Here is a sample meal plan and shopping list showing how to feed a family of 4 for just $200 per month without using coupons and without shopping at Aldi, since there is no Aldi near me. I used actual store prices from current store ads when preparing this plan.
Feed A Family Of 4 For $200 A Month Without Aldi Or Coupons!
PLEASE NOTE: When I originally wrote this post, it was possible to feed a family of 4 frugally for just $150 a month, but the inflation in 2023 has caused prices to increase about 40%, so it is now about $200 per month.
I have changed the post to reflect the current total amount of $200, but I have not changed the prices of the individual items listed below. The individual items will cost 40% more than the amounts I have listed below.
Here is a meal plan for 4 people. These are the basic items and I would say it is a good plan for 2 adults and 2 kids, not teens. If you want more food for teens, then add several more batches of homemade oatmeal muffins and a few more chicken thighs for meat servings.
This is the VERY frugal plan if you need to keep your prices very low. While it is possible to keep your budget down to $200 per month, you may be OK with a spending slightly higher amount. The main point is that most people can save a lot on groceries by re-thinking how they buy food. While you don’t have to follow this plan exactly, I hope it’ll give you some good ideas with specific examples of what we eat and how much I paid for the food.
In 2024, if you don’t need to be super frugal, I estimate that a reasonable amount to spend per month for food is about $100 per month per adult, which is easily doable.
I created this meal plan using my local ads, without coupons and without having Aldi available. (I would definitely shop Aldi if it were available.) I used all of the basic grocery savings principles and the recipes are from our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks.
I shopped at my local Kroger store (King Soopers), Walmart, Sprouts and Lucky’s Market.
This meal plan assumes that you already have some things on hand like spices, condiments and basic baking ingredients like flour, sugar and baking powder. You will note that my shopping list is under $150 ($200 in 2024). That because I am assuming you will need to fill in with a few things as the month goes, so this allows for you to get the extra items you need.
If you don’t have a freezer to freeze some things, like the chicken or bread, just buy those items on the week that you need them.
Feed A Family Of 4 For $200 For 1 Month
Shopping List – $136.55
(Update: About 40% more in 2024 – $191.17)
Note: 2024 prices are about 40% more than the itemized prices below. The $200 total is correct for 2024.
- Chicken thighs – 20 lbs. for $17.00
- 3 lbs. hamburger – $9.00
- 3 boxes taco shells – $3
- 2 packages tostada shells – $4
- Corn tortillas- $3.68 for 80
- Lettuce- $2
- 3 Tomatoes- $1.50
- 1 package Cheddar cheese- $2
- 2 cans green chiles – $1.56
- 1 jalapeno – $.10
- 4 boxes macaroni and cheese – $2.00
- 2 cans tomato sauce – $1.00
- 4 packages frozen mixed veggies – $4
- 4 canned biscuits – $2
- 2 cans spaghetti sauce – $2
- 2 packages Mozzarella cheese – $4
- 1 package American cheese slices – $3
- 2 packages spaghetti- $2
- Rice- $2.32
- 4 lbs. cabbage – $2
- 5 cucumbers – $2.40
- 2 bags carrots – $3.00
- 4 dozen eggs – $4
- Milk – $1.99
- 2 Jars peanut butter – $4
- 1 pkg. 12 pack ramen – $2
- 4 loaves bread- $3.20 .80 each
- 3 packs oatmeal – $6 ($2 each)
- 6 lbs. apples @ $.88 lb. – $5.28
- 6 lbs. bananas- $3.00
- Microwave popcorn- $5 for 24 bags
- 1 bottle syrup- $2
- 1 package animal crackers $2.64
- 1 pack margarine- $2
- Kool aid – (off brand) $1 for 4
- 1 baking cocoa – $3
- 2 cake mixes – $2
- 2 cans frosting – $2
- 1 box graham crackers – $2
- 5 lbs. potatoes – $2.27
- 2 cans canned chili – $2
- 2 onions- $1
- 2 packs lunch meat – $4
- 2 cans black beans – $1
- 1 box raisins – $2
Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs and Toast
Oatmeal with or without raisins
Granola with or without raisins
Muffins with or without raisins
Lunches
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Sandwiches grilled cheese, Peanut butter and jelly and deli meat
Ramen
Leftovers (Check out Dining On a Dime Cookbook Volume 1 for Index of Recipes Using Leftovers.)
