Eat for a Week and Only Spend $25 on Food

We’ve all been there, it’s the week before payday and all of the bills are paid however the pantry has a echo when you open the door and the budget is so tight that every dollar makes a huge difference. These are some ideas to help make it thru the inbetween week until you can go restock your pantry.

Half the battle is where and how you shop. Do you have an Aldi’s, Save A Lot or something comparable? That way, you are not concerned about the lablels on the goods.

Another way to cut costs….casseroles, soups, stews. It stretches your meat dollar considerably when treated as an ingredient rather than a course. Then there is the leftovers factor. Cook it once, eat it twice, great cost cutter.

Not knowing what your budget is, you can do a LOT with $25. At times when you are broke, turning to convenienced/prepacked things might not make sense but there are many things you can do with a few boxes of prepacked things and a little bit of meat.

Hamburger helper – The store brands generally run .89 to .99 cents and just pair that with 1/2 pound ground beef and a canned veggie….looking at about $2.50 on that meal.

Spaghetti – a jar of sauce, 1/2 pound of hamburger and spaghetti paired with bread and butter….looking at about $3.27 and that is considering that you are not going to use an entire loaf of bread or an entire tub of butter, plus leftovers for lunch. I also like to have fried potatoes with spaghetti…sounds weird but I’m telling you it’s really good.

Chicken – A whole chicken is around $3, you could roast that and pair it with mashed potatoes and a canned veggie for about $4.16 and then use the leftover chicken for chicken sandwiches for lunches.

Chili – Canned chili has actually come a long way and is pretty good. It’s usually $1.79 for a store brand. Put that over some hot dogs for chili dogs for more stretch for about $3.57.

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese – a classic that you can do for lunch or dinner for about $2.67

PB&J – always easy on the budget and great for lunch that will last quite awhile. Pair that with a box of mac and cheese for a really good lunch for about a dollar….you’ll have to buy 1/2 gallon of milk so you’re looking at a few extra pennies for that. You need it for mashed potatoes anyway.

Plus with the potatoes left in a 5 pound bag, there is always baked potatoes with butter and cheese as a side, an addition for a great breakfast casserole with eggs and toast.

Breakfasts are no more expensive.

Eggs on toast, waffles and syrup, both easy on the wallet with store brands. Probably about $5.26 for a week.

So, we’ve got $25.30 (approx) for those items and you can change them up to create other dishes as well. You have breakfast, lunch and dinner items for a week.