Mildly Infuriating

That frozen broccoli is pretty good and useful, great choice

So, some points for consideration….

Canned vegetables will have around half their product weight in Canning Liquid. So keep that in mind when comparing prices on frozen ($0.082/ozverse canned ($.044/oz).

Frozen is also usually better in quality (texture, nutrient value) and lower in salt and other preservatives. Modern freezing centers are frequently able to get nearly as good as fresh; and might come out on top if you’re not buying from the farmers market.

Lentils and rice represent a whole protein, and are easily adapted to a variety of flavors; (For example); takes about 10 minutes of prep, 25-30 of reasonably hands off time and can be easily made in advance and augmented with fruits and vegetables. (For example, sautéed squash/zucchini plopped on top.) or basically any kind of stir fry mix.

Block cheeses are going to save you money, compared to sliced or shredded.

On that note, Alfredo (or rather pasta al burro) is super simple to make; albeit requiring some technique and experience : reserve some (hot) pasta water, in a large bowl, soft butter and the drained pasta. Stir until coated toss in the parmigano regianno; use the pasta water to help emulsify and melt the cheese. (Alfredo melts 3x butter with heavy cream, reduces that then adds the pasta and cheese, a bit more work, imo.)

You’re probably thinking I’m a snob for using the Italian name for Parmesan. Fun fact: in the US Parmesan is not in fact Parmigiano reggiano as it is in the EU- but if you stick to block cheese and away from that Kraft shaker Parmesan, you’ll be fine. (It’s cheese, mostly, but there’s stuff added to it that makes it… not good… for sauces.)

Also, in a similar vien, a mornay sauce can replace Mac and cheese tubs, and generally don’t require extra time compared to just cooking the pasta. (Equal parts melted butter and flour, whisk together until smooth, medium-low heat. Whisk in milk slowly until the consistency of heavy cream, then whisk in shredded or cubed cheese a bit at a time, letting it melt. When the pasta is mostly cooked, reserve some of the water and drain the rest, finish the pasta in the sauce, using the pasta water to control consistency and as an emulsifier.)(if you want to get fancy, before making the roux, sauté a minced clove of garlic and maybe some minced onion in the butter, then proceed. Black pepper to taste.)

Oh, and pro tip, heads of garlic cost less than the jars of minced grossness. Similarly, saving scraps like onions, carrots, celery, ginger, mushrooms, and stuff, can then be simmered in a lot of water to make stock, and can add flavor and nutrients to things like rice or stews (potatoes, mushrooms?)

Is the cat included? If yes, it's worth the price

Value wise it's not very good: you could have made the sauces yourself, slice your own cheese, cut your own broccoli, make your own muffins if you really want to save, make your own mac and cheese, etc. Would save you probably 50%.

My SO and I recently found out that Walmart (I see the Great Value brand) has actually become one of the more expensive places to buy goods from. We've done comparisons from Trader Joe's, Fry's, and Safeway. We've found that Walmart is the least value. Take what you will.

This whole picture can be summed up in two words:

Can't cook

You could have bought 16 packs of Oreos for that price!

Needs butter, eggs, beans, garlic (i assume you already have salt & pepper), rice (get a bigger bag, it's cheap! Learn different rice recipes) and noodles...lose the uncrustables, the muffins, and the Swiss rolls. Get a big bag of cereal instead (good for snacking + breakfast) and a box of muffin mix (you get more for cheaper). Room for improvement, but good instincts with the veggies, just get some fruit too 🤙🤙

Edit- canned diced tomatoes and chicken broth really go a long way when making rice- I love using knorrs tomato/chicken bullion when making Mexican rice

Learn to cook/bake, you’ll save even more by not buying processed foods. You’ll get more micronutrients too. Less jars, more fresh produce. Look for protein rich vegetables to make up for the lack of meat, or toss in a few eggs into your diet.

Needs more legumes, nuts and or seeds, maybe some starches and fruit.

