A report on how this family of 3 ate frugally, for $37 a week, for a full year. If you're looking for cheap meal ideas or cheap dinners, read these tips!
If you're reading this, you may be in the same position I was back in 2013. A new mom, transitioning to stay home with her newborn, and suddenly realizing you can't breastfeed and have to put your baby on formula, an expensive and unexpected expense.
On top of all the emotional aspects of having a new baby, you now have to figure out where the money for the formula will come from and how you'll make it.
This was an unfortunate reality for me and John after we had Allison, and we decided to take the money out of our grocery budget of $60 a week. We were left with $37 to live on for food and household items, and I wondered how we'd do it.
It wasn't perfect, but we survived, and I want to outline exactly what we did for that entire year in hopes that I can encourage someone who might be in the same situation.
A few things to note before you read on:
Did we buy organic food? No.
Did we eat “clean”? No.
Did we at least try to eat healthy? Depends on what you call healthy. Keep in mind we were dealing with our first baby and all the hormones and depression that can sometimes go with that, so I ask that you read with an open mind and know that we're much better now and can see what we eat in my grocery hauls on Youtube.
Most of the meals we made can be found in my new "Emergency Meals" e-book, which you can find here at a special discount!
cheap foods we Bought and Ate
The two main stores we shopped at during this time were Meijer and Aldi. Aldi was our heavy-hitter, where we bought most of the essentials, and Meijer was for the great coupon deals.
Here were some of the items that made its way into our grocery list most weeks:
Pasta: I only bought pasta when it was less than $1.00 per box. My stock-up price was 50 cents, and I would buy 4-5 boxes at a time.
Salad dressing: Our main vegetable and side item was salad, with cheese, croutons, and bacon bits (See above question about whether we ate healthy). I could get Kraft salad dressing for less than $1.00 after coupons, so it made for a cheap option.
Lunch meat: I distinctly remember one week where John said, “You have $18 this week for food. Can you do it?” Meijer had a Buy 8 Items, Get $8 off sale so I bought a lot of deli ham and bologna for something like $.69 each, along with boxes of Velveeta shells and cheese for $.99. We had macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, and wraps all week, but I was under budget!
Salsa, sour cream, enchilada sauce, tortilla shells: We ate a LOT of simple Mexican food, which consisted of any/all of the previously mentioned items as well as rice and home-cooked dried black beans. We'd eat them as tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, or just a regular burrito bowl.
Kraft macaroni and cheese: Yep, I said it. We ate Kraft macaroni and cheese. It's still one of our favorite brands and we'd eat it as a complete meal, sometimes adding cut-up hot dogs.
DiGiorno pizza: If we could get these for under $5, I’d buy a few for the freezer. These were great cheap meal nights!
Fruits/veggies and baby food pouches: I made Allison’s baby food, using simple fruits and vegetables, and froze the puree in ice cube trays. When she refused purees on a spoon, I bought the pouches instead and gave her one a day. I found that Beech-Nut is the cheapest at $.88 each at Wal Mart.
Here were some of our staples at Sam's Club:
Chicken breasts: We bought them at $1.88 per pound, in approximately 5-pound packages, and froze some for future use.
Chocolate chips: We'd buy a 4-pound bag and use them in pancakes and waffles.
Pancake mix: I know it's cheaper to make your own, but for $5.00 we got a lot of mix and it lasted us quite awhile.
Ground turkey: I can’t remember when we started to buy this, but we started using this instead of ground beef. $2.59/lb as opposed to $2.99+/lb.
Shredded cheese: We'd buy the 5-pound bags of cheese and froze them into 1-pound bags.
We had to be careful when we bought things at Sam’s. Most things were $10+, so one item would wipe out half our grocery budget for the week. I used Swagbucks when I could, taking surveys here and there to get extra gift cards, but I only got around 2 $25.00 gift cards that entire year.
