… This article may contain affiliate links. To put these tips into perspective, I’ve provided a 5-day vegan meal plan below that is perfect for eating a plant-based diet on a budget. Maybe you won’t consider our menu plan normal, but I think we eat pretty well and we are happy with our meals. This creamy pasta dish is full of flavor thanks to the sausage and mushrooms. The salad is greens with tomatoes and low cost, low calorie salad dressing. These plans, along with the money-saving tips they submitted, should help you keep food costs low. I do not follow a set meal plan. Week Three of Inexpensive Meals. A cucumber salad is simple, healthy, and cheap. We use whiting fish unless we can buy another kind on sale, small red potatoes, and steam fresh green beans in the microwave. How To Meal Prep On A Budget + 30 Cheap Meal Prep Ideas; 10 Vegan One-Pot Meals For Quick, Healthy Dinner Ideas; Frugal Recipes: 8 Go-To Cheap Weeknight Meals; Frugal meal ideas. We use chicken breasts with the bone in, removing the skin. For a frugal meal plan I go online. Shepherd’s pie is a great option for a frugal yet hearty … The best low calorie and frugal weight loss meal plan. That’s more or less how our meals look like. The menu called for Italian bread to go with the linguini. If you are looking for more recipe ideas to help with your frugal meal prep here are over 3 months of free frugal recipes that are perfect for the frugal busy cook. Healthy eating seems to be an obstacle for many people on their journey to getting fit and healthy. Susan. , our free twice-weekly newsletter aimed at helping you live better for less on the money you already have! To Stay more organized with your meal planning sign up for my meal planning pack below: If you are ready to try meal planning to stay healthy or to save money, check out the Healthy Meal Planning Bundle flash sale. If you are at the grocery store and find good sales on … We also have pancakes (from scratch with homemade syrup), scratch muffins, scratch biscuits, or cream of wheat. Breakfast 1 – Oatmeal with raisins and walnuts Breakfast 2 – French toast and two slices of tomato Breakfast 3 – Cereal of your choice Breakfast 4 – Yogurt and fresh fruit Breakfast 5 – PBJ Breakfast 6 – Eggs and toast Breakfast 7 – Muffin and jam, Lunch 1 – Black bean soup and tortilla Lunch 2 – Salad with nuts Lunch 3 – Veggie soup and bread Lunch 4 – Sandwich Lunch 5 – Chicken noodle soup Lunch 6 – Salad and tortilla Lunch 7 – Bean burrito, Dinner 1 – Chicken and potatoes Dinner 2 – Pizza Dinner 3 – Pasta Dinner 4 – Burritos Dinner 5 – Stew Dinner 6 – Fish and rice Dinner 7 – Quiche and salad Krystyna, Cooking and baking from scratch would be required on any frugal meal plan that I am familiar with. ... Frugal Living, Lifestyle Tagged: Frugal Living, Meal Planning Post navigation. A ten-pound bag of potatoes might actually weigh up to 12 pounds and a three-pound bag of apples might weigh four to five pounds. For lunch, leftovers or sandwiches can be made with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or fruit. Today we got some fresh corn and tomatoes on sale, so we will use those. Frugal Meal Prep: How I Eat in Chicago for $6.22 a Day. “The Dollar Stretcher, Inc.” does not assume responsibility for advice given. Our family has Mississippi Coastal roots and this is a favorite recipe of ours. make a batch of hard-boiled eggs, wash and re-pack lettuce greens, and make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. If you click on one of the affiliate links, The Dollar Stretcher could be compensated. If you like beef stew, you must try this recipe! Here’s my sample. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. Green beans are fresh and we usually drink water with all meals (adding a straw and ice to encourage the kids to drink it) but we offer milk or OJ too, in small portions. The pasta sauce does not always have meat. Hot dogs in blankets with items like carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, coleslaw or sauerkraut and applesauce. Vegan Meal Plan For A Plant-Based Diet On A Budget. They are a must have for the frugal! THIS CLASS WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 20, 2017 at Quest Community Church (Westerville, Ohio) in the back kitchen area at 6:30 PM Quest Meal-Prep Class. Do you still think losing weight and eating healthy is complicated, time consuming, and expensive? The freezer was getting a little too empty for my liking. $25 for All Meals for a Week Below I’ve pasted my own meal plan – I haven’t calculated the prices, but I estimate that after the initial purchase of spices, staples, etc. Frugal Recipes: 