Giving another shout-out to ALDI. If you have one in your area, you should totally take advantage of the signficantly lower food prices. Who cares about things like name brands and customer service? At the prices they have, I care little that I have to bag my own groceries and return the cart myself to get the quarter back.
With food being a large expense, it helps to find ways to get it as cheap as possible.
Perhaps you cannot always find the cheaper alternative with all things nor does it always work out for the better. But chances are that you might be spending more money than you need to on factors that are actually not important.
@houseoftolstoy I agree. Most people try to eat certain foods to sate their appetites and they have difficulty either keeping weight off because they can't find the dishes they want in the calorie content they want or they are locked into menu planning when their stomachs are growling. It is far better to plan meals ahead, take the time to do meal prep, and make it yourself with wholesome ingredients based on what you're trying to gain, such as a better physique, not on a specific dish.
@houseoftolstoy Aldi using a quarter fee to use their carts is one of the most brilliant means to save money. The carts are always in good condition, the stores are always clean, and letting people use packaging boxes if they want is exactly what I want in a grocer.
Aldi has no self check out and better customer service than most other stores except Trader Joe's which also has no self check out
At least where I have seen them
I do not know if that is true in all areas
With this in mind, consider what other things you can do to lower your expenses by seeking less expensive alternatives. Is your money being well spent by paying for all the added costs that have little to do with the end product itself?
While eating out is far from frugal, it makes little sense to pay extra for someone from Uber Eats or whatever other service when eating takeout is already expensive enough. Better yet, figure out if you can make the food yourself. Much cheaper.