I'm hear to back up the person with a $30 per week grocery spending. When i moved in with my boyfriend, we eventually fell into a rhythm of fundamental foods we like to eat. We pay ~$60 a week for the two of us for (minimum ever spent was $30, maximum was $80):
7-8 Apples
5 Bananas
Lettuce
Mushrooms (every two weeks)
Broccoli (every two weeks)
Red or white Onion (we occasionally get these free from his parents' garden)
"Special Veggie" (carrots, zucchini, potatoes, this rotates week to week)
1 loaf of bread
1 gallon Milk
Yogurt
Cheese (once a month)
Eggs (once a month)
Meat for him will add about $10, bought from the bargain bin every few weeks.
Tofu for me every other week
Dry pasta
Pasta sauce
We also buy nuts in bulk for snacks and keep stocked on staples like flour, rice, spices, canned veggies and giant bags of cereal that we always have in the house. We don't buy dried beans and only go to Costco a few times a year for a small amount of items (usually things like canned veggies, total ~$400 a year). We avoid name brands about 75% of the time. We sometimes eat boxed Mac and cheese and convenience foods without changing the weekly cost. My boyfriend drinks an expensive green shake mix, but that is not part of our grocery bill. The grocery bill DOES include toothpaste and similar non-food items bought on an irregular
Our weekly recipes are usually:
Lunches-
Sandwiches brought to work every day, with apples, yogurt and nuts as snacks
Leftover of choice with apples, yogurt and nuts
Dinner-
A veggie (sautéed with onion and garlic, broiled with spices, store fried or a salad)
A protein (meat or tofu or beans or just veggies and cheese)
A side (rice, potatoes, pasta, this is often mixed with veggies)
Special recipes when I feel like it: Channa Masala, Phad Thai, pasta puttanesca, homemade pizzas)
Hopefully that is inspiring? We really don't have any tricks other than to buy store brand if it makes sense, avoid food with packaging and don't buy shit we don't need. We don't even plan for loss-leaders in produce but we do say Fuck You to out of season avocados and the like