35 Cheap & Easy Crockpot Recipes; 100+ Instant Pot Recipes; Best Ground Beef Recipes; Mason Jar Meals; Frugal Meal Planning This versatile recipe is is great to have as a go to in the freezer. Pepperoni Baked Ziti. The No Time to Cook! Frugal Pork and Beef Recipes. Pizza made with homemade crust and toppings and a salad or cooked green vegetable. The rice is either instant brown or regular white and the pineapples are canned with a sprinkling of whatever berry is in season. Dutch Oven Beef Stew. Super Frugal Weekly Meal Plans from Our Frugal Readers. Homemade spaghetti sauce costs a fraction of canned spaghetti sauces. Seasonings make the difference, but a cookbook can tell you what spices go with what meat/vegetables. 5 supper meals for $25 or less (based on sales). It’s inexpensive to make and provides good. Other frugal & meal posts you might find helpful: 10 Free Printable Grocery List Templates (Shopping Lists), How To Meal Prep On A Budget + 30 Cheap Meal Prep Ideas, 10 Vegan One-Pot Meals For Quick, Healthy Dinner Ideas, Frugal Recipes: 8 Go-To Cheap Weeknight Meals, Substituting or missing certain ingredients out altogether (for example, if you can’t afford meat, you could turn a meal vegetarian), Making the most of your staple, long-life goods in the cupboards such as rice and beans for a simple but balanced meal, Looking online for ‘pantry’ meals for inspiration that doesn’t require many fresh ingredients. Tonight I had ham and veggie linguini. And get a copy of our ebook Little Luxuries: 130 Ways to Live Better...For Less for FREE! We do this with all leftover vegetables that have not been handled (for safety), and that would be appropriate for a chicken pot pie. The following recipe is for our class on 04/20/2017 at Quest Church. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for their own situation. (See: A Grocery Stockpiling Guide: How and When to Save.). Try this for a week, and see what other meals you can make with frugal ingredients. The baked goods are generally made with mixed flours (whole wheat and white). Lentil soup made with some sort of smoked meat, carrots and onions and served with crusty bread or corn muffins. The Dollar Stretcher is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. We give each person individual crusts, so everyone can make his/her own pizza. One that is personalized to your family's budget and lifestyle. Related Post (See: Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets.) Check it out now! My number one recommendation for those that are wanting to be frugal in their meals is to have a well-stocked pantry, fridge and freezer. My friend Kelly … My family is grateful for the variety. The Brunswick Stew is made with a cut of meat bought on sale, frozen the day we bought it and then defrosted. Adjustable meal plan between 1200 and 1400 calories to save money and lose weight fast. We have peanut butter and jelly at least two times per week. Holly in NH. Easy Aldi Lunch Prep Recipes . Thanks for supporting The Little Frugal House! I freeze anything that is about to expire and use the produce in stir-fry and salad right away. I like to follow a relatively 80/20 meal plan — 80% is planned, nutrient-dense meals and 20% is deliciously spontaneous. You can move things around and use dinner leftovers for lunches. They even gave him a bag to collect them in! The vegetables for this can be acquired in the freezer container in same way as above, or by using a stockpiling of canned veggies you might need to use. (See 14 Ways to Buy Produce for Less.). I think something like this would be very helpful and appreciated by a lot of people right now. 3 Tips For Frugal Meals On A Budget The biggest temptation when trying to save money on food is to skimp on quality. 63 . These meals are what I eat almost every week, and focus on whole foods that not only make my body feel great but are also extremely low-cost. This is my step by step for how to meal plan and prep, helping you save both time and money every day. It’s a definite keeper if your family loves pasta. Learn to cook. How meal preparation saves you time. We have a discount grocery near us, so the sweet snack is made up from larger packages. 