Dinners
Black bean tostadas
Chicken and noodles
Honey Baked Chicken and rice
Chicken pot pie with canned biscuits
Spaghetti
Fried Rice
Baked potatoes with chili
Snacks
Muffins with or without raisins
Oatmeal Cookies Leave out Chocolate Chips
Animal Crackers
Apples with peanut butter
Bananas
Desserts
Popsicles Use Kool-aid to make homemade popsicles
Cakes or Cupcakes
Graham Crackers with PB
For more ways to feed a family of 4 for $200 a month, check out our cookbooks:
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I just found your website & signed up for the newsletter. Looking over this monthly menu, I take it each dinner dish is made at least twice, and 4 of them three times.
Not necessarily Cindy. You can mix and match and make other things with these basic ingredients. These menus aren’t set in stone. For example you could take the spaghetti noodles you have for spaghetti and make chicken noodle soup with leftover chicken you had from the night before, take one of the breakfast menus and have it for dinner, use part of (or leftover) hamburger to have hamburger gravy on toast with mashed potatoes and veggies, or take left over chicken and make it into sweet and sour chicken (or mix it with leftover chicken gravy)and serve it over rice with a fruit salad and biscuits.
This may seem a little hard at first to think of these different ways to use these things but once you get started doing it it will start getting easier and easier.
Jill — since it appears you have authored or co-authored books as well as participate in videos, one would think you receive income from these & are not just dependent on Social Security for your day to day living expenses. This is not to say that you may only live on Social Security. This is something that is confusing to me when listening to your videos & reading emails, etc. I certainly hope you are not doing all of this & not receiving reimbursement.
No I am not receiving income from this. I have told the kids to just put some of what they get into a savings or something so that if they have to put me in a nursing home sometime they will have money to cover it. They have wanted to give me a salary but up until just recently they really haven’t made that much from the business so I really wanted them to use it for them. The kids do treat me often to things and bend over backwards to help me. Actually I was living on so little and when my husband died my SS more than doubled so I really live fine on what I receive now.
God bless you, Jill. It is so hard for young people to think like we older gals do. My husband and I have been frugal for so many years, it is hard for us to not be frugal. I do enjoy reading the emails and comments.
Thank you Patricia. You are so right. Once you have lived the frugal lifestyle for so many years it is really hard to do anything different. That is partially why I always tell people not to give up when they start trying to get out of debt because it is a matter of trading some bad habits for good and it is sometimes hard to get rid of bad habits and replace them with good ones but if you keep at it it will oh so be worth it. : )
Hi Ladies, I have a question. Your pork chop recipe calls for sweet pickle juice. However, I don’t have sweet pickle juice. I do have dill pickle juice. Could I use that instead just put 1/2 teaspoon sugar in it to make it sweet? Thank you for all you do. God bless, Denise
Denise I am not sure which pork chop recipe you are talking about so I am just guessing here. You maybe could add the sugar and see what happens. If that doesn’t help one of my favorite pork chop recipes is to fry up the pork chops and then cover them in peach jam letting them cook in the jam long enough to warm the jam up.
Lazy man cabbage rolls are cheap and filling for a family,just use the rdgular cabbage roll rdcipe and layer the cabbagge znd the meat filling ,cover with tomato soup or canned tomato .Also home made macaroni cheese is far superior to the packet stuff. Just and some english mustard to the sxucd to perk up the cheese flavor.Can make similar with potatoes instead of macaroni.Stuffed large zuccunin split lengthways remove seeds fill with spanish rice top with fat bacon or pork belly and roast.
I know I’m months late but YES you can add sugar. When making homemade sweet pickles, all you do is add additional sugar.
