We use them to feed our cats on occasion, and they run 6,000-8,000 per kilo ($7.50 USD).

What are you paying for them and where are you from in thinking they are "mad" expensive?

We use them to feed our cats on occasion, and they run 6,000-8,000 per kilo ($7.50 USD).

What are you paying for them and where are you from in thinking they are "mad" expensive?

I'm in Seoul, and I don't pay for them because they're too expensive. But at HomePlus Express near my place, they're about 7-8000 for about 400-500g usually. A whole chicken is usually only 6-7 thousand, max. I can't bring myself to pay more for less of something when they're literally sitting next to each other on the shelf.

Plus, like I said earlier, meat isn't really necessary unless it's your birthday or some sort of special day, or you just want to treat yourself for rocking an open class or something.

A block of tofu is about 20% of what chicken costs, by weight, and is just as filling.

I see.

Those local-type hypermarts are quite expensive.

I dislike the traditional markets, but when we need to make cat food, we go.  They sell 1 kilo whole chickens for 3,000 or 4 for 10,000, which is much better than Homeplus 7,000 price for one...ouch.

The best advice I can give is to learn to eat for sustainment and not for enjoyment. If you do that, suddenly eating cheaply/healthily is easy. But if you want it to taste super good too, that's when it gets tough. I suggest iherb.com. Get yourself a decent spice collection, and even the blandest of foods can be delicious, while still nutritious. (But spices aren't that cheap).

Go to Home Plus or Lotte Mart and buy a big bag of lentils, black beans, and raw oats.

Cook the lentils in the rice cooker: 2 and 1/2 cups water for 1 cup of  lentils. (If you add more water than you can create mash lentils/beans)
1 tsp of coriander (ground)
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of turmeric (or another tsp of cumic)
1 tsp of thyme (basil or rosemary work well too)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pickling spice
1/2 tsp of chili powder
(1/2 tsp of black pepper if you want a heavier taste)

This is a great way to season your lentils without all the sauces and nasty preservatives. I cook the lentils and beans with the spices added in inside the rice cooker. No problems with my cooker after a year of using it like this.

Remaining Grocery list:
-sweet potatoes
-spinach
-red pepper
-broccoli
-onions
-walnuts
-flaxseeds
-fruit (fresh or frozen)
-water or a one of those water filters to drink cold water at home.
-tofu, meat, or whatever if you like

Next boil your sweet potatoes or bake them if you have an other. If you boil then save the water. In a large bowl, place all the spinach and wash while chopping the ends after you chop. Then take out another large bowl and chop all the spinach while placing it in a bowl. You want to do all your spinach chopping in one session so it frees you up later. If some spinach spoils just pluck it away. Chop around the spoiled part in food. You won't die.

Next, throw four cups of cut spinach in the bowl. Throw half an onion, chopped, in the bowl. Throw the cut mash potatoes in the bowl, use the water as a soup if you want a wet and hot meal. Throw 300 grams of broccoli, or half a stalk, chopped in the bowl. Throw the chopped pepper in the bowl. Mix, throw the lentils. Grind the flaxseeds and oats into flour and throw them in your bowl. Now, you have a lean protein, healthy fat, meal that you'll love. Flaxseeds are important because they have balance your omega 3 to omega 6 ratios which prevent heart attacks according to nutritionfacts.org

I recommend tasting each spice and herb by itself to understand how spices and herbs complement each other. Always center the flavor around the salt, fat, sweet, and bitterness of a meal. From there, you'll mix flavors to create something unique and to your style. And if you feel lazy, soy sauce and sriracha combo works on everything except sweets! Beans, meat, tofu, you name it.

Hopes this helps. These foods should be your staple, or foods like them, but that doesn't mean you can't buy a doughnut every now and then. Staple means you eat them regularly. They are your habit. When the restaurant, fast food, or packaged food become your habit that's when double chins and guts start happening when you round late 20s to early 30s and beyond.