40+ Weekly Meal Plans for $25 or less. For lunch and dinners, I stretch meat with black beans and TVP mixed with ground beef and ground turkey from Aldi’s. Sometimes they have pickles or carrot sticks. For example, if we make corn on the cob and one piece is left untouched, we cut off the corn and add it to a small, thick plastic container in the fridge. If you have a well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer, you don’t have to go shopping very often, and when you do, you only buy the items you are out of or low on. Get your free copy of my ultimate minimalist declutter cheat sheet, a systematic way of clearing the clutter & organizing your home step by step. We are not low income, struggling, in debt, or unemployed. We have an Aldi and a Lidl by us, both competitively priced super markets and I love the idea of … Having a meal plan will keep you from stopping for take out and spending more than you have to. We got a lot of responses from our savvy frugal readers for our request for cheap weekly meal plans. This is the third week of inexpensive meals that will stretch your … I didn’t have any, so I substituted by making garlic toast out of a few left over hamburger buns I had on hand. If you are new to these menu plans of mine, it’s probably helpful to know a couple of things first: Our family of six consists of two adults with fairly big appetites, an 8 year-old boy, a 5 year-old girl, a 2 ½ … Dear Dollar Stretcher, I’d like to ask readers to contribute ideas for a super frugal weekly meal plan, including ideas for breakfast and snacks. 62 . Quick easy and delicious. We sometimes serve mozzarella fingers (not fried, just cut). They kept it simple because they didn’t have a lot to choose from. Being frugal with menus sometimes involves being creative and not giving into the urge to run to the store when you don’t have the exact ingredients on hand. Brunswick Stew (in the slow cooker to save time and money) Crackers Salad. However, do not clip coupons for items you do not use regularly. Weigh everything. Plan to reduce your grocery bill with these super frugal weekly meal plans and tips for keeping food costs low when the budget gets tight. The same is true with soups, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, and pizza sauce. Rachael, © 1995-2021 The Dollar Stretcher, Inc. | All rights reserved except where specifically noted. My plan involves using what I have on hand, purchasing items on sale, and volunteering at two food pantries so I am given a few food items in exchange for my labor each week. 10 Best Budget Planner Books To Get Organized In 2021, 55 Budgeting Tips (That Everyone Should Know), 12 Finance Bloggers Share Their Best Personal Finance Secrets. This year we have enjoyed the less-than-perfect apples from the trees at our local membership resort, where we also picked berries from the woods in the summer. The chicken pot pie is a simple recipe that uses chicken pieces, frozen vegetables, cream of chicken soup, and instant biscuits. This is a popular dish and doesn’t leave much leftovers. Simple Easy Pasta Recipes. If we get a really good deal on cold cereal, that’s put into the mix, but not often, as it is pricier and the kids like to snack on it. When we have company, we try to do something more fun, like a curry with lots of toppings or have pizza night. Use my system and my free downloads to keep you on track with your food and financial goals. Melissa Goodwin Prior to writing about frugal living, Melissa worked as an accountant. If I don’t have an ingredient, I substitute with something close that I already have, so I don’t have to run to the store. Also I recommend smoothies made with peanut butter, powdered milk, and over-ripe bananas. Meal planning and meal prepping is an organisation super strategy for feeding the family while saving time, saving money and still eating healthy, home-cooked meals. I also use all poultry bones/carcasses to make soup. We eat sandwiches or leftovers from supper. Saved money is tax-free income to me. This saves money and helps us cut down on our portion sizes. Robin in Illinois. Book by Elena Rosemond-Hoerr. We also scavenge fresh food from any source we can find it. I save all broth from canned vegetables or cooking water in a container in the freezer that I add to until I have a significant quantities. OF, I’ve been filling up our cupboards to the max by surveying the store for reduced meat, produce, dairy, bakery, and close-out priced canned goods. (Dad’s lunches are at work and aren’t included in the grocery budget.) Perhaps these ideas will help. Log in. On an average evening you are coming home from work or your spouse is and you are rushing to get dinner on the table before you need to get the kids to soccer or basketball or youth group. This is because we eat leftovers…a LOT. When they get home, they have a snack. Vegetable stir fry (usually made with a lot of broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onions or garlic) with chicken served over rice. Fruit slices consist of fresh slices of whatever fruit we find on