Wowzers! This is one of the most practical breakdowns of feeding a family on a tight budget that I have seen. I feed a family of 6 – (4 sons – age 20, 18, 13, and 9) for $450 a month. But, I work for a local CSA during the growing season and I am paid with a free share. So, that does really help. Also, we eat primarily a plant-based diet. So, rarely buying meat or cheese also certainly cuts down our budget. We rotate between oatmeal and cream of wheat for breakfasts. Homemade soup is always for lunch. I found your information very viable and helpful. I watched the YouTube video and you were very confident, informative, friendly, and relaxed. Well done!
Question: Why do you separate household goods (like detergent) from with your food budget. I’m just curious. For probably 20 years I separated them in my budget and then it just drove me crazy. So, finally last year I combined them. It has made life easier. But, if you have a compelling reason, maybe I should rethink my strategy. Thanks!
We don’t normally separate them in our every day life but just do it when we are teaching people on how to save on groceries specifically. We also don’t use a budget at all for that very reason. People start dividing things up so much and worry over a budget they get even more stressed and give up. What I do is carefully spend my money and I don’t buy anything usually that will put me in debt. I don’t need a budget to tell me that I can’t afford a $900 house payment if I only make $700. If I only have $200 to buy groceries than I spend my time figuring out how to stretch it and not use that time stewing and trying to figure a budget I probably won’t use.
I also don’t use anything like the envelope method because I have never been able to figure how it worked. For example if I have $500 in an envelope for car repair and $0 in my home repair and my front window gets busted am I to just wait 3 months until I can save enough for home repair, living without a window, while my envelope for car repair keeps growing because my car is running fine?
Bottom line is I carefully and wisely use the money God gives me on what I need. If I have some left over I will save it to a point and when I have a nice nest egg then I will start buying the fun stuff.
Jill, thank you for this! I have tried numerous times over the years to work with a budget but it was just so frustrating. You put into words why I never liked using budgets. This just seems like common sense to me. I appreciate all you do for us!
Thank you Aileen. I am so glad it has helped you. I myself have never been able to make sense of budgets either and you don’t hear many people teaching that you really don’t need one which it is sad because I think 90% of people can’t use them very well.
This is such a good way of explaining stewarding money wisely thank you! I have been really convicted recently about how I e been handling our income and your tips help me to wrap my head around what this might look like, thank you again!
Ann so glad we were about to help. Sounds like you are on a roll with your income now but be sure to holler if you have any questions.
You just need to do whatever works for you. I keep my “household” stuff in my grocery budget because I tend buy them all at the same place (I’m in Canada, so that place is the Real Canadian Superstore mostly). I also lump all my gas for my cars, pet expenses, etc into that same category. We basically call it “shopping”.
How we operate is that we have 2 chequing accounts (we use a online bank that offers free daily banking). My husband’s paycheque is deposited into our primary chequing, and from that account we have mostly automatic bill payments coming out – mortgage, taxes, utilities, etc. All our fixed expenses. We also transfer a fixed amount into our secondary chequing, our “shopping” account. From there, we buy all our household stuff, groceries, gas, pay library fines (heh heh… oops), buy coffee when we’re out, buy dog food, shoes or clothes for the kids, etc. Any kind of discretionary spending, basically. It helps us see how much we have to spend any given pay period – if there’s a week to go to payday and there’s $100 left in shopping and I know I’ll get to get at few groceries and fill up my husband’s car between now and then… well, we’re not eating out! It’s basically a modified envelope system.
We also transfer a fixed amount into a “holding” savings account, which we labelled “periodic expenses”, and we would use to repair and do regular maintanence on our vehicles, pay once-annual expenses like house insurance and subscriptions, set aside money for things like bulk purchase of meat (we buy directly from the farm), Christmas expenses, etc. We project what we need for the year and divide it into 24 payments. My husband has 26 pay periods in the year, so that gives us a 2-payment “cushion” in case we were wrong.
