$50 a week meal plan for a family of four includes a real food menu for breakfast, lunches, and dinners, plus a downloadable shopping list! It’s a perfect plan for when money is tight, or use it to increase your savings.
Some people truly believe that the only way to eat healthy real food is to shop at high-end health food grocery stores like Whole Foods or Central Market.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth!
Real food is all around us and whatever the financial hardship you may have, I assure you that it’s possible to feed your family real food on a tight budget!
To help you make this possible, I made you a $50 a week meal plan!
For the family who is trying to make healthy food work with a small budget, but aren’t sure where to begin, it’s exactly what you need! Whether you’re saving for something big, working on a smaller income, or overspent in previous weeks and need to scale back, this meal plan can help get you (back) on track!
Here is how this week meal plan can work for you..
- This menu was created to feed the average family of four. If you’re feeding more or less people, feel free to halve or double the recipes.
- Snacks and desserts are not included. If you MUST have snacks or desserts, I encourage you to use what you already have on hand.
- Spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning) are not included. Most people have basic spices already, however, you can include them in your budget if you don’t. The dollar store sells garlic powder, a salt/pepper combo for $1 and you can make your own Italian seasoning. Alternatively, leave them out of your meals.
- There is a meal planned for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but eating leftovers should be a priority. Not eating food you’ve already paid for and cooked is a waste of money. In order to stay within budget, you can’t afford to waste anything.
- This menu is seasonal, for this reason, you have to adjust produce as necessary to fit the season you’re in. Don’t rule out frozen if it’s less expensive.
Note
This menu is 100% real food, but it was not written to include organic, grass-fed, or any other qualities of real food. Of course, these things are great, but they’re not required for a real food diet. If your budget is only $50 for the week, these qualities need to be momentarily set aside until your financial situation is more stable.
FAQs
Here’s my meal planning process, and I’m also including my best tips to stick to the meal plan. For a sample of how I plan out my entire month of meals, check out this budget-friendly monthly meal plan.
Most recipes aren’t linked because they are either very basic (i.e. peanut butter and jelly) OR the recipe can be found on the container (i.e. oatmeal). I’ve linked to recipes where they would be helpful. If you like to follow meal plans where every meal has a recipe, I think you would like this meal plan.
Some of these meals can be prepared ahead of time, for instance, oatmeal, hummus and baked chicken. I recommend cutting fruit and veggies the day of, but sandwiches can be made ahead of time and frozen!
Weekly Meal Plan
Day 1
- (B) Oatmeal with fruit (you can use the slow cooker or the Instant Pot recipe)
- (L) Hummus with fruit and veggie sticks (carrot, apple, celery, and cucumber)
- (D) Baked chicken (it doesn’t have to be chicken breast), corn on the cob, baked potatoes
Day 2
- (B) Potato (or sweet potato) and egg hash (or scrambled eggs)
- (L) Tuna salad with homemade crackers
- (D) Savory bacon, onion and greens pasta skillet
Day 3
- (B) Oatmeal with apples
- (L) Peanut butter sandwiches and grapes
- (D) Garden salad topped with chicken and bacon with buttered bread
Day 4
- (B) Oatmeal with fruit
- (L) Hummus with fruit and veggie sticks (carrot, apple, celery, and cucumber)
- (D) Minestrone soup with dinner rolls
Day 5
- (B) Potato and egg hash
- (L) Tuna salad with homemade crackers
- (D) Chicken sandwiches, roasted potato wedges, carrots
Day 6
- (B) Oatmeal with apples
- (L) Peanut butter sandwiches and grapes
- (D) Simple spaghetti (try my 15 minute homemade spaghetti sauce) and garden salad
Day 7
- (B) Oatmeal with fruit
- (L) Egg salad with dinner rolls
- (D) Veggie fried rice (you can also use brown rice)
I wanted to emphasize, if you’re craving for dessert, try my homemade yellow cake mix. It’s a simple dessert made with pantry staples and it’s SO good!
Overall, I was able to buy everything needed for this real food menu for just $49.80 when I shopped my local circulars and Walmart.
It’s important to realize, real food doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t matter how small your grocery budget is – you can do this!!
This is one of the principles I teach in Grocery Budget Bootcamp that’s helping families save hundreds on their groceries every month. Enrollment is currently closed, but you can join my FREE 5-day Crush Inflation Challenge and start saving money on groceries tomorrow!
