A Healthy Diet For $20.00 A Week - The Frugal Farm Wife (2024)

I wish you had linked some recipes we could follow in your meal plan. I’m a bit of a kitchen dummy, and I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what to do with all these ingredients you recommended. Is there somewhere you go into greater detail on some of these things? Like, do you cook all the chicken at once and then divvy up as needed, or do you cook them as you go? What about the soup recipes? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

I can’t buy produce, dairy or eggs here in Canada for anywhere near the prices you quote.

Title should be A Healthy Diet For $20.00 A Week in Nashville Area!
This is not possible if you live in NY! Even if you use coupons combined with sale…

I live in the Denver area, so groceries are slightly more expensive here. Still, this is a backbone for a very inexpensive meal plan for a couple and it is similar to what my husband and I do at our house. We love Mexican food, so we definitely do lots of beans, tortillas, and rice when we need to stretch our budget. I also like making a big chicken or roast at the beginning of the week and use it in meals later on. The best thing we have done is take advantage of the outdoor space we have in the summer and we grow a huge garden. We can, dehydrate, and freeze lots of vegetables for the winter. I know not everyone has the space for a garden, but it has certainly saved us a lot of money over the years.

Nope. No way. Calculating for organic food, this comes out to $108.50. Organic, non-GMO, locally sourced food may cost more, but we rarely go to the doctor and are rarely ill. I cook everything from scratch, have a huge garden and can. I wish I could eat for this much, but I question the quality of the food purchased.

I like the meal/grocery shopping plan, and I can see how I could use this for my family. I’m looking for ways to include more meatless meals, particularly as our costs are very expensive …in Canada it will cost me 2-3 times as much for the items on the shopping list. looking forward to more frugal posts!

I thought you did a great job! I enjoyed your creativity! Maybe not something every one needs to do. ..but very thought provoking!

This is a helpful list to start with. I’m still spending a lot more than this per week and trying to get my costs down. I don’t know if I can go all the way down to $20 but I can try.

Thank you for posting this. Obviously prices vary depending on where you live, but it’s a great starting point for sure. For things like bananas there is no sense in paying extra for organic anyway, since any pesticides or anything that may be used will be thrown away with the skin anyway. I’m sure if I checked circulars and stocked up when dry goods were on sale, we could totally hit the $20.00 per week mark easy in Metro Detroit. What a great idea. Thank you so much for sharing this.

butter has gluten in it, are you aware of that? My son is autistic and doesn’t eat gluten either, and he definitely can’t have butter. I don’t know if you know this, since you boast to be gluten free.

Great plan! The only slight suggestion I might make is purchasing blocks of cheese and shredding it as needed instead of buying shredded cheese – much more cost effective.

Great idea, although where you live is a LOT cheaper than Germany. I went through and looked at the prices and would come out around 50-55 $. 🙁

This is great inspiration for those that may need to reduce or keep their food expenditure low for a while, or to do one week a month to free up a little money to get some bulk supplies which work out cheaper per lb but need an upfront investment of cash. I know prices are much higher in remote areas, our next move, for hubby’s work, may very well put us in that situation and I am not looking forward to it, but taking every scrap of knowledge I can from these online communities to help me do the best I can.

You are so sweet to put all this effort into a delicious, inexpensive meal plan for your family. You rock! I live in SoCal and pay $4.99 for 18 eggs, $1.99 for 1 lb of apples, $2 EACH for avocados, $4 for a gallon of milk, $5 for 1 lb of shredded cheese, etc… 🙁 thanks anyways!

I’d like to say great job for planning a food plan/budget around healthy food! I know that we all have different food prices in different areas, but that isn’t the point to me. I applaud you for eating real food and showing others how to do so. We have had food issues in our family as well and I know it can get very expensive trying to eat without gluten, dairy, etc. I think this is the first food budget plan I’ve seen where real, whole food is eaten. The other plans out there, that I’ve seen, are a health disaster waiting to happen or just aren’t compatible to a gluten free diet. Thanks, and I enjoy all your marvelous ideas for beans! 🙂

Thanks so much for taking the time to inspire those of us who have to start trying to find ways to cut their food budget, but still want to eat healthy! I’ve always known to cut back on calories in order to lose weight, but I hadn’t honestly looked at cutting down on calories as a way of cutting back on the budget. Thanks so much!

This is a great reference! Also, when you have your own garden, you can add in some fresh fruits and veggies and shave down your grocery costs even more. 🙂
Thanks for writing this~
Sophia

I live in Washington state, the prices are at least double here, and that s not even organic, those cheap prices, great job on the plan, just wish my 4 kids were not so picky either we pay like 900 a month on food

Whoooaaaaa there!!! 117 grams of protein? That’s WAY too much for one person to have each day, especially a child! The average adult man needs only 56 grams daily, 46 for the average adult woman. You need about 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight. The most that your body can use is 0.9 grams per lb, per day. Eating too much protein can mean gaining weight and neglecting other important dietary nutrients!

our prices in Southern California are at least twice the ones noted, or more. Eggs alone can run upward of $5.00 a dozen, chicken quarters on sale are at least 1.99 per pound. I will admit that the prices have really sky rocketed in the last year and this post is over year old.

The best way to do this is go to your favorite store which offers best prices. Aldi is great if in your area. Purchase the items on the list double quantites if you are feeding more people. I am sure most of you will find the total may be much cheaper than what you currently spend at grocery store. and that is a good thing. there are many many resources to assist you with this topic. there are heaps of recipes and meals plans which address reducing food budget. Be resourseful and consider what is best for yourr family. the above blog/article is mainly a reference point and a very good one indeed.!!!