sale. My husband recently stopped at a house that he passes every day while running and asked them if he could have the tomatoes that he observed were rotting on the vines in their backyard. Use online coupon sites and coupons from your grocery’s weekly ad. substitute with something close that I already have, Meal Planning Around Leftovers to Stretch the Food Budget, How to Read Your Grocery Ad Like an Insider, pancakes (from scratch with homemade syrup), A Grocery Stockpiling Guide: How and When to Save, Mastering Meal Planning: Time and Money-Saving Tips for Beginners, 4 Meal Planning Mistakes that Could Be Costing You, 5 Simple Budget Cuts That Can Save $200 a Month, 32 Ways to Save Money on Your Utility Bills, The Rule of 72 (or How to Easily Double Your Debt), 5 Simple Habits That Make a Financial Difference, Staying Motivated to Continue Digging Yourself Out of Debt, Plan every meal and every ingredient so that you don’t have to run out to the store “for one more item.” One more item turns into a $60 trip of things you see and buy on impulse. With the savings that I realize from this frugal way of shopping, cooking, and eating, my family enjoys vacations and monthly frills that we would not be able to afford otherwise. Looking for easy no cook freezer meals? You only need a shot of blueberries for them to make a difference in your health and the canned pineapple is not fresh but cheap and good with the blueberries. The recipe saves money because it cooks quickly and because we save vegetables all week for this recipe. Beef is out of our league right now, but we have a grocer with great deals on chicken, so we stock up. The $20 Meal Plan (Yes, You Really Can Eat Healthy For $20 A Week) March 26, 2015 By Elise New 86 Comments This post may contain affiliate … Meal Planning And Prep. In this post, I’m sharing a quick 20 minute freezer meal plan to make 28 quick meals! Saved the ones we liked best and ditched the rest. We no longer use cheese, croutons, ham, and other additives because they not only cost money, but they also add more than half of the calories in a perfectly good salad. April 1, 2017 April 1, 2017 itsmaryk. Meal Planning Made Easy with tips, tricks and a free printable meal planner! Am I a Good Candidate for Credit Counseling? Read or Pin: The Sauce that Makes Vegetables Taste Amazing The salad is either cucumbers and tomatoes or greens and whatever vegetable we got on sale that week. Think about what our ancestors ate: meats, vegetables, breads, soups, etc. We use instant brown rice or regular white rice with sausage, which can feed more than four or can be used for leftovers at lunchtime. Budget Shepherd’s Pie. Links to more than 40 examples of $25 family meal plans. Our shish kabobs are made with a meat we get on sale and loaded with whatever vegetables are in season and cheap. You can find ways to plan your low carb meals and start eating healthier this year. That is a waste of money. Print the full menu and shopping list here. So if you are one of those people that has been skeptical or if you simply want ideas for frugal meals, hopefully, this frugal menu plan showing what we ate the last 2 weeks will be helpful! Source: Glitter on a Dime . I don’t follow the menus exactly. These easy meals are cheap, yet healthy, and suitable for an array of special diets (Paleo, Keto, Whole30, and more). However, I don’t like spending money on things that I could be saving money on. If you're anything like me, without a plan for meals for the week, life gets in the way and quickly you can find yourself frustrated and eating out way too often. We have juice and milk (1/2 non-fat dry and 1/2 regular) on hand and hot tea. Lunches and Breakfasts: Mom only cooks once a day, so teenagers and husband make an oatmeal packet, cereal, toast, or an egg for breakfast with fruit. You get more for your money. A few tips that allow me to feed my family of four inexpensively in Seattle, which is a pricey part of the country: Subscribe to The Dollar Stretcher, our free twice-weekly newsletter aimed at helping you live better for less on the money you already have! One of the easiest ways that I’m able to stick to a meal plan without going crazy, is that we only cook about three times a week. It’s amazing what you can do with what you already have on hand. I tried a number of weekly plans I found. 