Are you spending too much money on food? I have a list of easy cheap meals. Delicious, healthy meals that feed the average family of four for just $50 a week! Don’t forget to try out my One Week $50 Aldi Meal Plan and How to Meal Plan and Make it Work!

One time I blew our November budget out of the water. And NOT in a good way.
We were over by $120, over a third of our overall budget for the month. Looking back over what we bought, the only thing that stands out to me is that we bought lots of things in bulk. I blame the lure of Costco.
Buying in bulk is an EXCELLENT way to save money, but when you’re on a budget, just a few bulk items can eat up a large part of the pot. Sometimes it’s best to buy smaller portions, even if it’s more per ounce.
I knew I had to come up with cheap meals for our next meal plan.
Planning for Budget-Friendly Meals
Since money doesn’t grow on trees, that $120 we overspent had to come out of somewhere. The only logical place would be our grocery budget for December. So for the next three weeks, our real food budget was only $150.
For the fellow math nerds:
- $330/month – $120 overage = $210
- $210 / 4 weeks = $52.50/week
- $52.50/week * 3 weeks = $157.50
I’m rounding down.
The best way (and ONLY way) to accomplish this aggressive goal is to eat out of the kitchen as much as possible.
An impromptu pantry challenge, if you will.
If you take a look at what we currently have in our kitchen, you’d see that we have a lot of food. Much of it is what I call “random” food ingredients:
- barley
- garbanzo beans
- black beans
- tomato sauce
- oatmeal
- flour
- wheat
- salt
- canned tomatoes
- canned pumpkin
- etc
By itself, it looks like nothing grand. In most cases, it needs something else in order to be considered a “healthy meal.”
Except this month, that “something else” needs to come from the kitchen, not the store. In order to effectively, and efficiently, turn our random food into meals, I have to write a really awesome meal plan.
So here it is, in all its glory and awesomeness, although it’s subject to change. With the exception of some fresh fruits and vegetables, I have everything needed to make everything below. This lets us push out dinner if there happen to be extra leftovers in the fridge for whatever reason.
There are no formal breakfasts or lunches planned, so we’ll have lots of “snacky” breakfasts and lunches where random slices of who-knows-what will get wrapped or dipped or blended and magically become a meal.

Cheap Meals for $50/week
A note on these cheap dinners:
- This plan mostly shops from the pantry and freezer. Additional items were purchased costing me about $50 a week. Prices will vary per region and if everything must be bought it may cost you more.
- Many of these recipes use leftovers or a cook-once-eat-twice mentality. Keep that in mind if you switch anything out.

Cheap Meals: Week 1
(S) Spinach Salad with Man Bread
(M) Grilled Cheese with Veggie Sticks and Ranch
(T) Maple Glazed Pork Chops with Crispy Potato Wedges and Sautéed Green Beans
(W) Spaghetti with Side Salad with Greek Dressing
(T) Hearty Minestrone Soup (can 2x and freeze for Week 3)
(F) Homemade Pizza
(S) Baked Greek Chicken with Instant Pot Steamed Veggies (2x chicken for Week 2)

Cheap Meals: Week 2
(S) Cheesy-Mexi Lentils over Macaroni
(M) Greek Chicken Pitas with Hummus and Veggie Sticks
(T) Tomato Basil Soup, Sweet Potato Buttermilk Bread
(W) Savory Pasta with Bacon, Onions, and Greens
(T) Homemade Pizza
(F) Weeknight Vegetable Stir Fry
(S) Grilled Sandwiches with Crispy Potato Wedges

Cheap Meals: Week 3
(S) Panzanella Salad
(M) Chicken Tacos, Southwestern Corn, Coconut Rice & Homemade Tortillas
(T) Sheet Pan Sausage and Peppers and Onions and Mushrooms
(W) Spaghetti with Side Salads & Ranch Dressing (2x for Friday Pizza)
(T) Minestrone Soup (from Week 1 or Fresh)
(F) Homemade Buffalo Chicken Pizza
(S) Loaded Baked Potatoes
By the way, having a severely restricted budget isn’t the only hurdle to overcome this month. Coming home to an empty kitchen after vacation is no fun, so I’m doubling a few recipes to have some meals ready to go in the freezer.
My goal is to have three dinners that require very minimal work to become hot meals. Not only does this appease the hungry masses, but it buys me a few days of being before having to grocery shop. It’s kinda like washing your underwear before you come home.

FAQs for Budget Meals
What’s a good lazy dinner?
Crockpot meals! Dump-and-go recipes are great for busy days and lazy dinners. Here are some cheap dinner ideas for slow cookers!
How do you cook on a budget?
You have come to the right place! My blog is packed with how to cook on a budget. I also have 13 Tips for Cooking Real Food for One Person!
Are You Looking for Another $50 Meal Plan?
The menu above uses leftovers and doesn’t include breakfast or lunch, but have no fear! I have two more $50 meal plans that include three square meals every day and do NOT include leftovers.
- Get the first meal plan and the free shopping download that goes with it, here.
- The second one with complete recipes, is here!
- I’ve also added a $50 ALDI meal plan that covers dinners that you can find HERE!
- For more full month real food menus, check out the meal plan archives!
More Healthy Meal Plans
- One-Week Vegetarian Meal Plan
- 2-Month Camping Meal Plan
- One Week Ground Beef Meal Plan
- Easy Airbnb Meal Plan (Healthy + Budget Friendly)
- Two-Week School Lunch Meal Plan