And finally we have money going to an emergency fund. We use a high-yield savings account. It would pay for a broken window (assuming insurance doesn’t cover it), or to replace an appliance that’s beyond repairing (my washer will die… someday!!), or a myriad of other emergencies that come up. If nothing breaks or explodes, the emergency fund just keeps growing until we need it.
So that’s how we operate. It does require projections on our part, so we do a detailed budget every few months to make sure we’re on pace but we found the day-to-day envelope system too much for us. So we have this hybrid system that works really well for us. We’ve been living on a single-income for 10+ years now and we’re about to grow to a family of 7 so I think we’re well!
Just thought I would share that in case it’s helpful!
I just wanted to let you know that it was helpful! I already have two checking and savings accounts, so I really think this would be helpful for me to form a decent budget. I am just kind of curious what amount I should be putting into each account. I have a myriad of surprise expenses as well and that is the main reason that a budget never works for me as I get frustrated and just give up as well. Also, if you don’t mind disclosing how much you put into the periodic expenses account and the emergency fund account just to kind of give me an idea of how much I should be saving for those? Thanks again for your advice!
For anyone who doubt some that this is economical in other locations, I did some calculations with Canadian prices. While it’s more than what is listed here, the total was approx $280. That’s still a great low budget.
Thanks for doing that for us Stacey. We get many Canadians and people from other expensive places that say this amount won’t work where they live but they are missing the point – if you follow our tips no matter where you live you will save. Often I think people will say that or miss the point because they are busy thinking of an excuse to keep spending the way they do so thanks for this.
We do a detailed budget and have separate lines for pet care, personal care/household items, and food. For me, it’s more helpful to know what I have allotted for each category than to put them all together. Plus, I don’t always buy household/personal care items at the same time or store as food. We have very specific preferences for household items and pet care items and source them from a variety of places.
Everyone is different, though, so by all means, I think that the best budget is the one that you will follow!
With our approach, since March of 2016, we’ve paid off 10K in debt and saved almost 17K, while living on a below average and now an average income, so I’d say that being detailed has worked for us. Other folks may feel more comfortable putting all categories together.
all of those items cost 2 to 3 times what you list
Patrick they may cost more in your area but not in Colorado and Kansas where we are from. As a matter of fact I can get some of the things for even less if I get them on sale. I really hate giving people prices on things even though that is always what they want for a couple of reasons. First they focus and get upset about the amounts listed instead of focusing on the practical tips we give that you can use any where and any time.
Also people get so hung up on the prices saying things like “Well chicken cost more where I live.” instead thinking “Chicken cost more where I live but fish is less so maybe I could use that instead.” What happens is if a person can argue about prices of things and say things like prices aren’t as cheap here or I don’t have certain stores to go to to save, they are just looking for an excuse to keep doing what they are doing. They read something like this and in their mind think “The prices aren’t the same where I live so I can’t save.” or “I would save but this just proves the prices aren’t the same so there is no way I can save.”
Until you stop trying to make excuses you can’t change things. I once heard a successful man say that excuses are just lies people tell to themselves to keep from doing what is right. Even if they do in fact cost more the point is to save as much as you can where you are. If you can’t then move, use less of things, or look around your own area and find things to save on and realize that if prices are higher where you live then usually things like wages are higher, utilities are less, taxes are less, homes are less or something else to balance things out. These prices are to give you a general idea.
Great article! I came up with $235.49(cd) +tax/recycle from our usual store as of today, to compare. I would be buying dry goods on sale so this would be less. Fresh I buy on sale and only seasonal; cheapest lettuce/cucumber/gr.onion, mostly apples and oranges through the winter. I buy frozen fruit (instead of cake mixes/microwave popcorn/ramen noodles/animal crackers/cake mixes, luncheon meat, hard taco, ect.). Meat was close in price but milk/cheese is double (quota), pasta/tortilla is cheaper, tomatoes/cucumbers are pricey.