Processed food is usually more expensive per portion than the ingredients alone. The farther you get from the raw ingredients the more expensive it gets. Plus, you're eating all sorts of junk ingredients.

I had about ten years of experience with a very tight food budget to learn what was good value for effort/ingredients.

Good:

Flour, sugar, canned tomatoes, spices, frozen veggies, fresh produce

Bad:

Presliced or pre-grated cheeses, at least in my experience, are marked up 1.5x to 2x the cost per pound of a block. Another commenter said that wasn't the case in their store, but check and see if that is true for you and if the cheeses you got are available in blocks. You can even go to a place with a deli counter and they will slice cheese for you for free, and you will get exactly how much you want with less waste (yes it's an interaction with another human, it'll be alright).

Uncrustables/swiss rolls/mac and cheese... it's not for me to judge what someone chooses for an indulgence, maybe those things are what get you through your day, but you can definitely do better value wise. Mac and cheese from a box is cheaper than those individual cups, and homemade mac and cheese from scratch is even better and extremely easy if you have any kitchen experience. Uncrustables will always be more expensive than just making the sandwich yourself. The swiss rolls... well you know they're a treat. In my opinion if you're going to treat yourself to something unhealthy spend the extra dollar and get something luxurious.

Breads and muffins, again if you could learn how to make them yourself you might be impressed with the results. Bread can be a tricky balance of time, effort and cost of ingredients, and homemade fresh baked bread is incredible, but if you're short on time there's nothing wrong with buying it. Muffins are a quick bread though that you could make at home in under an hour with a mixing bowl and a cupcake pan, and then you could control exactly how much sugar went into them and have hot, fresh muffins. It's worth making them yourself at least once to see if it's something you can add to your routine, you can get a cupcake pan for cheap from a thrift store if you don't have one.

Sauces and dips, as other people have said, they are a lot simpler than you might think to make yourself. In my experience they are one of those things you should challenge yourself to make at least once or twice and see how much effort and time it takes you, and then re-evaluate the jarred/canned stuff. Maybe after making it you realize it is worth the extra dollar or so to save yourself the effort, but maybe you realize it's not that hard and you're able to save money in the long run and have more control over the quality and ingredients.

All this stuff is incremental, and any one thing isn't going to magically fix food costs. Plus as the amount of time in your life to spend on meal prep fluctuates you might find it's worth it to spend the extra money on convenience. However it's important to at least get some experience with the alternatives so you understand what amount of time and effort you are buying by getting those processed foods. Good luck :)

Your flour tortillas make Robert Rodriguez cry.

https://youtu.be/8WvGDdxzK-Y#t=1m1s

This is an extremely binary haul. Items are either very healthy or very unhealthy with nothing in between. It's kind of impressive.

Tips: Make your own Mac & Cheese and tortillas. Both are cheap, easy to make, and taste way better than premade stuff.

Suggestion: Get some canned refried beans. With the tortillas and cheese, you can make burritos.

Better suggestion: Get a bag of dried pinto beans and learn how to make your own beans. It's really simple, just needs to be aimmered a long time.

• Muffins/Swiss rolls - depends on how much it is but I get it being a quick comfort food. However, check if there's a bakery of some kind (including
  Chinese / Latino bakeries) near you. It's nearly as cheap or cheaper and much fresher. Good bread there too.
• Pasta sauce: my wife actually just makes a Alfredo sauce from scratch and it seems to be just a bit more complicated than Mac and cheese sauce. Flour, milk, and cheese. Probably a lot more cost effective.
• Instead of a red tomato sauce I would buy diced tomatoes ( or those fire riasted ones) and dump them over noodles. It tastes better than the bottled red sauce.
• Mac and cheese: see above - but also, if you're going to get it, get the box. The single serve things are worse than the generic box Mac.
  -froze spinach is great. Try throwing that in whatever you're cooking. Never goes bad. Already bite sized.
  -Also, you gotta report that grocery store. Cats are friends not food.

Do you actually need bakery muffins? You know you could make your own for half the price!