Fresh vegetables are cheap. Look at how immigrants do it.
1kg carrots - 39p https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/morrisons-carrots-2...
2.5kg potatoes - £1 https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/morrisons-white-pot...
And so on. Vegetables are cheap. It's frustrating seeing people complain about food but not learn to cook. Making casserole is cheap.
You can make delicious, quick and easy food both with meat and with vegetables. If you try and cook a steak like vegetables, you will have poor results. If you try and cook vegetables like a steak, you will have poor results. If you treat each ingredient - meat, vegetable, or otherwise - in its own right and cook/season appropriately, then you can and will make excellent food.