Groceries

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Lately grocery costs skyrocketing

What are some cheap staples for someone that does not cook?

Peanut butter and crackers.
Look for bent and dent deals on canned foods.
Our produce section has a cart with vegetables and fruit marked down so apples, oranges and bananas.
Bakeries will also mark down items.
Look for sales and when you find a good one stock up.

You can get fresh fruit and then freeze it for a later date or you can buy some frozen food

I buy frozen meals

I think spaghetti is cheap and can make a whole meal and fill up someone.

Unlike beans which are good for one serving.

Rice is versatile.

Bananas are comparatively cheap and I could eat two bananas a day and not bore of it too much.

Canned soup is comparatively cheap.

All of that involves a stove but it isn’t really cooking.

Sliced bread is cheap.

All of it only gets but so cheap.

Some people eat ramen noodles but that is in the same league as spaghetti.

Canned tuna and canned salmon are cheap sources of lean protein.

Plain oatmeal is good for cholesterol and pretty inexpensive, too.

Yes, Oatmeal is pretty good and easy to make in a microwave if you buy the instant kind. Rice is really cheap and can be made in a microwave also. 2 pounds of rice (either brown or white) is $1.25 here at Dollar Tree. I usually eat a small bowl of brown rice everyday for lunch.

I've had to reduce expenses to the bare minimum to cope with rising food prices. so for me that means rice, beans, and greens. Had to switch to instant coffee. Gave up on meat a while back - meat prices are just crazy. If I find cheese on sale I'll get a block - it usually lasts quite a while. I was doing tuna for a while, but its expensive if you calculate the drained weight.

I stopped falling for the buy one, get one free scam. (they just raise the price of the first one to cover the cost of both). I also look for loss leaders in things I actually buy/eat.

Meat isn't bad,

It's very cheap for a pack of 14 frozen sausage s.
Frozen chicken breast is also not bad:£4 per kilogram.

In my area, Frozen Chicken Breasts are £15 for a Kilo (it varies a little but not much)
Not sure about frozen sausages, but fresh bratwurst or something like a banger goes for £10 per kilo

I go to local vegetable stands a lot. The bill is typically a lot more cost effective than shopping at a grocery store or health food store for similar items. Don't know if it'll help but you can download the Good and Cheap recipe book by Leanne Brown for free in PDF form and it may offer some meal ideas.

Why not cook? Usually way healthier options for less money.

Get a Costco membership, don't believe the nonsense it's cheaper then any grocery store and you don't have to buy 100 boxes of cereal.

Carbs:
Buy Rice/Pasta/Potatoes

Proteins:
If you are ultra broke load up on beans to satisfy your protein needs.

Fats:
I use avocado or cheese personally.

Rotate the Carbs, buy seasonings so you can have the same meat cuts with different taste and you will be eating for a dollar or two a day easily.

Costco is well worth the membership cost. Membership costs me $99 I think, but I got Costco cash back Mastercard and get 1% back on all purchases and sometimes higher on restaurants/gas etc and maybe groceries too I can't recall. Either way, a couple years ago my cash back cheque was about $250 and this time it was $392.72. It's also a no fee card. Sure, there may be other no fee cash back cards out there, but whatever, I use theirs and then end up getting back a lot more than the membership cost by cycling a Lot of purchases through it all year. Even without spending that much, you'd still get at least some portion of your membership cost back.

Then there are the better prices on food/clothing/household items. You Could eat survival food for a couple dollars a day, or you can simply eat better for your food budget. It costs around $4 for the biggest best hamburger patty (Belmont brand, Angus beef) Costco sells + bun + cheese + condiments + bacon etc for a pretty fully loaded gourmet burger vs spending $3 on just a patty 1/2 as thick at another grocery store. Many examples like that where you can buy much more premium grade foods for less than the basics somewhere else.

Costco is $120 US annually here (unless you can get it subsidized by someone like your employer, credit card etc.) that's $160 Canadian...I can eat for 2-3 months on that without having to buy rice by the sack-load.

Wut?

You spend less $50/month on groceries? How? I think I spend somewhere around $400-500ish for myself - not sure exactly how much.

Even if it’s $120US vs $99cdn for the cheapest membership here, so what? You get paid in US dollars so it costs you 120, not 160. And then prices are lower in the USA on a lot of products, enough that after exchange things are still typically a bit cheaper than in Canada. Costco is a major bargain if you’re American.