Cheap meals We Made
Dinner (Lunch was always leftovers)
Slow cooker caesar chicken sandwiches
Crock pot chicken and stuffing
Three cheese macaroni with tomatoes
Cheese quesadillas
Burrito bowls (rice, black beans, salsa, sour cream, cheese, jalapenos)
Nachos (Same as above but with tortilla chips)
Breakfast
Cereal (from Aldi, or large bags at Meijer)
Piece of sausage on toast
Chocolate peanut butter overnight oats
Pancakes/Waffles (Bought a bulk bag of mix at Sam's, made big batches and froze the leftovers)
How We Finished Out Strong
Allison was born in October 2013, and in April 2014 we got enough money from our tax return to make a big GFS (Gordon Food Services, like Sam’s but mostly restaurant quality food/items) and Sam’s Club run.
We bought household essentials: paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, freezer bags, etc. We also bought food for a month’s worth of meals.
I used this $5 Dinner’s monthly menu for Sam’s Club. (Note: It looks like this menu is now only for purchase and no longer free.)
All the paper goods lasted us almost 6 months, which was when we were able to finally up our grocery budget!
Frequently Asked Questions
Didn't you qualify for food stamps?
To be honest, we didn't check. We were still navigating the basics of budgeting and probably COULD have kept our grocery budget the way it was and found the money for the formula.
I think a lot of this situation was just trying to see if we could actually do it. If we were in dire straights, we definitely would have taken advantage of food stamps and the local food bank.
By the way, there is no shame in accepting assistance. That's why it's there! If you need it, take full advantage.
How did you figure out the cheapest store?
Because I'd done most of my grocery shopping at Aldi already, I knew that was cheapest for a lot of my pantry staples.
There were a few items I knew I could buy cheaper elsewhere when on sale. I'd check the Meijer and Kroger ad for sale prices, and their apps to see if there was a free item to clip. Kroger had a freebie Friday during that time, and I took advantage!
I also found a couple discount stores in my area- mainly bread outlets. I could buy loaves of bread and other bread items for 50 cents each. It was a great way to stock up my freezer.
Are you eating healthier now?
Our weekly budget has increased significantly since then, which has allowed us to buy more whole foods.
We're not perfect (Nobody is), but now I try to include fruits and vegetables in our everyday meals. I still search for the best deals to get the most out of our money!
How important is planning your meals?
SO important! Meal planning has saved my family so much money in the long haul. You need to know what you're eating for the next few days/week, and that means making a shopping list and sticking to it.
Even when John lost his job and we lowered our budget to $30 a week, we still did weekly meal plans because it meant we saved money.
How we survived
I prayed constantly. I didn't think we could continue this for a full year, but little things happened that I just knew was God at work.
If we needed to buy something we were almost out of, it would magically be on sale the next week, or it would be the off week that we didn’t need to buy formula, or I somehow had enough Swagbucks to get a gift card to use at Sam’s!
We were never in need, and we got through it, and we were still faithful.
If you're in a similar situation, remember that you WILL get through this. Times will be tough. You'll probably cry because you just want a little extra money for groceries.
I've been there, multiple times, and there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. Keep praying, keep doing your best with what you have, and you'll make it through your situation with an inspiring story to share and a better understanding of how you can survive on a shoestring budget.
Jaime is a Nutrition Coach through the ISSA and professional writer. She has 4 years experience coaching and 9 years experience in writing. She enjoys cooking easy meals, running, and learning more about food.
Jaime specializes in helping women with ADHD learn to meal plan and cook healthier meals without getting overwhelmed.
It's definitely inspiring you were so creative and frugal with your budget, but eating real, healthy food on this budget is impossible. The foods that you purchased, are, unfortunately, packed with preservatives and chemicals. And I doubt the produce was organic. I know it's really hard to afford organic for a lot of people, and I've been there. But you can still eat much cleaner than Kraft, Digorno and Valveeta-and probably much cheaper-by sticking to real, whole ingredients.
