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I'm right there with you. Beans, rice, potatoes, and the occasional pasta dish. Whatever vegetables were inexpensive, and whatever meat was on manager's special or BOGO. I did eventually figure out that inexpensive tofu could be purchased in bulk at some asian grocery stores, but by then I was on my way off the struggle diet.

At one point, it was clear that stuff like "hamburger helper" was too expensive, and going after raw seasoning ingredients and pasta was going to save a substantial part of the shopping bill. Boxed cereal was also out of the question.

Edit: energy costs (electricity) were bundled into my rent at the time. I don't even want to think about how to navigate that situation by paying for butane, propane, or natural gas on top of everything else.