Cheap and low cal meals

It's absurd when you think about it.

To lose weight, you have to eat less. Less food costs less money.

A healthy diet provides you with all the nutrition you need every day, and, over time, not too much of anything. There are so many ways to achieve this goal, that you can virtually eat whatever you want, and you can spread out your calorie allotment however you want. So no need for low calorie meals.

You have to pay for food no matter what foods you buy. Don't just look at the price, consider the value. Price per pound (weight) is one thing to consider. And some foods provide more nutrition per dollar than other foods. Depending on availability, season, preferences, allergies, faith, these are the foods you want to base your shopping, cooking and eating around: Grains (often whole), other starches, fresh and frozen vegetables, dried and canned beans/lentils, eggs, fresh fruit, butter and oils, dairy, nuts and seeds, limited amounts of meat and fish. Staples tend to include bread, rice, oatmeal, pasta, chicken, pork, tuna, apples, oranges, bananas, peanut butter, onions, carrots, potatoes, canned tomatoes. Buy whatever is cheap and looks good, and buy different things as often as possible. Build up and keep a stock of versatile dried/canned/frozen goods.

The most important factor of a food budget, is (IMO) to not throw anything out. So you have to plan your meals, and follow your plan. That is going to be a struggle if you plan meals you don't want to eat. So plan meals you know you want to eat, cook the right amounts, and eat it up. Don't be afraid of trying new things, but not too often. One new recipe or food per week is a good pace for most people.

There are no foods you have to buy, or foods you can't buy. You don't have to buy from special shops or foods with special labels, in fact, you should avoid that as much as possible.

Don't just follow recipes, learn to cook. This means that you know what is mandatory in a recipe, and what can be substituted, and you can cook a lot of meals without recipes at all. You can plan to buy just what you need, and use up everything you buy before it spoils. You will also learn how long something will be fresh.

Try to avoid frequent shopping. Write down what you need for all your meals until next shopping trip, take the list with you, and aim to get everything on the list and nothing that is not on the list. (This is the most challenging part for me )