Pay now or pay later. Eating cheap food will make you sick and eventually you'll be at the doctor's office and have to find a way to pay for that. As far as cheap meals go, it's actually pretty easy on paleo: All the good stuff is the cheap stuff that no one wants. 75% lean ground beef, dark meat chicken, organ meats, etc. You can find all of that stuff at the butcher really cheaply. Cook it up, add some veggies and you're done. Nothing fancy, all healthy. (Some people will probably argue that the dark meat chicken is too high in omega-6, but I don't worry about it).

my husband has been unemployed for 15 months, so i definitely think its possible to do it on the cheap! we do get meat shares, but if you dont have storage for it, i think that you can get by really well on just the cheap-o cuts of meat from costco. costco is my BFF. we get the big bags of wild salmon frozen fillets and frozen peeled raw shrimp and eat that a few times a week. i get coconut products from vitacost, and nuts in bulk. ill get the ginormous thing of baby spinach at costco and sautee it immediately to use through the week in sauces, eggs, soups, etc. one thing i used to do and would love to do again s a meal swap with another few families. each week we make a big batch of something, divide it up and swap. obviously you would have to find another paleo or GF family to do this with. vegetable CSAs really save me a ton of cash, even if its a lot up front. dairy is pretty expensive, so i limit it as much as i can. i think that your slow cooker and mason jars might be your best friend! i do a lot of canning and though its a ton of work in the moment, i never regret it in the off season! ill edit this post as more ideas come to me.

Ethnic markets, produce stands, and other out-of-the-way food suppliers often sell for MUCH cheaper than standard grocery or specialty stores (Whole Pay-check I'm looking at you.)

Here is a post with a picture of what I was able to buy with only $20 at one such place near my parents' house in South Florida...$20 fruit stand haul

Next time try soaking and sprouting your lentils. I dont eat them myself, but I prepare them this way for hubby. I always soak them (a bag full) for the day, then drain them but leave them to sit in the bowl on the counter wet, I rewet and drain them every day/once a day, usually 2 days later they are sprouting. I then portion them and freeze them for when I need them. This way they have released the toxins that cause digestion issues, and the sprouting provides much much more protein as sprouted beans.

Test it on lentils first and see if its easier for you to digest.

Maybe you could cut on some areas by doing some things at home (homemade yogurt from milk about to expire, usually on sale; homemade fermented mayo lasts for 8 wks and can be flavored; buying all meats on sale, frozen veggies are cheaper than fresh, or buy all in season)

You can also get beef bones pretty cheap or sometimes free, to make soups, broths, etc.

the organic stuff is usually pretty expensive, so you might need to supplement vitamins if consuming regular products....you'd have to consider the cost of trade offs.

sardines and mackerel cost about $3/can and make a great meal. Also, eggs and sweet potatoes are fairly inexpensive and can give you good amount of nutrients.

some things you can throw into the routine:

frozen mussels from walmart $3.98/ bag that more than adequately serves 2 people (it's split into two bags if you just want to eat one at a time) plus some good nutrients. I enjoy making mine in a curry cream sauce. Frozen fish like trout is often really economical too and delicious.

hard boiled eggs. a dozen good eggs, even very expensive, very nice eggs are no more than 50cents an egg (that's $6/carton - ive never seen them that expensive even at farmers markets but just saying here..) So 2 hard boiled eggs would be a dollar or less. Combine with some greens and some quality meat for a dirt cheap meal. Also omelettes, etc etc.

Offal and off cuts - miked is totally right about the best stuff often being the cheapest. all you have to do is learn to prepare it. Beef heart is outstandingly delicious when seared rare!

Meat thrift - make stocks from the bones of meat you eat. Roast a chicken, save the carcass and the leg bones (who cares if you chewed on them a bit, after all you're cooking them for like 4 hours). Keep bones in a freezer bag until you have enough to make a good stock.

Start a garden. Tis the season, even if it's a small one, with only some herbs like thyme, basil, rosemary and chives, it will save you money and add to food variety.

Buy animals in 1/4 and 1/2s - its a bit of money upfront but well worth it. Whoever said to go to the local processor who processes hunters' meats was spot on.

