Wanted to add to the food cost anecdotes. One doesn’t need to stick to generics and highly processed foods to get under $200/person (or wherever your line is).
For a family of 4, I spend between $490-650/mo on food. All dinners are planned and made from recipes with special requirements and sometimes we have 3 different dinners because my daughter doesn’t eat beef, my son doesn’t eat fish, and my wife doesn’t eat grains. we use almost all fresh meats and produce and often several ingredients to make a typically easy thing (I don’t even know how many things are mixed into my wife’s gluten free cereal). I split my grocery shopping between 4 different stores, depending on the item. If I have to go to the more expensive store, at least they give “free gas” for shopping there (I used over $1000 in “free” fuel rewards last year).
I HATE eating out- because even one meal off the dollar menu at fast food places usually costs more than it does to make meals at home (not to mention the health and quality control). We eat decent steak and seafood every week, but some meals are more vegetable based (ie we have some squash “pasta” w/ eggplant concoction last night that cost about $3 in produce ingredients, no meat, a cup of cheese that was $1 off/lb plus BOGO).
Of course these things also take time, which may or may not be available working full-time on minimum wage and riding a bus every day. Also, cooking well can require pretty substantial “startup” costs in the form of spices and certain non perishable ingredients, but once you have them you can save over time.