

Saving time means spending more money. I love Trader Joe's marinara sauce, but it's also, what, $3.49/jar? I start my tomatoes from seed in the spring, and I've been processing tons of tomatoes since early August. My dehydrator is perfectly silent right now, but it's been drying loads of thinly slice tomatoes. I don't really need to buy the jar of marinara.

Your comfort level and time may vary.

This year, by the way, I'm growing some micro tomatoes and patio cucumbers inside in my large south facing window. I grew some last winter and they did fabulous. I will be growing greens through the winter - I haven't set up my hoops yet on two of my raised garden beds, but that'll happen next weekend when I'm done clearing the rest of the peppers and beans out of those beds. I'm kinda over the whole recall of food items, particularly greens. I'd rather grow my own salad. Next year I'll have my greenhouse installed and will be able to grow things much easier year round.

But if there is a certain type of food you like to eat, let us know! I'm sure lots of us have some recipes. One of my favs is red lentil dal with some rice and homemade naan. Relatively easy to make and tastes even better the next day.

get most of everything I can there. It's amazing how much cheaper it is. Then, I augment at the local grocery store. I get toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc at Costco. We've stopped eating beef, which saves a good bit.. I make a lot of pasta dishes with veggies. Or baked chicken with veggies. Our Friday night pizzas are frozen Trader Joes. They are $5.50 each. Oatmeal for breakfast. A salad for lunch.

for the 15% discount on six bottles of wine at Fred Meyer/Kroger.

If green beans are $.99/# and broccoli is $2.49/#, we will be eating green beans. I will buy reduced (day old) bread to save a few dollars (we would never have finished an entire loaf on day one anyway). I use a pressure cooker to cook dried beans and make soup stock. I am lucky to have a grocery with walking distance, so if I know I can carry back what ai intend to purchase, I walk. I get some exercise and am limited in how much I can carry back so I stick to my list.

I am also lucky that my family enjoys meals like New Orleans red beans and rice, home made beef barley soup, roasted chicken.

I am also lucky to not currently have to live on a budget, but I still don't spend tons on food and never have.

My situation is not yours, though.

That and sardines, on sale and canned salmon are my protein. Have great well water and never buy pop or juice. Make my own unsweetened tea.

making my own coffee saves money. don't like something, fix it.

Seriously. My wife and I divide the chores and expenses. She’s the grocery person, because she is SO much better than me at finding bargains and knowing which is the good stuff to buy.

The household would be a culinary disaster without her!

Make a potful of spaghetti sauce. Just get some ground beef, green pepers, celery and mushrooms. Add a jar or two of spaghetti sauce. Yum. When I make it, I use freezer bags to store dinner-sized amounts and throw them in the freezer. They don't take up a lot of room because of the freezer bags.

That and digital coupons at Kroger.

I don't buy a lot of pre-made meals, preferring to cook from scratch. That way I have better control over what's in the meal and I can be very creative.

Being single, I don't make many large meals so I don't waste much food. Like you, I buy generic brands. I learned, back in the early 70s, store and generic food brands are made mainly by the top 3 or 4 producers. So what stored do is have the producer slap the store label on a batch of bean. The produce charges less to the the store but they're still selling a lot of beans with their brand name bringing in the bigger bucks.

On meat, I buy lower grades of steaks which are a little tougher. I have a meat tenderizer with 48-blades and I used it to break the connecting tissues. I'll use it left to right across the entire steak and then turn it 90 degrees and do it again. Then I'll turn the steak 45 degrees and tenderize it again. Once that's done, I turn the steak over and do it again. After I'm finished, the steak has "relaxed" and spreads out a bit. I'll cut a one pound steak into 4 or 5 pieces, freeze half of them, and put the rest in the refrigerator.

Stuff like Green giant Vegs. Meat. Salads. Broc. Cali. even ice cream. mayo..and the list goes on.
(No, I have no connection to Publix. ..And YES, you do have to wait for certain items to get the deals..

I make my list from that. With a list for 3 separate days I have less to pick up and carry home, which is good for my back. Two sacks are preferred and I'm working on that but I still have 3 bags to lug in. Hopefully that will change as I get more used to the new system.

Where last weekend I bought around $90 worth of groceries, but with all included promotions and discounts came to around $55...and it was home delivered!

When I'm physically out grocery shopping, I start at the local dollar stores first to grab all the brand canned and boxed stuff that's cheaper than the regular grocery stores. That also includes cleaners, toothpaste, etc.

At the grocery store, I try to go the middle of the road, as in not the cheapest or the most popular, but right in the middle, price-wise. There's a brand here called 'President's Choice' that's a great middle of the road brand.

Day 1 - Legs and wings - 2 pieces ea/one meal
Day 2 - Slices or diced breast/pot pie - broth for extra flavor/carrots, celery, onion all fresh and easy crust - eat or freeze
Days 3 and maybe 4 - Pick the bones and make chicken noodle or rice soup

Same routine with frozen pork butts, half a loin, or sale ham or beef roast and soups from the leftovers using different veggies - you can also make mini meatballs, use frozen peas, broccoli, mushrooms, barley, wild rice. Admittedly this is easier in the colder months when I can use the oven for roasting more often and the garage as a fridge. We often use various flavored sausages and fix breakfast for dinner w/Bisquick items, pancakes, waffles, quiches - I do like Kodiak hotcake mixes or casserole/bowl meals like chili, chowders, French onion soup, veggie beef, all beef hot dogs and beans, or potato and cabbage soups or haluski. I have a breadmaker and InstaPot. I've been known to make Boston Brown bread as in the cans (molasses and raisins) from scratch with cream cheese with hot dogs and beans. YUM! We eat more cold cut sandwiches with homemade potato salad or slaw in the summertime, (fried bologna is a favorite) since our complex won't let us grill - it's a liability thing, I guess. LOL, we can always mooch at our kids' house; SIL is a great chef.

I make my own daily beverage once a week - green iced tea with lemon juice from the bottle (or herbal teas) and sugar.
Long ago, those came in glass bottles with screw lids and I've recycled them for at least 2 years.

Of course, your dietary requirements, restrictions, or allergies need be followed and that might increase your prices.

shopping at Shoplifter's™.

Arranging it in the order of the store aisles. Always buy potatoes and beans the canned beans are the easiest but I have all kinds of dried beans too. They are good for my blood pressure. I look at meats marked for quick sale because they would be outdated that day then I either use it or freeze it. If I buy a roast I cut it into 3 or4 small "roasts" and freeze.always have bread and save all old bread and dry for croutons or crumbs. A lot of soups with those little cans of chicken or ham. Bean or lental soups using a sausage.( only 1 cut up into the soup).. My favorite meal is stew on a piece of toast ( SOS stuff on a shingle). Beans and rice with chopped scallions or onion on top. $ store( dollar tree) almond milk and other items from there. Lots of pasta and lots of tuna or canned salmon or sardines. I love salmon patties and parsley buttered potatoes as a meal


And yes an aldis if you are near one