Bulk make your food. I find that making cooking an “event” you do every week or so is much more manageable than trying to cook your own food each night.

I’m a big fan of soups, stews and chili. I have a large stock pot and I’ll basically make one of those to where it’s almost full. It can take a long time to cook that much food, but it makes tons of servings. Then I’ll freeze 1/2 to 2/3 of it for future meals. I actually find these types of dishes are even better once you thaw them out. Nutrition wise it’s basically a ton of veggies/beans and some meat, so fairly cheap per meal made and super nutritious.

Bodybuilder style “meal prep” is also awesome if you don’t mind having the same meals multiple times a week. I like bulk making brown rice in a rice cooker along with some kind meat or fish and finally then adding in a microwave steam pack of veggies. If you have an Aldi available to you their California blend is awesome and fairly affordable for the convenience of just popping it in the microwave. Shout out to Sam’s Club and Costco who both have bulk packs of frozen meat and veggies to help on cost.

It can get more complicated if you live with others who have different tastes and preferences from yourself. Another hurdle is having the ability to freeze all the excess foods. But when I was single living in my own apartment I don’t think I ever ate more simply and affordably than that. Sprinkle in the occasional “treat” of some kind of takeout and you’re living the good life!

E: This is obviously from a US perspective, but I’m sure my non-us counterparts can substitute in their equivalents where needed.

Here’s a tip I learned so very long ago: Never shop hungry.

That being said, I’m really careful about what I buy anyway and plan my purchases so that I end up using everything. Fresh foods can still spoil because I didn’t spot a moldy spot, but that’s pretty rare. Dried foods are great.

Honestly I have little good advice to give aside from awareness and planning, since I am by nature perfectionist about my food and budgeting and can’t relate to the meme.

I sought an ADHD diagnosis.

It comes down to planning meals and a certain amount of acceptance that what you’ve got in the house is what you eat, period, even if the specific food isn’t what you’re in the mood for at the moment. Fast food, doordash etc are difficult habits to break. They reward your desire to have what you want when you want it, which is a big reward, and can make living on your own food feel like a punishment by comparison. But that feeling is just part of the habit. Eventually it goes away.

A freezer and a pantry full of canned and dried foods.

Only buy fresh meats and veggies when you are actually gonna cook.

Freeze leftovers in single portion sizes.

Eventually you’ll have a bunch of homemade frozen dinners to choose from.

Cook in bulk for the week. Grocery shopping on Saturday, cooking on Sunday. Then all you have to do is heat things up at meal time.

*I should clarify that you only need to refrigerate, not freeze, the type of stuff I’m talking about. Works better if you’re vegetarian

Freeze stuff

Walk yo and from the grocery store

Buy stuff that will last a while

Grow your own produce

i didn’t start cooking until I got a big enough kitchen to store plates, forks, knives, spoons, glasses, cooking pans/pots&utensils, cutting boards, leftover food storage, dish towels, and food cupboards and pantry.

rentals rarely have enough for that.

but once i got enough space to have that stuff, and then saved up to buy that stuff little at a time then cooking became a lot more sensible. (middle aged bachelor)

i have recipes that i don’t have to think about that create leftovers.

And that is the goal: LEFTOVERS

Leftovers are your bread and butter of saving money and not having to cook.

1. Get a big freezer. It’s really surprising how much delicious stuff you can make just from frozen stuff that can last you forever. Frozen food is also often more fresh and with microwave and air fryer the prep of anything frozen is actually not very difficult.
2. Outsource as much as possible. Often it’s really hard to outcompete efficient kitchens. I don’t mean order Uber eats or something but there’s likely a place in your vicinity that does food prep where you can take your food containers and stock up for 2-3 days. You can even freeze some dishes.

Wife and I really did the math because we feared of becoming lazy and it makes absolutely zero economic sense to cook everything at home right now unless you want to treat yourself or live in a very economically unusual places where #2 is not accessible.

I buy stuff that lasts. For bread, I find that rye takes weeks longer than white or wheat to start going bad, and bagels last ages too. I make smoothies with mostly frozen fruit. For dinner stuff, if I’m not feeling like cooking I either buy things I’m going to eat in the next few days or I get these sealed precooked things from Aldi that are great and keep well. Coconut milk also tends to keep better than cow milk and lately I’ve realized I greatly prefer it.

About the only things that are super perishable that I keep around are bananas and avocados, and I just tend to eat these a lot. I also keep spinach or kale around for my smoothies, but I rebag them into separate smaller bags as soon as I get them. If my bananas are getting overripe, they get frozen for smoothies.

I also tend to buy canned soups, which last ages.

When I was cooking regularly I’d make a lot of chilis and pasta sauces. They’re good to freeze and they keep well on their own. Chili is arguably better after freezing and having more time to develop.

You can definitely eat pretty healthy and keep plenty of food in the house without constantly chasing waste.

Buy food that you can cook in advance and reheat. Make a list of meals for the week, cook it all, then freeze it. Too tired to cook later in the week? Take it out of the freezer and reheat it.

Also, try to do recipes you can do in sequences that don’t require too much dishwashing, then clean everything up at the end.

For me, I try to focus on buying stuff that will keep well, things that I can use a lot of ways, or things I have an immediate plan to use all of.

Or multiple of those things at once. Like if I get a crown of broccoli, it will only stay good in the fridge for a week or two, but I don’t need to eat it all at once, I can just take a bit at a time and add it to other things, like a soup or a pan fry, to get some green in. Frozen veggies solve the only lasting a week or two thing also.

On the other hand there’s things like canned tuna, there is only really one way I’m gonna use that, but it keeps forever in the cabinet, so no wasting fridge space, and the cans are usually small enough I can use it all at once.

Like, if it doesn’t keep well, you you wouldn’t use it all at once, and you’d probably only use it for one thing, just don’t bother.

Also, like, look in to how certain things should be best stored, some things can last a lot longer if you figure that out.

No. I wait until the fridge is absolutely fucking empty and I eat every goddamn thing. You ain’t gonna find no expired food in my household. And I don’t buy things for the hell of it, and I don’t buy shit in boxes. Cook in a pan. Buy whole food. Prioritize which expires or rots the quickest. I used a cast iron that I found in the trash. I don’t understand how or why people have this issue. But I guess I’ve been poor for all of my adult life, so. If they drafted me, I’d say take me to prison bitch, because I ain’t gonna fucking die for this place. I kinda wish I was never born. People throwing away food. Gawd I hate this country.

Sell your wardrobe fridge and replace it with a small one.
If the stuff does not fit in your fridge, don’t buy it.

And what @technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com said. Over here, milk comes in 1L packets with a 2 day expiry. I only buy for 2-3 days at a time and every time I go out to buy milk, I also refill groceries.

Stuff over here is not more than 10km away, so I can use a bicycle.

Escape car dependency. I’m fortunate enough that I live within walking/biking distance of a few groceries. I can easily buy produce as I need it so it doesn’t go bad.

Fuck cars.