I used to count my impulse snacks budget separately from my weekly food budget so I'd think wow, this food is way more expensive. Of course, if I'd got all my sweets, crisps, chocolates, drive-thru and takeaway all in one big weekly shop then the difference is not as great as it first appears.
Not sure of your geography but do you live anywhere at all near a farm? These days the food manufacturers and retailers all want food in a specific way. We buy food by eye, so fruit and veg with minor blemishes is rejected by large retailers, as are undersized eggs, chicken breasts that don't meet a minimum size, etc. There is a lot of stuff which is simply unsaleable by farmers these days and it ends up being plowed back into the field to fertilise next year's crop because it's grown a tiny bit lopsided. Sometimes they have to pay for these unwanted goods to be hauled away and disposed of, so you may be able to arrange yourself a free supply of goods if you are prepared to take the ones that aren't as pretty. There's nothing wrong with a lettuce that's wonky or a tomato that you have to cut one side off it. The big stores don't want to "spoil their reputation" by having a section full of goods like that so they won't buy them. It seems stupid when there's people going hungry or being stuck on cheap fatty meals, but that's the world we live in just now.
Of course if you have an outside space you would be able to get some exercise by planting your own veggies, raise some inexpensive food and learn a new skill. Some will even grow inside, and seeds are cheap, just make sure you don't need any special monitoring and fertilising equipment. My gran found a pair of specially raised apple trees that you can grow in a 10-inch tub and she got about 20 small apples from each tree. Much easier to keep your fruit fresh that way too, if you don't want it yet just leave it on the tree! LOL
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