Organization

As in anything you do, organization is the key  to success.    I have four binders of recipes besides the ones I did in the 70s.   I like to have a recipe on front of me when I cook.  I have a lot of  recipes on binders  by category and put two back to back in sheet protecters.   That way, I can take them out of the binder, use them, mess them up, and wipe them off to put away.   It's easy to get in a rut and make the same things over and over.   And, if it works, don't fix it.    I am tying to broaden our experiences and try new recipes and new tastes.    Some work, some don't.   If they don't, it's really easy to 86 the recipe and have room for a new one.    I get Betty Crocker recipes often on my inbox.

I doubt I'll cook all of those recipes, but it gives us options .

There are categories of recipes that save time and money, and some don't heat up the kitchen.

1. Foil packets ( hobo dinners) can be made on the BBQ or on the oven.   Dinner is on a foil or parchment packet and there is almost no dishes after dinner .  The kids think it's fun and you can tailor meals to suit individual taste.   
2. Crock pot dinners pretty much speak  for themselves .   Dump and run meals.   You can make them the night before or the month before and freeze them.  Saves time, energy, amd doesn't heat up the kitchen.    
3. Pressure cooker meals.  Fast, doesn't heat up the kitchen, and infuses flavor.  
4. Impossible pies - easy, fast, a variety of flavors.  From main dishes to deserts.    
5. Mixes.   Save time and money and lack preservatives.  

Having a recipe at your fingertips is more efficient and you will be more likely to use it if you can easily find it.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 
The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until ot goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are laying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( cooking) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.