I’m in Canada and just calculated the list (to the best of my guessing as to package sizes) at my Superstore as I can find those prices online. It is not the most expensive store in my area. I came up with $318 CDN or $238 US. BUT!!! if I shop sales and cheaper stores my total was $206 CDN or $154 US!!! Now there are many things on the list I don’t buy so can’t be sure of their sale prices ie no clue how cheap fake syrup goes as I only use real maple syrup (but stock up 5.99/540ml and not 8.99!) and 24 microwave popcorn here is $10.47–might go on sale for $9? I’d buy a 2kg bag of kernels for $1.79 and that’s not on sale! We can afford to pay whatever we need to for whatever groceries we’d like but my husband works very hard for our money–I feel it my obligation to work just as hard to spend it wisely! I always keep a full fridge, freezer and pantry by stocking up at rock bottom prices. For fresh produce we eat what is on sale; this week that means asparagus, beets, sweet potatoes, potatoes, navels, strawberries and pineapple. I’ve been making my flyer lists of sale prices (even if I don’t shop that week) for about 10 years now. I still have some of the sheets–sale prices on most things really have not gone up that much! I also just cleaned out a drawer and found 2 receipts in the very back from 2003…yes, some items were less but most were very close to what I pay now and several were more than I’d pay now as I know the rock bottom prices better! And now I’m curious as to what list/menus I’d come up with for a family of four as there is no way I’d buy 80 corn tortillas for $8, we don’t even have tostadas here and a big box of animal crackers is over $7 LOL! Learn how to cook, don’t buy pre-packaged foods, know your prices and shop the sales!!!
Hi Susan, Thank you dear fellow Canadian 8-) I have a little address book with “best price” beside each product.
Things like this are always interesting to me. I would love for someone to actually document their household eating only the foods on this shopping list, in the same quantities listed, and see how many days the food lasted.
This amount of food would feed our family of 3 for two weeks. I weigh 115 pounds, my husband weighs 180 pounds and our child weighs 30 pounds.
Are there good ideas here? Absolutely!
Can people use these ideas to save money? Absolutely!
Did it take a lot of thought and time to
come up with this? Oh, yes.
I just don’t see how the food is enough calories to feed 2 adults and 2 kids for an entire month. I’m curious what other people think regarding the AMOUNT of food.
This is why even though everyone wants them I really wish we didn’t have to do the “numbers” and such on this type of thing. People never factor in so many things when they read this type of post. Your family is completely different – you may be built smaller, larger, you may be very very active all day long – running after small children or work at manual labor. You can’t compare that to someone who is ill or isn’t as active. Even how people’s bodies process foods is completely different. If you have boy and girl children, what their age is, if they going through a growth spurt makes a difference on how much is eaten and spent. I mean I could go on and on.
You need to stop comparing yourselves to others and buy only the food you can afford too. Not too much and not too little. You need to factor in where you live – some places do have to pay a little more on some things. So why does it really matter what someone else is eating. Your family probably would not even like the same foods that you watch someone else eating. THE WHOLE POINT IS TO DO THE BEST YOU CAN WITH THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE, NOT OVER EATING OR WASTING YOUR FOOD. If you do that so what does it matter what someone else is doing.
Also, when I said I was curious if others thought it was enough food to feed 4 people for a month, it was a genuine question. The reason is, if 5 other families say, oh yes, that could feed us for a month, then maybe I should reevaluate what my family is eating. Not because I feel I shouldn’t eat what others are eating, but because there might be room for improvement. A couple of years ago, I mentioned to a friend what we spent a month on groceries. She said, “wow, that’s a lot of money!” At the time, I thought we had a reasonable grocery budget. I decided to reevaluate, and wouldn’t you know? I ended up cutting out grocery spending by $200 a month!!!! All because I decided to evaluate someone else’s opinion and see if it would work for us.
So, if lots of other people are in agreement that the shopping list is more enough for 4 people for a month, hey, maybe I’ll try it out and see.
Comparing ourselves to others can put us in a really negative place, but at the same time, sometimes taking others’ advice can help us fornthe better.
