It's almost a national past time to save money on food. Find deals, buy cheaper options, shop around. A penny here and some pennies there will be saved. Spend hours every week reading the weekly deals and you might even save a pound.
But is food really where we should be stingy? We are literally what we eat, and sadly, what many of us eat is ultra processed crap where the producer has cut every corner that is technically legal to cut. Paying for less processed food and higher quality groceries will make you better.
Learning how to cook is also one of the smartest skills one can have. It's maybe a bit more motivating to cook well when you buy high quality groceries as well. Having the kitchen fill up with wonderful flavors makes it worth it even before the meal is eaten.
Some things you buy in supermarkets are surely indistinguishable commodities. When choosing between coke, pepsi and the store brand, perhaps saving money on the store brand doesn't make too much of a difference. Dish soap, frozen peas, kitchen towels may not be that different, so just pick the cheapest alternative.
But with meat, fish, vegetables – even many of the half processed ingredients such as pesto or Worcestershire sauce, the more authentic alternative is really that much better.
Eating crap makes you feel like crap, so eating better should pay off in wellness immediately. Furthermore it will pay of with better health in the long term. No amont of pennies saved on saline injected chicken breasts will be worth surgery, IBS or chronic pain in the future.