memes

If your problem is you buy ingredients but can't be arsed to turn them into food? Resist those beautiful fresh veggies and go get the frozen bag of the same thing. Not only will it keep until you really want to cook, it's already washed and cut, and it has all the same vitamins. Since you're already saving money, splurge on the better brand.

Also, go ahead and get some prepared food for no-cook days that are still cheaper than delivery. If you're inspired to cook that very day by a particular ingredient, make it a simple way, because shopping and stowing is also a whole chore.

A couple of strategies depending on the problem you're dealing with:

• if you don't have time, make simple meals that minimize prep. There are cookbooks dedicated to this concept and highly recommend picking one up. "30 minutes or less" meals were a god send for me in college.
• if you don't like the food you're eating, explore new types of food. This is often a more expensive endeavor as it may require you to buy new spices, cookware, etc. again, cookbooks are a great help here. Most Americans eat a combination of Italian and Mexican food. Try making your own Chinese or Indian food.
• if you are lazy, consider a food prep day. I do food prep on Sundays and makes cooking through the week much faster and easier. Also helps to cook large batches that can refrigerate and reheat in the microwave or toaster oven. Make dishes that taste better with age. Chili, marinated dishes, etc. fall into this category.
• if you're too lazy for that, then eat out and don't cook. If you value not wasting food over your money, then this is the best choice overall. It's the most expensive option but if you'd rather not cook and have the resources to just eat out, then do so.

Lack of motivation (assuming you're not neurodivergent) often is a result of not having a plan or you find the activity tedious. If it's the latter, I'd go the simple route and try to keep your cooking as easy as possible. This is essentially true if you're new to cooking.

If it's the former, consider meal planning. I plan my meals a week in advance, taking into account left overs I already have, left overs I'm planning on making, food I need to buy, and other factors.

If you're neurodivergent, I'm hesitant to provide advice as I am not a doctor but I suggest talking to your therapist about it and seeing if they can help you.

I only buy fresh stuff if I'm going to cook it that day, otherwise frozen or canned. Then I also always buy food that takes little to no preparation and/or make a lot of anything I'm making when I have motivation and freeze that for the days (which are most days for me) when I'm stuck with no motivation. So I always have some food that's easy to make or just heat up that won't go bad (at least within a few days). I can't say how it is where you live, but here in Sweden there's been a great increase in the variety of frozen veggies etc. Stuff I've never seen before like many kinds of beans, mushrooms, avocado, some salad types etc. which is awesome since they keep for much longer.

Have you considered cooking simpler dishes that require far less work?

Here's a simple one:

• Brown one 1lbs of ground beef (takes about 10 minutes) in a skillet
• pour off the excess liquid fat (not down the drain of your sink. Put it in a container and throw it in the trash if you don't plan to use it for another recipe_
• Add 3/4 cup of water to the meat in the skillet
• one pouch of this:

Stir the contents of the pan on and off for about 2 minutes.

You now have a 1lbs of taco meat.

Empty a bag of lettuce into a bowl. Scoop out the taco meat and put it on the lettuce.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of it.

You've got taco salad and it took you a bit less than 15 minutes.

Sounds like you have an answer.

Here and Here. These are easy recipes and take minimal effort and only require a few ingredients each.

Obviously the second recipe requires a crockpot. IMO crockpots are worth it because they are a set-it-and-forget it style of cooking.

Then stop buying it.