I apologize if I misunderstood your question Melinda. I think the best way to know if you are feeding your family too much or too little is to watch and see if you are are relatively healthy, aren’t losing a lot of weight or gaining a lot of weight. If you are gaining you may have to adjust and eat less or if you are loosing you may have to just eat more. You do need to watch calories of course but equally as important is to make sure that you are getting the right servings for all the different categories of food groups. Are you getting the right amount of servings and of grains, dairy etc. Most of the time if you are getting the right amount of servings of the different food groups you should be ok. Also that amount may change too at different times like during the winter and summer you will have to adjust it or if you are more active in the summer. For example you may hike or go swimming more during the the summer compared to the winter. Just watch your weight and you can tell.
Also you might watch your prices – for example can I get apples cheaper at a different store than where I usually buy them or if I bought a different type of apple but tastes just as good would that help me save etc.
Today (04/27/2019) I priced all of the items on the shopping list at Walmart Grocery. My total came to $132.56, before tax. That’s quite a bit of food for the price, that’s for sure!
I did notice there were some additional items that would need to be purchased, like jelly for the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cream of chicken soup for the chicken pot pie.
Of course, people would also need to buy the food they like to eat. For example, we don’t really eat popcorn so we would probably buy more fruit with money because we all eat 1-2 pieces of fruit a day.
Melinda makes a great point, as does Jill and most others that have commented. Everyone is different in what and how much they eat, what they are willing to spend, and how much time and know how they have for food purchase and preparation. I have a husband and 17 (almost 18) year old son that could not survive on the food that is listed here. However, I also spend less than $150 per month on groceries and we eat meat nearly every night of the week. I live in southern Illinois and our grocery prices are very similar to those that Jill has listed here. BUT, I have a freezer full of venison and pork because my family hunts and because we raise our own pigs. I don’t buy eggs because I have chickens. I don’t buy biscuits because I make them from scratch. Besides my full time job, I also work part time at a creamery and have access to cheese and grass fed beef at a great price. I have a huge garden and every year my husband and I can, preserve, and/or freeze a year (+) worth of veggies and fruits. But I also understand that others either live in the city or just don’t have access to the same “luxuries.” Many have to purchase some or all of these products and thus have to be considered in their budget. I love to cook and make many things from scratch that some may buy in a package, box, etc. There are no rights or wrongs, just what works for you and your family. Like Jill mentioned time and time again, this is what works for HER family and is just an example to show that it can be done. Each person has to use what is available and make it work for their family. If prices are higher in your area, but you want to stick to a $150 monthly budget, then find a way to make that happen! Where there is a will, there is a way!
Yes Tracy exactly. I so appreciate you mentioning the things like the hunting, pigs, chickens etc. We have so many people say they can spend way less than what we mentioned but they don’t mention things like they do hunting, have their own chickens, gardens etc. Then we have people who say they don’t spend that much not mentioning they go out to eat 4 times a week and everyday for lunch. Of course they won’t be spending as much on “groceries”. So thank you so much for this post. That is why I hate giving numbers because there are so many variables to it but I am afraid that is what people want for some reason. They also get hung up on the numbers instead of listening to the tips we give of how to do the best you can for your family and in your situation. Thanks again.
I bought the cookbook for my granddaughter and liked it so much that I bought one for myself as well. We live an hour away from any big stores like Walmart so we only go shopping once a month usually. We keep a running grocery list on our phones that is shared and it updates each phone. We go to a restaurant supply store to buy our meat, frozen vegetables and fruit for the month. The packaging is larger so we slice and repackage the meat for our dinners and freeze them. Our little store has specials every week and I stock up on anything that we use on a regular basis as we like to shop local too. I buy by the case when things are on sale. I have been doing this for several years and know what we like and what we don’t. This has saved us so much on groceries over the years. I only shop sales for the most part and “shop” out of the pantry. I have used coupons now and then. I make my list and then look for any coupons for what is on my list. I save a ton of money on pet food and personal hygiene products this way. Love Living On A Dime. You guys think like I do. I was a single Mom for over ten years to four boys and had to learn how to stretch everything. I think I was more creative then because I had to be.
