Mulching choices?

What are some good choices to use as a mulch over vegetable garden beds. Keep in mind, I have 9 4x50ft beds to cover so cheap or free would be helpful.

I'm trying to lessen my weeding and hold in more moisture. I'm battling what might be nutsedge 😂 too. I just can't keep up! I've got three young kids to manage with this garden too. I should also mention that my husband is highly allergic to straw so if I use it, I'll lose his help with weeding and harvesting.

Please Help! I spent 4 hours fighting a badly weedy bed today. It's exhausting and so frustrating especially since I don't think i irradicated most of it.

Welcome!
My response to mulch is "whatever I can get for free in volume".
People talk about chipdrop, if you live in a place where you can get wood chips delivered that would be ace.
Others use leaves, shred whatever they might have around. I live in a place where we don't have either one, and I shred sugarcane bagasse (left over after people make cane juice). But in the past I've used shredded paper and cardboard, shredded  yard waste, pet rabbit bedding, moldy hay, sawdust I got for free from a sawmill, coffee grounds I got for free from a supermarket....

Everything is potentially mulch.

Hi Arthur,
Welcome to Permies.

I second the woodchips as a mulch... if you can get them. Many places you can get a whole truckload of woodchips for free. Other places, it is hard to come by even if you pay for it.

Keep in mind, I have 9 4x50ft beds to cover

That is getting up to commercial so I am imagining using wet newspaper as a sun barrier and using rocks or dirt to hold it down after it dries.  Grass clippings are great but sourcing them off your property is problematic because of contamination that can kill vegetable plants..  I have 3 acres I can mow so it is no problem for me.   I also use the riding lawnmower to pick up leaves when they fall.
I think you will find with solid barrier of paper the persistent corms will grow out looking for light and be poorly rooted so that they are easier to locate and pull out.  To eliminate them one needs to lift the barrier periodicaly and remove them.

For the veggies garden I prefer living mulch. First I plant the veggies way closer the seed package recommends. Then I plant flowers and herbs. Basil, parsley, alyssum are some of my favorites.  If you want a neat and tidy garden this is not the method for you. By the end of the season my garden is a wild mess.
When I started playing with this method I figured my production would go down. For me that hasn't been the case. The veggies flowers are Herb grew and produced like crazy.
Nothing works for everyone. If you are interested in this method, you could try it in a small section, just to see how it goes.
What ever you decide I wish you luck.