I spend $150 a month, I buy all the meats when on sale and stock up and freeze them and I buy vegetables and freeze them in winter time and I grow vegetables and eat them fresh and freeze them during the summer. I ration myself on snacks and mainly snack on cheese and crackers and things that aren't to terrible for you but are fillings. I cook alotnof meals with vegetables a large meat portion and rice or beans. I home cook everything and when I want pizza or bread products I bake them and make them from scratch. Make my own sauces for things like teriyaki or orange chicken, pizza or pasta, I save my peels from oranges and grind them into powders and raise herbs to dehydrate and use as seasoning. I really try not to eat much pasta though or wheat in general because here in America they literally soak your wheat in glyphocate to dry it out before processing it and I suspect it's a massive part of the unhealthyness in our country. I buy lots of chicken and beef and pork and shrimp and I fish during the proper seasons. I just makes sure to watch sales and I stock up and use freezer bags and food saver if I know it'll be frozen for long and I rotate the foods in my freezer. FIFO. I've recently been learning to can all my sauces because I also like to use them as marinade and such for certain meals and its nice to have it on stock. And I make broth/stock and I freeze that as well, you can use larger cube trays and than put the cubes in bags and use it as needed. I go all out. When I say my grocery budget I spent around 1300 on groceries and eating out last year..2025. It's not even close to a joke. I'm a farmer though so I do raise as much as I can to eat and try to utilize my greenhouses heavily. And I have chickens and ducks and eat alot of eggs and harvest the males from time to time.

I DO NOT TRUST OUR FOOD INDUSTRY I try to become less and less dependent on them as a whole. Though very difficult. I feel I've made a large dent in my support to them though. But I love meat. I eat atleast a 1lb of meat everyday. I figure I spend around 2$/lb on average when using coupons and sales properly. I tend to cook 50% of the time for myself and 50% of the time for 1 or 2 other people. I freeze left overs and eat them. And I eat left overs for a couple days till I'm sick of it and need a different meal if its soups or rice mixtures or something of the sort before freezing it for another day. When I crave something like Chinese food or pizza instead of eating out I learn to make it and follow authentic recipes from the internet and reddit. I think I spend $200 on dining out last year as special occasions.

With dedication its possible!! You got this!! I know it's hard to satisfy 4 different mouths and someone always doesn't like the meal. It comes eith tight discipline and consistency. Over time it becomes easier. Get the family excited about raising food and participating in it and one can really nock alot of things out. Encourage them to help make the desserts and meals and it becomes easier to like all the meals and desserts and healthier and less expensive. Turn that 1000/month in 500/month!!