re: How to eat cheap...

Deer, fish, premade gumbo and soups.

Carbs...

Pasta, Rice, Potatoes are all cheap as dirt. Avoid bread.

Veggies/Fruits...

Dried beans are cheaper and healthier than canned. The water is free.
Buy large bags of frozen carrots, peas, okra, etc and use as needed. Much healthier than canned. Not as good as fresh but cheaper. For fresh produce I'd go with apples and bananas.

Protein...

Beef is very expensive due to stock shortages. Concentrate on Chicken, Pork and Seafood. Frozen bags of catfish fillets are cheap and use as needed.

Don't waste money on candy, cookies, cake, pie, etc. They're just empty calories.

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quote: Invest in an upright freezer Already got one (thanks grandma!) What do you keep in yours?

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Gumbo, various soups, red gravy, meat sauce, sliced roast with gravy, meat pies, breads, smoked meats for seasoning and eating, peas, beans, chili, tamales, stocks, broths, veggies and bones to make stocks, lasagne, Parmesan rinds, fish, shrimp, crawfish tails, bacon...

My big ol chest freezer (cheaper n more efficient than an upright) is full of beef....I buy 1/2 calf on the hoof, it ends up being $3.50/lb after all is said n done. Half a calf lasts about 12-16 mos.
As for cooked food, right now it contains:
--four or five kinds of homemade bread and rolls (it is as easy to make two or three loaves at a time, and many kinds of bread are as good as fresh baked after 15-20 mins at 350)
--soups: gumbo, French onion, white bean n kale, sweet potato andouille, chicken stock, shrimp stock, three bean turkey chili
--pasta sauce: tomato n eggplant, tomato/beef/mushroom
--cooked beans: black, pinto, red
--sausages: andouille, thuringer brats, nuremburger brats, Jamilas merguez, Applegate farms precooked pork n chicken breakfast links
--half a dozen Amys frozen entrees bought on the dump sale for $2/ea
--surplus flours made from various grains (stored in freezer for freshness)
--one pie crust blob, ready to be rolled out and baked
--36 homemade chocolate chip/peanut butter/oat cookie dough lumps ready to bake
--a couple quart bags of speckled trout fillets
--frozen fruit: iqf blueberries, cherries, strawberries, etc
--two pork loin roasts, stashed away when pork went on sale
--a whole 12 lb turkey I got for $5 at Winn Dixie when purchasing $35 of other crap
And that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. There are probably also random chicken parts saved for stock, the frozen inserts for my ice cream freezer, and a couple bags of ice in it.

I do advise anyone with a big freezer to tape a list of what's inside on the door. When you add something, write it down. When you use something, cross it off.

Learn to shop sales, to make some basic meal building blocks, and to use up everything. Food thrown away is money thrown away.

One of the best things you can buy whether on sale at grocery is the whole pork loin. Cut both ends about 5 inches or so in. then take the center that is left and cut to thickness pork chops. You get 2 roast the ends you cut off and between 5-8 pork chops depending on thickness of chops. Costco or Sams usually has these for about 1.89/lb. Sometimes on sale at grocery for about the same.

Lentils, rices, and beans are very cheap sides. Check your local grocery store for sales and freeze.

Cook more servings. Save servings in freezer. Thaw them out.

If you have 10-15 meals that you can scale up, you can have a different meal every day for 2 weeks! And on standby ready to thaw out whenever! Pretty good!

Download the app for the grocery store that you shop at most- Kroger's app has coupons, a list feature, and you'll be able to see what's on sale before you go. The first time I used it, I saved $47 on a $160 grocery trip.