I would like to see more of these plans with different menus. I refer to this one a lot. I found a Ofer feeding your family for $100 a month.
Are these recipes in your 20th anniversary cookbook,I am go I to try them
No not all of them
I really like somebody that illustrates exactly what to buy, and its cost. I love when the store runs its .79 /lb for chicken quarters sales. Although a lot of items even when shopping the absolute lowest price are about 20% higher, this is still very budget friendly. I’d just be buying triple that amount of apples and bananas. My sons and husband eat 3-4 fruits per day. Also not enough eggs for a month and not enough lunch meat and cheese. and I cannot get eggs for $1 a dozen- I wish! I have to read your meal plans but 2 cans of sauce and 4 cans of beans is not nearly enough to last the whole month. 2 cans of beans would make 1 dinner with no leftovers . Also you don’t have milk or cold cereal on your list. Do you not drink milk? (I stick to soy milk myself). Good job itemizing how to economize and only listing food and not being one of those people who claim to have a cheap grocery budget but then mention oh, we garden or oh, we get free meat/eggs. And not including laundry soap and paper towels and bathroom tissue in your “grocery” budget. So we can see how much the actual food costs. And thanks for not pretending that people never snack. Or that soup counts as dinner. Bottom line even if I had to scale this up It would still be far less than my current $475 monthly budget.
One thing I usually try to mention is of course these prices always differ where you live and families are different. For example it is for a family of 4 but if you have a baby and toddler in the family the amount of food will be totally different than if you have 2 teen boys and a husband that does hard physical labor, or 2 four year old girls and your husband works in an office all day.
Yes, of course! I have a 9 yr old boy, an 8 yr old boy, and a husband that eats like he’s expecting twins. For years I’ve been trying to find a meal plan and grocery list such as yours that is actually relatable for someone like me who loves a lot of chicken but not so much beef and who loves to cook from scratch. It annoys me so much when I look for a Frugal meal plans and the authors suggest that Soup or Salad is somehow a complete meal and that my family would actually forgive me if I suggested as much or that people never have snacks or desserts- Of course they do- Omitting those things from the meal plan is not an effective way to save money! so I really appreciate your thoroughness Thank you so much! I’m buying your cookbook!
Oh thank you Erika. We try to have different things for different people. I hate it when people cookie cutter people because each family has so many different things that make up their lives – how many in family, ages, types of work, where they live and on and on. We try to give as many general tips as we can that can be used and adapted to everyone’s needs.
So thrilled that most of these prices are the same or very close in 2021! And with the exception of peanut butter (very bad, epipen required, allergy) my family should eat everything on the menu :) My next grocery run will be from this list.
Wonder what much it would be today, considering inflation?
Probably only about $25 more. Most of the prices on there I can still get for close to the price listed. Now of course as we always say these are average prices – where you live it could be more or less.
Love your list! I’ve been needing to “tighten my belt”, both literally and figuratively. This list will help me review my own grocery list. Also, just received my “Dining On A Dime”, Volume 2. I was very surprised I received it so quickly. It was very well packaged. Thank you! Put it by my chair, so I can review it when I sit down in the evening. Looks like another good one (just flipping through it). You folks are great! Keep up the good work that you do!
Thank you Mary Kay. I do hope you enjoy it too.
Just found this post through Google. I’ve been trying to reduce our grocery budget because we spend a ridiculous amount on food these days, and the prices keep rising. We are a family of 7 with 5 kids 6-17 including 2 teen boys and a fast growing middle schooler. I knew I’d have to modify this plan for our busy lives (taxi stage!), family size, and appetites, and 2022 prices being so astounding… but I dug in and created a week long meal plan based on your menu. I even added some extras such as Uncrustables for the freezer for emergencies, fresh berries, and store brand fruit snacks.
