The government benefits here consider 200€ on groceries a month (<7€ a day) to be the absolute minimum they can give to ensure living in dignity. Now, I personally can take some cuts here and there (especially since they consider daily portions of meat essential) to save a few bucks, but even if you somehow get all your food out of dumpsters, you cannot save more than those 7€ from this.

That’s not nothing, a lot of people would (and do) consider cutting back on food to save for other stuff. But it would take 50 years to save for a house, if real estate didn’t outpace inflation. Cutting back on food can help if you live well above your means, but if you are barely surviving, it won’t make you rich any time soon, just gives you money to spend on things to replace the enjoyment of an easy full belly.