More Tips for Meal Planning on a Budget
- Eating Real Food on a Budget
- How to Meal Plan and Make it Work
- The Secret to a Healthy Grocery Budget
- How to Make a Frugal Grocery Budget
- 25+ Cheap Healthy Meals (for under $10) | Don’t Waste the Crumbs
Hi. I love you meal plan! But I’m having trouble finding the actual recipes?? Any help??
Hi Autumn! Most of these recipes are in my head, so I honestly didn’t even think to include written instructions. I made another $50 meal plan though that does include recipes here:
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2015/10/one-week-50-meal-plan-family-four-number-2/
Hope that helps!
I got the groceries for this today, as a way to test how expensive our area and grocery store is, knowing it would be a lot more expensive. It was $54, but I didn’t get peanut butter, flour, yeast, butter, mayo, oats, or rice because I already had them.
Anyway, I just now looked for the minestrone recipe on your blog and am wondering how to make it since canneli beans and canned tomatoes (or any tomatoes) were not on the shopping list. Is it a different minestrone recipe?
Kyleigh, I would omit the tomatoes and beans, essentially making a vegetable soup with whatever I had plus pasta. There’s just not a recipe that says all that easily, so I put ‘minestrone’ 🙂
I tried twice to get the grocery list and have had no luck, tight on money and really could use it, can someone send me the grocery list? Thanks.
Hi Michala! It’s sent automatically to your inbox – double check your spam! If you don’t see it, send me an email. I’d be more than happy to send it to you!
I just found your 7 day meal plan and was wondering if you have the recipes for the meals?
Thanks
Hello, thank you for this great plan! Are there recipes available for the less obvious dishes? Id hate to get everything and end up with ingredients i don’t use because i don’t know what they’re for!
Don’t forget dried beans as a frugal protein option. At about $1 a pound, they can seriously stretch your meals. “Soup Beans” and corn bread are cultural classics here. As a time saver, I just make the beans in a slow cooker. I frequently make the cornbread in muffin tins. Leftovers are divided into individual portion-sized containers and popped in the freezer for an easy lunch or dinner another day. I also make up big batches of brown rice and measure out two-cup portions to put in the freezer. Very inexpensive and super easy to reheat on a busy day.
I feel completely silly for asking… but is there a link for recipes? Am I completely missing that? I am an absolutely le cook and need step by step instructions for the simplest meal..lol I am sure I will find it after posting this….
Hi Amanda! Many of these recipes are on Crumbs – just use the search bar. A few aren’t, because they’re memorized from making so often. I do plan on updating this though with all the recipe very soon!
don’t feel silly amanda. i was was wondering the same thing too lol
me too i was just trying to go through the search and find them all. lol
I’m sorry! We do plan to have this updated for you guys soon!
Definitely willing to try this!
Love the post but can’t download the file. Is there an alternate download link? Thanks
Hi Kelsey – can you email me? tiffany(at)dontwastethecrumbs(dot)com – we’ll get you squared away. 🙂
The lunch for day 1 is hummus with fruits and vegetables. My growing teenage boy cannot survive on fruits, vegetables and beans for lunch unless he’s eating all four portions. He’d probably still be hungry.
Melissa – this meal plan is merely a baseline of ideas for a family with extremely low funds. I mentioned that it does not take into account teenagers or hefty eaters. Feel free to modify to fit your needs!
Mine, too! I have to hide the hummus or bought vats of it at a time to keep my teen full 🙂 Feeding teenagers is a whole ‘nother ballgame. For us it means lots of pasta.
The wrap with the lettuce, strawberries & cheese looks delicious! What kind of cheese, & what else is in it?
Thanks.
Thanks Jackie! I believe that was either feta or Gorgonzola (either would be yummo) and there’s spinach, strawberries & balsamic vinegar with salt & pepper. 🙂
That wrap itself, what is it? Is it homemade?
That’s a homemade tortilla 🙂
Great resource. I can’t find the same price point around here. A 5 pound bag of potatoes can run usually $2.79. I live in a rural areas so hopping stores isn’t an option. Thanks for the meal plan ideas.
You’re welcome!
a 5lb bag of potatoes is $.99-$1.29 in my city. $2.79 is crazy! i dont think ive ever spent that much on potatoes
In the long term you can take advantage of being rural by having space to grow food, and neighbors that grow food that may sell or even just want to get rid of excess for free.
This is great!
However, I feel like it’s not that much food.
My lunches are just as big as my dinners. (For example, I just finished a medium container of homemade spaghetti) I work 10-12 hour days and hummus with chips would not hold me over at all.
Any suggestions?