20-Minute Bow … 30-Minute Frugal Vegan Recipes includes wallet-friendly recipes using cheap supermarket stapes like beans, lentils, rice and pasta and doctors them up into mouth-watering veggie-centric meals. | Phone: 1 (941) 761-7805. $20 for 5 Days of Meals for Two People (or 10 Meals for One!) Frugal Meal Prep. Shish Kabobs (i.e. It’s such a great way to make meal prep less stressful! We don’t have a concrete meal plan but work with what’s on sale or seasonal. C.I.S. Subscribers get a copy of our ebook Little Luxuries: 130 Ways to Live Better...For Less for FREE! (See, Plan one night a week as meatless and one night’s meals as homemade soup. Whatever I find is what I use to cook up a variety of meals. pork, green peppers and potatoes) Rice Pineapple and berries (whatever’s in season). You can usually find pasta on sale so it’s another great cost saver when it comes to the budget. ... you’ll be able to eliminate extra prep and cook time, making it easier than ever to plan your meals. Subscribe to The Dollar Stretcher, our free twice-weekly newsletter aimed at helping you live better for less on the money you already have! We do eat a lot of soup and we also have soup and salad/sandwich/quesadilla for dinner. Related Meal Time Posts: 100 Cheap & Frugal Freezer Meals; Simple Meals To Make Life Easier; The Best Instant Pot Recipes . Baked potato with cheese sauce and broccoli or spinach. Source: Strength and Sunshine . Rice and Sausage Casserole Cucumber Salad Fruit Slices. When you need to meal prep fast these types of mixes can make a meal come together quickly. This week it was tomatoes. Little Luxuries: 130 Ways to Live Better...For Less. It can be made with chicken breasts with bone and skin removed by us. Thermoses haven’t worked well for us and we don’t do juice packs so the kids drink water from the school fountain. These plans, along with the money-saving tips they submitted, should help you keep food costs low. 30 Frugal Meal Ideas (for when you’re broke) Most people overspend on food simply because there are too many options at the grocery store. Baked Chicken Red potatoes Green beans Milk, OJ or water. At home, we have milk, juice and water with yogurt and fruit for a snack. Finding pasta dishes is really a frugal meal-prep must-do. I just finished a mini freezer meal prep session, and now have 28 meals made for the freezer. Pasta with tomato sauce and a salad. We got a lot of responses from our savvy frugal readers for our request for cheap weekly meal plans. Right now the cherry tomatoes are finishing up in the garden so those are going into small containers and into lunches. One of our go to meals is to grab chicken thighs, cook them up in the Wegman’s Stir Fry sauce and add in a bag of the oriental veggies from BJs. From Divas on a Dime. We use chick peas in salads, and refried beans in tortilla wraps. We eat oatmeal a couple of times per week. Baked chicken fingers with a vegetable and oven fries. On sale, today only. In essence, the vegetables are “free.” The chicken also can be a cheap cut that you remove the bones and skin from, cook separately and freeze for use in the chicken pot pie. Another option for breakfast is a smoothie (if the bananas are getting a bit over ripe). We are a home schooling family so we each make a lunch to take with us or to eat at home. Frugal meal planning takes practice but is doable if you have a system. My family really enjoys the soups I can come up with by simmering all this “garbage” together, straining out the bones, skin, etc, then adding pasta, rice, beans, etc. Sometimes I make granola. It’s cheaper than baking. Meal-Prep 101: Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken. Everyone loves a big, hot pan full of baked ziti… it is comfort food at it’s finest. When picking red potatoes, we buy smaller potatoes because they taste better, stretch to cover more than one meal, and cut down on portion control. If circumstances have put your family in debt, we can help you create a plan for conquering it. I get organic food and special things I would not ordinarily buy. 17 Easy Crockpot Meal Ideas on a Budget; 27 Easy Frugal Meals for Families; 19 Beans and Rice Recipes to Save Money; Meal Planning Tips for Busy Moms on a Budget. For thrifty meals, I recommend hot cereals for breakfast, including brown rice cooked with raisins. This $40 weekly meal plan for 2 is perfect to spend less on groceries, eat at home more, and save some money. Quiche made with different kinds of vegetables in it and served with a salad. Cuban-Style Tuna Meal Prep Bowls . The kids’ packed lunches include a sweet snack and a vegetable or fruit. Blackened Fish Fillets Red Potatoes Green beans. Mostly, I save on these meals with my reduced meats in the freezer. Put your coupons in a small photo album purchased at the dollar store and organize them so they match aisle by aisle in your grocery store. Caprese Pasta Bake | via Little Sunny Kitchen.