You're absolutely right; it's almost impossible to eat completely healthy on this kind of a budget. It was a one-year season in our lives that was really tough financially, and we did the best we could with what we had and what we knew. When I tell this story to others, I do say that yes, it wasn't the healthiest, but you gotta do what you gotta do to survive the hard times! We eat much better now and use healthier ingredients. =)
I beg to differ. my fridge and freezer are packed with fruits , vegetables and meat. while we certainly don't eat meat alot we eat lots of produce. We eat meat every other day for only dinner. we are able to get organic fruit and veggies for 40$ and get our free range beef for 40$ for 3 cuts at a farmers market. 30$ for other things like yogurt beans ,pasta cheese and oat meal which I get in bulk. so 110$ for two weeks for 3 people. so for 55$ per week I can support local ethical farmers and get healthy food. we meal plan , eat lots of soup from the broth I make with my meat , left overs and no processed foods. Granted now ... I could save 30$ by not getting pastured eggs and non grass fed meat,and non organic but I dont want to support mega factory farmed operations eating unhealthy animals and chemical laden fruits and vegetables. We try to get organic as much as possible but not everything we buy is like pasta . So yes I do limit our buying power but we never eat out , we also use family sized shampoos for all of us (lasts 3 months) family cloth,cloth diapers and reusable storage containers instead of plastic bags and wash our clothes by hand in grey water.. We also buy things like bleach and cleaning supplies from the dollar store. my husband doesn't make much so I do what I can to make our budget stretch. it is possible to live healthy on a budget.. you just got to rethink what you can do without..like milk, sour cream,meat,plastic baggies,toilet paper and individual shampoos/soaps for everyone.
This is inspiring, thank you for sharing! We're not buying organic right now although I'm open to it, but now that my husband is out of work and we're eating cheaply again with no income, I'm learning more and more about eating healthier on a budget. I'm glad to know it's possible!
Gracious response to that comment! Good for you and your hard work and results being a good homemaker and steward!!
Thank you, Julie!
Very GRACIOUS RESPONSE! Apparently she has no idea that in many areas of this country the farmers markets are NOT AVAILABLE! Also many people DO NOT have $110 to spend at one time. We have been unemployed for 19 months and we eat much like you. Lots of pasta, Dollar Tree food, large jars of Peanut butter because we all could have a sandwich for almost two weeks, spaghetti with no meat, etc! I pray this is the last time I ever have to hear my grandson say “I’m hungry” because we didn’t have three meals a day. Some people have no idea what others actually go through and are so quick to tell them what they could have done. YOU DO THE BEST YOU CAN DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE AND WHAT YOU CAN FIND AS CLOSE TO YOUR HOME AS YOU CAN GET. I’m telling you now, I have a new appreciation for buying toilet paper & other bare essentials needed to stay clean, along with food. We have been blessed beyond measure by God. On days we had no food left a gift of food would show up at our door or a friend would have dropped a check in the mail to us just out of the blue. These are the important moments in your life whether you eat organic or WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY AFFORD!
Thank you for sharing your story, Martha! I'll say a prayer that your family can find employment soon. We're currently in the midst of that as well (Only one month in, though), so I understand the urgency felt to find a job!
"you just got to rethink what you can do without..like milk, sour cream,meat,plastic baggies,toilet paper and individual shampoos/soaps for everyone"...Really? How do you do without toilet paper????
You don’t use toilet paper?
if you cant say something nice dont say anything at all
You are VERY fortunate that food is so cheap there!! In Australia coupons dont exist and we really only have Two supermarket chains and they are not hyper competitive! For an idea, chicken breast is between $14-21 per kilo, Ham and deli meats on the lowest special are $17.99 per kilo and pasta shells on special are $2 a packet. We pay through the roof for everything!!
A kilo is equal to 2 1/4 pounds so $14.00 for chicken = about $6.00 a pound
Holy cow, that's a lot of money! It's amazing to see the differences in prices of food where everyone lives. 😮 That's so crazy!