Hi Erin! It’s hard to gauge the eating habits of everyone, but I wrote this based on what my husband and I would each eat at a meal. For my family, I cook 1 lb pasta with sauce and would serve a salad using a whole head of romaine, plus veggies and seeds in it. We usually have enough salad and spaghetti leftover for one person’s lunch.
Two things to consider is a) portion size. One serving of pasta is only 2 ounces (measured uncooked)… and b) the meager budget. When funds are tight, there’s not room to indulge the bellies all the time. You might have to exercise restraint on your favorite meals and stop at “satisfied” instead of “stuffed” if it means eating tomorrow. 🙂
I am excited to try this! I was wondering where to find the recipes for these things on the menu?
Hi Jenifer! Some of the recipes are here on Crumbs, but some are just ones I’ve made forever and don’t have a specific recipe for (i.e. tuna salad, potato hash & eggs).
Thanks! Looks great! Are there links to the recipes?
I love the simplicity of this plan especially for the summer! I love good, simple food. Unfortunately, I have very picky eaters in my family who shun things like egg salad and peanut butter but would eat filet mignon on a daily basis if possible! Well, our budget, like most people, can’t afford such luxuries even on a monthly basis! I’ll keep trying! I am already making some progress thanks to you. Your mexi-lentil macaroni got 2 thumbs up from hubby and my 2 year old son 😉
That’s awesome news Melissa! There IS middle ground with picky eaters, although it might take some hit/miss to find it, lol. My kids (who once shunned beets) tried them again last week and liked them. Go figure! 😉
Speaking of picky eaters I got very lucky. When my children were between 2 and 5 ish we talked to them about foods they don’t like. We convinced them that taste buds can change over time. As a kid I didn’t like mushrooms or peaches, but as an adult I love them both. They have been willing to take a bite of things they haven’t liked to find to see if their taste buds have changed, yet. Funny story, when my oldest was about three and a half she was picking lima beans out of her veggies. When I asked her why (wink) she said she didn’t like them yet. She said she might like them soon. I asked how soon and she responded, “maybe next week.” They are in elementary and middle school now and will occasionally try things with the express purpose of checking to see if their taste buds have changed. I admit, I got incredibly lucky on this one, but maybe someone else will get lucky, too.
I absolutely LOVE this Sarah!
Hi! You are awesome! Thanks for making this meal plan. I can’t eat everything you planned for, but I can make some easy adjustments.
I have 2 big food challenges:
1) I only eat zabiha halaal meat, it has be processed according to Muslim guidelines. I have seen this meat at Walmart and Costco recently so it saves me an extra trip to a specific butcher store! But overall, it costs more than non-halaal meat, hands down, every time.
2) I have picky eaters!! Each kid and the hubs take turns rejecting or exploring a new veggie, but on the whole, they won’t eat everything I eat. It is a challenge to feed everyone well! But I make it my job to provide the healthy option, then they can decide what to eat, and the left-overs…well, I end up having to take care of those.
Thanks again, I look forward to reading the entire meal plan. 🙂
You’re most welcome Sabira!
I eat halal too. I feed my family of 5 on less than 80$ week
You’re most welcome! Your gap in income is a perfect example of when we need to be extra careful with our finances. I’ll be sure to share more of these more often!!
This is one of my favorite, economical, lunches – could be dinner too and is great for a picnic. It’s cheap to make – especially if you can shop at Aldi’s. We’ve had it tossed over rice, pasta, lettuce/greens – it’s pretty versatile and filling. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-bean-salad/
That looks like a great recipe Becky – so fresh with all the herbs & vinegar! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for this!! We have a very limited income and I struggle with the guilt of not being able to buy everything grass fed and organic and there is so much judgment out there. Even if it’s true, it really bothers me when people say “pay for organic now or the Dr. later” and frankly makes me feel bad. We all have to do the best we can with what we have, and I can’t pay for organic apples which won’t last a whole week with my kids when I can buy conventional apples, grapes, and bananas for almost the same price. Thank you for the encouragement!
You’re most welcome Katie! There’s absolutely no judgement here 🙂 You should never feel bad for doing the best you can!!
You can get many organics at Walmart for $1.50 or less. They have organic spaghetti for 99 cents (9 servings). Canned organic corn, for $1.35 a can. If you don’t go organic, they have cans of spaghetti sauce for $1. Canned vegetables are 68 cents each or so. A big bunch of kale is 99 cents.