This is amazing, and I totally agree – kitchen filled with “random” items I’m too lazy to try and incorporate when we go over our budget. This is inspiring, I’m totally trying it! Shared too, well done :0)
I noticed you didn’t list your breakfast and snacks? Just curious because even those have been a big help to me last month 🙂
I skipped those partly because I didn’t want to “over plan” with the ingredients I had, causing me to worry about not having enough of this or enough of that, etc. I’ve been planning breakfast and snacks about every 2-3 days or so. So far we’ve made porridge using leftover barley and pureed fruit, a batch of scones with homemade egg nog instead of cream, and lots of fresh fruit. A batch of cranberry pancakes or muffins is in order for sure, and I might make an egg nog cake. Snacks have been fresh fruit mainly, except the day we made scones. Then they ate those for snacks too. 🙂
Nods, I see, not having a freezer would make it much harder. Thanks for all the great ideas and tips. Read it all everyday!
http://keepitsimplewithjessie.blogspot.com/2013/12/shopping-list-and-menu-1-week-december.html
My family of 6 eat on $50 a week.
Thanks Jessie!
Thank you for saying this: “Sometimes it’s best to buy smaller portions, even if it’s more per ounce.” This is something I’ve really struggled with because I just know I can get *it* cheaper at Costco, which made us go way over budget last month. In this challenge with you this month!
You’re welcome! I’ll be sharing my half-way point next week – please share with us how your challenge is going too!
What about iron? I have two daughters (who don’t eat spinach) and providing enough iron is a struggle. Thanks so much for all the wonderful help you provide! I’ve learned a lot from you on this journey
I also struggle with my iron (I do eat spinach…but hate beans!). My solution the past few months was to buy the bulk organic ground beef at Costco which really ate up a huge chunk of our budget each month. Also, I got totally sick of ground beef and would end up buying other red meat anyway! This month, I decided just to get enough red meat for a meal or two a week from the meat counter. It doesn’t take much to make a meal and only takes a few dollars a week instead of a huge chunk at Costco…plus I don’t get bored of hamburgers and can stretch it with rice and veggies. What do you do for your girls? I need ideas!
We have been eating more meat to avoid anemia, but the organic/pastured beef is so expensive, and so we are currently at 125 a week for all groceries, and cleaning/paper products etc, and I think we have to increase the budget, but I don’t know how that will happen.
Organic/pastured doesn’t have to be an all or nothing. It’s possible to buy some organic, and some conventional. Obviously it’s not ideal, but it’s an option to keep in mind. I search for high iron foods and came up with eggs, dark greens (there’s more than just spinach, or make them into smoothies), turkey, lentils, hummus (can flavor to tolerate the “beans” aspect). Are any of those options?
Yes! I have always believed red meat to be highest in iron, but I could certainly give them more eggs. Will have to work on expanding their tastes to include more beans and greens. Thanks 🙂
Are you able to share your recipe for cheesy lentil mac n cheese?
I haven’t made it yet, but when I do and it’s a success, I will definitely share. 🙂
What about iron? I have two daughters (who don’t eat spinach) and providing enough iron is a struggle. Thanks so much for all the wonderful help you provide! I’ve learned a lot from you on this journey
Would love to see that lentil dish too!
Ahhh Tiffany! You inspire me. I’m going to see how much we can eat out of our pantry this month too and how low I can bring out bills. Thankfully, I bought a turkey last month and popped it in the freezer, so I know I can make that go for a week of meals! 🙂
HEATHER! You’re so sweet! Those extra turkeys are such a bargain. Sending big hugs to you and your family! <3
That doesn’t make sense… Aren’t you eating what you bought? That means you now only have to spent money on fresh produce and dairy. So you should not have to make up anything. The $120 you spent now does not need to be spent. Maybe I just don’t understand…. We always eat from the pantry and freezer. When it is gone it is gone till next harvest or canning time. Or it is time for me to do my 6 month shopping at Azure Standard and Costco. I only shop weekly for perishable foods.
The goal is always to eat what we buy, but when the budget resets, there’s the temptation to replenish stock, even if stock doesn’t need to be replenished. We don’t have a deep freezer or a significant amount of canned goods in the pantry, so shopping weekly/bi-weekly/monthly is necessary.
How do you make honey hummus?
I’m thinking about using white beans instead of garbanzo, and adding a bit of honey and cinnamon to sweeten. It’s an experiment for sure, but I’ll share if it works!
I have just started the budgeting phase. Last month was the “how much do I spend on everything” part. This month is to see if I stick to what I want. My main goal is to eat at home the majority of the time. As a single mom, sometimes its a challenge to find the gumption to cook for myself and a 13 month old.
I understand Beth. The handful of times Mr. Crumbs is out of town, cooking for the 3 of us just seems pointless… I’ve found myself purposely making dinner fast, just so we could leave and do something more fun. Maybe lots of soup/finger veggies would be good, followed up with watching the neighborhood Christmas lights. 🙂
LOVE this! Definitely sharing today! 🙂
Thank you for sharing Kelly!