I miss Aldi so much. They don't exist where I live now, but I grew up with one in the midwest. But we do have a Winco which has bulk food- and I LOVE that- and they are really inexpensive compared to other stores. It BLOWS my mind how some stores are so inflated! There's a Kroger family of stores- and one is moderately overpriced and the other is more upscale, little more fancy, gourmet, Whole Foods vibe, but the SAME product can vary more than a couple dollars! It's crazy. Budgeting is so important. Some weeks it's like a bonus when it feels almost effortless. Then some weeks it's like.. oh, yeah... ugh... lol It's a priceless skill.. <---- oh pun intended. lol I should get out more... lol
Man, I don't know what I'd do without Aldi! I totally agree about the budgeting thing. Some weeks I'm just awesome at getting everything under budget, and other weeks I just look at the money we have and think, "How can we eat with THIS?"
I am really impressed you really ate pretty well for having money so tight. I picked up some ideas myself. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words! I really appreciate it. =)
Going thru this right now! But I am a family of 7. I just left Aldis and spent 55.95 on some box dinner and a big tray of ground beef. I am hoping this will last us 10 days. So for 10 days it will be nothing but box dinner. I still have to get milk for the twins and some cereal.
Oh my! Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. =) Remember, it's a season in our lives and things do get better!
That is a very tight budget to work with but buying large bags of potatoes, carrots and onions are cheap. Also spices in bulk are way cheaper than packaged spice mixes for chili, etc. Dried beans and other legumes are another great buy and they freeze beautifully to add in small amounts to salads and other meals. A big bag of outmeal and some eggs are also good purchases to make. All things I do to keep our budget in check.
Great job-it's very difficult to shop for food on a small budget. My question is why was there so much name brand products purchased? Being in Canada will mean the cost will be much higher than $37/week but I couldn't touch that even though I buy basically no-name products and lots of bulk foods as well as vegetables. I feel so frustrated because I can't feed the 2 of us on less than $80-90 per week. What am I doing wrong?????
Hi Kathleen! I can't even imagine living in Canada where things are more expensive. It may be almost an impossibility to reach $37 a week with higher prices! When I purchased the name brand products, it was because I either had a coupon, or it was on sale to the point where it was even cheaper than the store brand. I hate paying full price for anything, so I keep a mental price list so that when I see something go on sale, I check my price list to see if it's really the lowest price.
Is couponing a thing in Canada? I know a few countries don't even have coupons and have really high prices. Other than that, my advice is to look at what you're buying and see if you can make any of it instead! For example, any kind of bread or sauces, like spaghetti or pizza sauce. I save at least a few dollars a week just doing that!
Thanks for the explanation-that makes so much more sense and I know that happens now and then, even here. I've even found some of those kinds of deals.
People do coupon and my favourite store does post them at the front but they are all basically name brands and I refuse to buy name brands (unless the no-name has proven to be inferior). I've asked the store to provide coupons for no-name but I'm guessing that it wouldn't make sense to them.
I stay away from ready-made items-we make basically everything from scratch, I cook beans from scratch and freeze them. I can 75-100 pints of tomatoes in the fall, I buy strawberries from the farm and pick my own blueberries, blackberries and raspberries and freeze them. We usually eat 3 vegetarian meals a week and have leftovers 2 nights with meat only on the weekends.
I just feel as if there must be something I'm missing in this endeavour because it seems impossible to reduce the bill down to a reasonable $50 or so per week.
It sounds like you're doing everything right! =) I think there's a balance between eating as cheaply as possible and eating healthy. When you get down to under a certain budget, you tend to buy more boxed foods just because it's cheaper, and while that's okay for seasons in your life, it may not be the best for the long run. We now spend around $60 a week for the 3 of us, and even then I still buy some convenience foods just because we like them (I'm a sucker for Velveeta!)
