I get that, and I had a similar problem when I was first living on my own. I specifically remember deciding to make lasagna from scratch, and when I went to the store to buy the ingredients, it came out to over $50 for one dish (this was probably 10 years ago too, so maybe more like $75 today).

These days I could make a very similar lasagna for about $15, and that would be enough for dinners for entire week or more. It’s definitely not easy, but if you shop around I’m sure you can make it work. There are also a lot of online communities devoted to this very topic. Reddit had r/eatcheaplyandhealthy. Maybe you could start the same community here on Lemmy.

You can also soften the financial blow by eating more simply with less spices and fats, but that’s definitely a tough pill to swallow for many.

You are absolutely right. Getting started is hard, and I think your point is similar to the Boots Theory. Luckily, the savings that can be had by buying basic staples and eating simply will compound and can be rolled forward into the next grocery trip where you can buy a spice or two.

Unseasoned rice, beans, or pasta is not anyone’s ideal meal, but if you’re truly in such dire straits that you cannot afford a spice, then the only way to move up is to buy as much bulk staples as you can on each grocery trip. Eventually you’ll have enough of the basics that you can skip buying any staples and start buying spices.

Another issue many people have is just buying name-brand, or shopping at convenience-oriented stores. If you shop around, you can often find really good deals. I’ve also found that shopping at ethnic stores is really good for deals on bulk staples like rice and beans.

even if I wanted to

That’s the key phrase in their post. They simply don’t want to, so they’ve come up with excuses to justify that stance. Raw ingredients are always cheaper, but you have to put effort in to see the savings, they don’t want to.

That simply isn’t true. We have laws in the US that dictate fuel economy relative to the size of the vehicle. Car manufacturers realized that they could make bigger vehicles rather than make them more fuel efficient. That’s the real reason our cars are so bloated

I’m sorry but this is just a failure on your part. There will never be a product that requires processing that is cheaper than the raw ingredients to make it.

Ramen noodles are literally just flour, salt, and baking soda. 99grams of flour is enough to make noodles for 4 people. So, buying 10lb bag of flour for $10 means your ramen noodles come out to $0.06 per serving. Please, show me any premade ramen noodles that cost less than $0.06.

That was great! Thank you for sharing