If you go plant based, eating is cheaper. I make corn chowder with a can of organic corn, a can of diced new potatoes, non GMO corn starch (very valuable because you can make chowders, gravies, puddings and thicken soups with it) and a box of potato flakes. To make the chowder, open the cans, drain the water around the potatoes & corn into a sauce pan. Add about 1/2 a cup of potato flakes, to turn the liquiid whitish. put 1 TBS of cornstarch in a small container, add 2TBSs of water wisk until it’s a white solutioon. Turrn burnner on to med high. Wait until the liquid bubbles the add the corn starch and keep wisking until it thickens. This is your “cream” base. add 1/2 can of the corn & 1/2 the can of diced potatoes, save the other 1/2 of the potatoes, to make homefries with. Done! I add in a little bit of onion powder, black pepper, chives & tarragon. Super yummy & cheap.
$1.35 for the canned corn, 68 cents for the canned potatoes, $1 for the potato flakes box (which you don’t use all of, so you can make mashed potatoes another day), pepper is $1 at the $1 store, so is the garlic powder. Non GMO corn starch, is about $3 a box, but it lasts a long time.
If you get a bag of flour, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, vegan butter, and a plant beverage “milk”, you can make an array of very cheap, but diverse things, bread, buns, rolls, pancakes, waffles, tortillas, French toast, and MUFFINS! Muffins, is a way to eat well, for very little especially if you are vegan, bbeccaause, a 1/2 cup of vegetable (pumpkin or sweet potato), or fruit, banana, peach, blueberries, etc, can be made into 12 muffin, which can be frozen for later.
Get some mayonaise, add herbs & turn it into Ranch dressing, or use Ranch ddressiing, as mayo. You can aalso use either, to make pasta & potato salad, and as a topping for mashed or baked potatoes.
The key, is to getting basic stuff, and see how many different meals can be made with it. Llike bread, for saandwiches, French toast, open face dishes(bread on a plate with ssomething on it with gravy), bread crumbs, and croutons. Lettuce for sandwiches, can double as lettuce for salads.
One green pepper, can be divided into 3rds, 1/3rd, fresh for salads, 2nd 1/3rd ddiced for cooking and the last 3rd frozen foor later. Keyboard messes up. I’m not fixing the typos. Try an experiment, go to a $1 store, with $10, and see what you can buy that would last several mealls. My targets would be beans, rice, pasta, tomato sauce, instant potatoes, margerine, canned potatoes, corn, flour, yeast. With that, one can make several meals of rrice & beans, corn chowder, passta & sauce, & bread.
Iff I had more money, Like $10 more, I’d get, apple juice (can double as sugar in baking), bullion, garlic powder (can use in chowder, pasta sauce & garlic bread), nuts,, instant oatmeal, canned peaches, Italian seasoning, oil, baking powder & baking soda. Then one could make a broth, and use some pasta, corn & potatoes & seasoning & ggarlic powder, to make a meager soup. One can now make bread, tortillas, rolls, pancakes, waffles, and MUFFINS, & possibly oatmeal cookies with nuts.
Just do another shopping experiment, and see how many items you can find in a Store for $1. Buy $50 worth, and try living on only those items for a week. People don’t need nearly as much food, as they think. Pay attention, to how many servings per the price, that you get per item. Stay within those recommendations. For exxample, one serving of butter or salad dressing, may be one TBS, so try using just that amount. Make a menu /meal plan. Then you can see where all items are used, how many u need per wk, month/yr. How long they’ll last, etc.
FWIW: waffles and pancakes are surprisingly easy to make from scratch. I looked it up when my DS couldn’t have any milk due to a suspected allergy. I was shocked at how unreasonably expensive the mixes have become. Find a simple recipe, then add vanilla or other flavored extract for an added boost. If you can pull it off, use milk instead of water for a creamier taste, but it’s not entirely necessary. I was able to mix the batter in about 3 minutes including the time it took to get the ingredients out of the cupboard.
“… I make corn chowder with a can of organic corn, a can of diced new potatoes, non GMO corn starch….”
Holy moley! Your family of four will starve on your recipe for corn chowder! I am figuring your end recipe will be about 2 cups if you use a lot of potato flakes. You seriously will feed four approx 1/2 cup and then tell the kids to go take their showers and go to bed! If I was your kid I would be seriously dumpster diving to get more to eat! And I know families that do that!
I want to say this blog has helped me in so many ways as my hours have gotten cut due to covid-19 and my b.f. is working more to pick up the slack. So that means he is eating more and so are the kids. But the budget is tight due to us also trying to move. This helps me from over buying and staying on track. So thank you and I appreciate it.
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