Current Events > So I realized I have a horrible spending problem

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've been spending a ton of money on food per month and I just realized it. A little over $20 a day. I was baffled when I actually noticed this and went back to check my account... My Lord. Eating out all the time with my coworkers has been doing a number on me! Everyday, "Where do you guys want to go for Lunch?" "Where are we going for dinner?" Dinner turns into drinking some most days which just adds up even more. Sometimes I work late so I just get fast food when I get off. It's something I didn't even notice. I don't even go grocery shopping much at all anymore.

So... What are some good things to cook that are relatively cheap? I'm going to correct this immediately. I can spend half the money I normally spend and buy tons of groceries a month so I'm going to start cooking. I know I'm buying TV dinners so when I work late I can pop it in instead of going through a drive through. Maybe I can get a routine going and cook certain things certain days.
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I mean there are like a million simple things you can make that are cheap. And you can mix/match to make different dishes... like...

- Bacon and eggs (sides optional)
- Any type of meat. A steak takes less than ten minutes to cook on a stove or grill, with drumsticks you can just dump some marinade on it and stick it in the oven for a set amount of time, same thing with fish.
- Salads. You literally just take whatever leafy green you want, tear it up a little bit, throw it in a bowl, then chop up a few extra things (tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.), throw some dressing and mix it up. If you want to get fancy you just make the salad and then throw some of that cooked meat in there.
- Frozen pizzas... I mean, not home cooked or anything but you can usually just get the store-branded pizza (Safeway has good ones) for pretty darned cheap ($5 or less per one, even less if you get the 'budget' pizzas).
- Rice and beans. By itself, not the most exciting things, but you can do something simple like cook them up, drizzle some salsa on them, maybe add some meat, and add some fresh tomatoes, onions, etc.
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Buy a crockpot and slow cook some shit.
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Coming from somebody who knows how hard generating that initial momentum can be, I recommend starting out by buying some bags of frozen vegetables and noodles at the grocery store. I don't mean the chopped up broccoli for cooking etc, but they have bags of precooked vegetables (tomatoes, bell peppers, snow peas, etc) with some noodles thrown in - all you have to do is dump it in a bowl and microwave with water.

Thanks for all the info guys
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If you can, buy a chest freezer and buy your meat and frozen veg in bulk. Keep an eye out for great sales and stock up. I remember a few years ago a place had an amazing deal on l steak so I bought almost $100 and stuffed my freezer full of it.
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