$60 U.S would likely translate to $75 or so for us in Canada which I can live with. I have to backtrack on my saying that I never buy processed foods-I do slip now and then. Buying tortilla chips, no-name salsa and a few other things.
Thanks again for the pointers and I'm going to keep on working on lowering our grocery budget.
You did a wonderful job providing for your family and keeping everyone's bellys full.
I remember several times where my husband and I literally only had $10 left for the week and we had to use it for gas to get to work until payday. Some of those weeks we were so strapped we considered siphoning gas from his car to mine since he works from home and didn't really need to dive anywhere. During those times we'd raid the pantry and put together a meal with whatever we had in there. Some were actually really yummy and unique, others were bad attempts, but we ate them anyway!
My husband does all the grocery shopping and usually keeps about a $40 a week budget. We're vegetarian so we don't have to worry about expensive meat. Pound for pound we can buy 3 to 4 times more fruits and veggies than we could I we had to buy meat products. We don't eat pasta or potatoes often, so that $40 usually consists of fruits, veggies (fresh and frozen), maybe some bread (just acquired a bread maker so we can cross that off the list), and dairy/eggs. The best things that has helped us keep on budget is no meat. That stuff is so expensive we don't understand how people can afford to eat it!
Wow, I'm so glad you were able to get through that! I like hearing about others' eating habits, too. =) We probably eat a little more meat than we need to, so it's nice to see that we can eat vegetarian meals and still keep them cheap!
This is so amazing and inspiring. Those seasons last only for a while and I'm a bride to be knowing that it's going to be challenging. The main thing I loved is that your focus was relying on God for his provision and then using good planning and knowledge. I'll be continuing to do the same and now I have some inspiration! Listening to the wisdom of God pays off!
Thank you for your kind words, and congratulations! =) God had gotten us through rough situations like this before, and I knew He'd get us through this one too.
This is so inspiring! Thank you for sharing all your tips. The one that stood out the most to me is praying when shopping. It works! I've been learning about how to grocery shop in a smarter way and to include the Lord, He provides! Almost everything on my list was on sale last week! From your new friend over at http://www..housemixblog.com
Thank you! Isn't it amazing how God listens, even with the "little" things in our lives? =)
I am always looking for a way to eat cheaper but I was startled by how little healthy food was here...Kraft dressing and lunch meat...I really worry about that. That's really toxic food. Doesn't it bother you?
Thankfully, we're eating a lot better now! Like I said above, we did the best we could with what we had available to us. It was for a small season in our lives and we're past that hurdle of having to buy formula. It wasn't always the best foods, but it worked for that short season!
Do they not have WIC where you live? Same thing happened to me and my husband. We signed up for WIC and it was a god send. They give you 7 cans of formula a month and a lot of food too. My son is now 2 and they still help us out with food and 4 gallons of milk for my son. They make sure you and your kids are eating right. . You should add a little something to your post urging women in your same position to look into WIC.
Thank you for the suggestion! I'll see if I can add it in there. To be honest, I think we COULD have just taken the money for formula from somewhere else, and just not put as much money into savings or something. Part of this was just wanting to challenge myself to see if we could do it. But you're absolutely right; if we were in a very dire situation, I would have looked into WIC. It's helped so many people that I know!
Wow, you are dead on. And I've eaten like this before. Main staples like hot dogs and Mac & Cheese often.
Thanks for beng honest about s tight budget. As I find this honesty hard to find now.
I really appreciate that, Kathy! It really wasn't the *best* food in terms of nutrition, but it was for a short time and I had to do what I could to feed my family. =)
Thanks for sharing. The diaper coupons will come in handy when my daughter's baby arrives.
Amazing! You really made the best of it. But seriously, it is so shameful that baby formula is so expensive. Truly, those companies ought to actually be deeply ashamed of themselves.
Thank you! =) You're right, formula is SO expensive. It made me feel so guilty that my body couldn't produce what my baby needed, but we did it, and I learned a lot from it.