Also, intermittent fasting is something you might enjoy if you are looking for a good way to cut on grocery bills and lose weight, especially if you are already skipping breakfast. Enjoy life as a man ;) 

Also crepes!! If you like crepes, you can make not only desserts but also savory variations! One time I shredded some chicken and put that in crepes along with some veggies. Awesome

Personally I don't think it's difficult to live off that much a month, but it really just depends on your habits. If I stay in on weekends I save a lot of money but if I go out I tend to go nuts and hit up all the foreign food restaurants and splurge on going to cafes and such (where I live, there's not even a coffee shop). I live so rural that it's pretty easy to save money since there's not much to spend it on 

Go to Home Plus or Lotte Mart and buy a big bag of lentils, black beans, and raw oats.

Cook the lentils in the rice cooker: 2 and 1/2 cups water for 1 cup of  lentils. (If you add more water than you can create mash lentils/beans)
1 tsp of coriander (ground)
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of turmeric (or another tsp of cumic)
1 tsp of thyme (basil or rosemary work well too)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pickling spice
1/2 tsp of chili powder
(1/2 tsp of black pepper if you want a heavier taste)

This is a great way to season your lentils without all the sauces and nasty preservatives. I cook the lentils and beans with the spices added in inside the rice cooker. No problems with my cooker after a year of using it like this.

Remaining Grocery list:
-sweet potatoes
-spinach
-red pepper
-broccoli
-onions
-walnuts
-flaxseeds
-fruit (fresh or frozen)
-water or a one of those water filters to drink cold water at home.
-tofu, meat, or whatever if you like

Next boil your sweet potatoes or bake them if you have an other. If you boil then save the water. In a large bowl, place all the spinach and wash while chopping the ends after you chop. Then take out another large bowl and chop all the spinach while placing it in a bowl. You want to do all your spinach chopping in one session so it frees you up later. If some spinach spoils just pluck it away. Chop around the spoiled part in food. You won't die.

Next, throw four cups of cut spinach in the bowl. Throw half an onion, chopped, in the bowl. Throw the cut mash potatoes in the bowl, use the water as a soup if you want a wet and hot meal. Throw 300 grams of broccoli, or half a stalk, chopped in the bowl. Throw the chopped pepper in the bowl. Mix, throw the lentils. Grind the flaxseeds and oats into flour and throw them in your bowl. Now, you have a lean protein, healthy fat, meal that you'll love. Flaxseeds are important because they have balance your omega 3 to omega 6 ratios which prevent heart attacks according to nutritionfacts.org

I recommend tasting each spice and herb by itself to understand how spices and herbs complement each other. Always center the flavor around the salt, fat, sweet, and bitterness of a meal. From there, you'll mix flavors to create something unique and to your style. And if you feel lazy, soy sauce and sriracha combo works on everything except sweets! Beans, meat, tofu, you name it.

Hopes this helps. These foods should be your staple, or foods like them, but that doesn't mean you can't buy a doughnut every now and then. Staple means you eat them regularly. They are your habit. When the restaurant, fast food, or packaged food become your habit that's when double chins and guts start happening when you round late 20s to early 30s and beyond.

Also, intermittent fasting is something you might enjoy if you are looking for a good way to cut on grocery bills and lose weight, especially if you are already skipping breakfast. Enjoy life as a man ;)

Ohhhh DANG! User SweetFlaxandBarley know what upppppp.

#based suggestions for #rare meals. Very positive! Must collect!

Get yourself a rice cooker.  A good one.  100,000 or more.  If it's 10 cups, you can have brown, red, lentils, chickpeas, etc for at least 3 days worth. 

Go to the open markets rather than the marts cause they're more cheaper.  They'll also have cheap cooked food.  Cheap fruits and depending on the market some gems from tropical areas.   

For mornings, get yourself a blender.  I'd go for the vitamix but it might not be in your budget.  Have the ingredients in the cup the night before, blend it in the morning.  Drink it or if you're really in a rush, take it with you. 

Pasta is perfectly fine if you add more vegetables and mushrooms to the sauce.

Upgrade your fridge or get an extra fridge.  You need room for ingredients. 

Look for recipes for 30 minutes or less.  My favorite is tomato ginger curry.