I ended up under $200 for the week, and I have to tell you, that is WAYYYY less than what I’ve been spending on a week of food for this crew. I’m very encouraged to keep going and save even more! Thank you!
Way to go Ren. For a family your size you did great! Thanks for telling us about it and I am sure it will be an encouragement to many others.
I just calculated expenses if I do this as a vegetarian using vegetables instead of meat. I’m living overseas so in the local currency it comes to 531. I’m currently spending that much almost in one week in my super healthy menu. Including paper products, of course. The problem being that it’s a bit more than we can afford. I figure that even if my calculations are a bit off or the prices fluctuate, I’ll still be saving half the money I’m currently spending which would really help our money situation. If I could do that, we wouldn’t have a money situation. So I’m going to try to stick to it as closely as possible. I really appreciate all of this work you’ve done. However it does kind of overwhelm me to try to make variations on what you have listed. How does one do that? Or maybe I get to the end of the month and figure out what I can make based on what’s left? Anyway, I will try. Thank you! But if you do have any tips for me I’d love to hear them…
Not sure how to answer your question Dena but one thing is you don’t have to do it exactly the way we have it listed. The main point is to use your leftovers and not throw away any food and watch your serving sizes.
Did you ladies update this recently? I can’t remember if the numbers were different than when I came across this before. Thanks!
Not sure if this has been updated or not. I do know that is close to what Tawra spends now. Our numbers really don’t change that much. The main thing we try to teach it not to worry about the numbers but to learn to follow the tips we give because no matter what the prices do the tips will always help you keep your spending under control and using your money the best way you can.
Thank you, Jill ❤️
Great tips! Reporting from Braselton, Ga including shopping at my Aldi’s your food prices are much lower than ours.
I just want you guys to know how much I enjoy watching. You have saved me so much money and my hope to save and pay off debt turned into a reality with the Dining on a dime cookbooks Volume I and II. Thank you so much for what you do. I am forever grateful to you both for all of the small tips that turned into big savings. While so much of it is common sense, I needed guidance and you both have done that for me. You both are lifesavers and thanks to Mike for his talent and winning smile. Just watching the three of you makes me happy. Love you guys! Blessings and thank you again!
Oh Amy how sweet and thank you so much for taking the time to write us those encouraging words. I know I sound like a parrot when I keep saying we have the best viewers and we love your success stories so much. We give the tips but you guys are the ones who do all the work and I always feel like a proud mama when I get a comment like yours. Sounds like you are doing such a great job with your debt. Keep up the good work and if you ever have any questions be sure to holler.
Hi! Thanks for this info! How do you make the muffins and pancakes without milk? Or is that included in what you already had on hand?
Thank you for all you do! Your YouTube channel is a blessing to me.
Lisa
I am not sure which recipe you are talking about Lisa but will try to answer your question. You can make most muffin and pancake recipes with out milk. The main thing milk does is act as a liquid to dissolve or bind the dry ingredients together so any liquid will do (including water. Milk does help with the flavor too that is why when I use pancake mix I always use milk even if the back of the box calls for just water. To help with the flavor be sure to use vanilla and add extra butter and sugar that the recipe calls for. You may have to make one or two pancakes to taste and see if you need to add more or less. Hope this helps.
Prices for 2023 in my area for all items listed with tax is $219.57
This is an older post so the prices can change. It is impossible to go into our thousands of posts and youtubes to change everything all the time. All our posts are to give people general ideas and tips. The tips to save money can be used any where and in any time period. I always tell people try not to get hung up on the prices (they are just examples) but to pay attention to and use the tips.
I realize you cannot go thru old posts. I was searching by a specific topic and this post came up. I wanted to compare the prices now with the prices when you made this post. I just thought it was interesting to see how MUCH food prices have increased in just a few years.
That’s fine. No problem. For others who might be interested though, after glancing through the prices on this if you buy the things on sale the amount has only gone up by about $25 and several of the things could be changed for something else if need be to keep the prices down. Where we live Tawra and I neither one have seen too much difference in our monthly grocery bill because we just keep adapting to things.