Consider where else you can cut costs, can you ride a bike/walk instead of driving places? Do you need extra cable channels you never watch? Can you go in on high speed internet with a neighbor you happen to get along with who might be interested? Switch your cell phone that you never use all the minutes on to prepaid etc etc.

Good luck to you, it can be hard, but it is doable. I moved because of having to take care of my Father, and we took a huge cut in our income, and we moved to a "food desert" -at least by my old standards. I was unemployed for a long time, but the circumstances demanded it and I can tell you, you CAN still eat well. Lousy food isn't cheap either! and as someone else said, pay now, or pay later.

Canned salmon is a big bargain. Add more rice and potatoes for volume.

To be honest if I lost my job I would probably end up in WAPF-diet land soaking the heck out of my oats and legumes and hoping for the best. Not ideal but I couldn't keep up the paleo without my current income.

Let me advise you on frugality: my meals are no greater in cost than $2.00 and yield approx. 750-800 kcal. You simply must be more ascetic in your eating. EG: lean ground beef($1.00/8oz.=500kcal.)+butter(10 gr.@10 cents x 5= 50 gr.=350kcal.)=1 meal for $1.50 give or take the cost of veggies. Simple.

I buy as fatty a roast beef as I can find for less than $2 a pound and I slice it into steaks and then panfry the steaks in coconut oil, butter, a little rosemary, thyme and garlic salt. They taste just like the $8.99 steaks and taste better due to the fat content.

Anytime I see yams/sweet potatoes under 50 cents per pound, I buy twenty pounds and keep in cool dark corner of house.

I'm a student, so my budget is definitely lower than most other paleo people.

Anyway, I eat a lot, and I mean a lot, of beef heart. I made friends with a grass fed beef producer, explained what paleo is, and managed to get a deal where I buy her beef hearts 'at cost', which is $2.50 per pound. Basically, find a beef producer, and see if you can buy hearts at a really cheap price, make sure to say how much meat you eat, and that you will be buying from them for a long time. I also peruse my local supermarket and keep an eye on conventional chicken breast, and watch for when it drops to $2 a pound or less.

Another thing to do is make sure to eat just enough protein. I try to get ~200g a day, which I equate to around two pounds a day. Since I doing keto right now, I just make up the rest of the cals with heavy cream (local, conventional), pastured organic butter, coconut flakes, and organic cheese. For me, going keto helped my lower the cost, since getting fats from cream is pretty cheap (190g for $2.33). I get chopped frozen spinach and brussel sprouts when they are on sale, and eat them occasionally.

To make all this budgeting work out better, you're going to have to put a lot more time into your diet, primarily in measuring out your meals to have set amounts of cals and stuff. This way you'll make sure you're eating enough.

lately the key to a cheap visit to the grocery store has been Pork and 80/20 ground beef. Pork chops and top ribs have been consistently under $2/lb at the local grocery store, chuck full of protein and fat. I don't buy fruit typically, only if blueberries/strawberries are on sale, which isn't often. So, it's cheap pork/ground beef, maybe some sweet potatoes, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower. The trick is to not limit yourself to lean meats, you'll just end up paying more.

Find out when your local grocery stores mark down their meat. Some do it every day near the end of the day, while others do it first thing in the morning--just ask at the butcher counter. I virtually never buy meat that isn't on sale, and shoot for $1-$1.50 per pound. I can't afford grass-fed/finished on my current budget, but I am able to eat meat and not rice/beans.

Where are your figures coming from, what's on your grocery list? The paleo diet should be extremely thrifty. 80% lean ground beef is only $2.50/lb. at Walmart, and 1 lb. is about 1,120 calories - that's half a day's calories right there. Need more calories? 1 dozen eggs is less than $1.50 and is 840 calories. This still doesn't even break $5.00 for the day. If in doubt, buy more butter, which is extremely cheap per calorie, and is high in saturated fat and definitely a paleo-friendly food.

Nobody says you have to be some paleo-elitist and eat grass-fed beef at every meal. And AFAIK, no one has demonstrated any evidence supporting that hypothesis they're significantly better off with grass-fed than grain-fed.

Don't give up.

It may take a little bit of a start-up, but having your own veggie garden (maybe a couple chickens) can reeaaally take the edge off the monthly food bill.