Maybe I really should write a blog.
I think our family has been doing something like this for many years.
We are at about 21.00/day for 6 people with leftover. Plus, we have no Aldi.
Also-
#1. the amount we spend on food includes snacks
#2. we eat fresh & frozen fruits & veggies.

I live in rural California and we have 1 non-chain grocery store within a 20 minute drive and 2 more within an hours drive, also not chains, aka everything is outrageously priced. Eggs are hovering around $5/doz and a bag of onions is around $3. I know my situation does not allow for cheap food, but I think this could work for many areas of the country and would even be a cheap-for-my-area option. I have eaten very similar meals to this when budget was a issue because it was the cheapest, CA prices and all. While it may not be $20 for everyone, I think it’s a great one size fits most option for budget eating.

I think that this is great! As a college student on a serious budget, it’s nice to know that $20 a week can buy more than just the bare minimum. Thank you! 🙂

Love the article!! Great comments that are helpful reminders to add variety. I plan to use $20 Dollar as a great challenge to teach to our children. Every few weeks have one child go with you to the store and let them make all the choices on the list. Once home have a menu listed for the week on the refrigerator. Later the children can help with the menu planning. Teach them how to prep the meal by getting all ingredients ready first. Also teach knife skills gradually to learn how to slice different vegetables. As they get older they will have the skills to cook the whole meal. It’s a great skill that will help them when they live on their own. And teaches the concept of budget.

Seeing a lot of criticism, so I just wanted to say something encouraging. 🙂 I feed my family of four on less than $600/month near Seattle (not excellent, I know, but it’s there for comparison) and this seems like a very do-able plan for when my husband is away. When he’s home, of course he likes extra’s, but for myself and the kids I don’t see why it wouldn’t be close. Thanks for the inspiration.

we are closer to $500-600 per month for 2 people in a relatively small city in Northern Ontario. 8 lbs of chicken would cost $32…maybe $24 on a good sale. Kind of wishing I lived where you do! these tips would definitely bring down our total though so thanks for the post!

I can’t believe the amount of complaints on here! Before I become a naysayer, I will definitely try this. I think the prices here in Houston are comparable and I could do this for my family. Thank you for sharing!

Hi! 🙂 I like this concept, however I would love to see this created for gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian lifestyle. That would be amazing for me and my husband. Great entry though!

These are really great tips! I would love to challenge myself and do this next time I head to the store. I’ll come back and let you know how it goes.

FYI, I just did a price check. The grocery bill above was $60 at Walmart. Still, for a guy who was spending over $400 a month on grocery’s, ~$250 will be welcome.

There is no way that a growing child, not to mention a full sized adult can be satisfied with this meager amount of food. There are no beverages listed. There are no indulgences if any kind. Who eats chicken and rice 4-5 times per week??? Seriously! And these prices aren’t remotely realistic, even shopping at a discount store in the Midwest, like Aldi.

It’s a great list! I wish the prices here were that low. Prices here are double or triple what you posted. I think it would work out to around $90 here.

Wow the prices in Nashville are amazing! I live in Nevada & everything is at least double what quoted. Our frozen veggies cost around $2.50 per package! My food budget is out of control at around $130 per week (to feed 2 people). We don’t buy processed food & stick to mostly a low carb diet – so that’s our cost for meat, fresh veggies/fruit, purified water, and the occasional bag of pasta or rice. Looks like we are getting ripped off on our food costs here!

Thanks for sharing this. I enjoyed reading it. I don’t think though I can make it with just $20. That 2.5 dozens of eggs would cost me $17.50 here in Sydney! Very inspiring though. I think I should come up with my own list. Thanks a lot!

Hey i’m curious. We have a family of 5. What size of family do you shop for? 😀 And this is GREAT!

I live in central Calif. and the prices quoted is very close to what I pay at the Grocery Outlet bargain market, 2% milk $2.49 gallon, Butter $2.99# , Eggs Grade A large $2.59 dozen, this was purchased 7/06/15

I really want to shop where you do. Eggs for 18 today – $3.59. cheapest available. Butter on sale $2.50. Potatoes $3.19 for #10. Fairly close on some stuff – others not so much. Aldi’s is an hour drive one way so defeats the purpose there.

Thank you for inspiring us. Yes, prices may be more/less where we live but this gives some ideas on how to plan for the weeks when money is tight. 🙂 I appreciate this post and you. Sorry if people have to be negative. Some other good ideas are:
Cheese quesadilla’s for lunch (no meat) with salsa, or scrambled eggs and salsa/breakfast burritos, Fried rice with frozen veggies and eggs (no need for meat but you could add some of that chicken if you still have some). A potato/egg/cheese skillet for breakfast is wonderful and can really fill you up. Best of luck to everyone trying to cut their food budget down.

Thanks for the article! I agree with you that this budget is great as a financial exercise. There are weeks where I try to have an Eat from the Pantry Week or spend as little as possible. That way we can put aside more money in savings, etc. Knowing that there is a healthy option that does not cost too much is always good, so I appreciate your thoughtful post. (I’m linking to it on my site’s Facebook page 🙂

I love this post and find it really encouraging! I recently wrote a post about how to buy one week of food for one person for $10 now that I am reading this post I realize that these items could also be frozen or put in the pantry as stockpile items for lean months! I would love to hear what you guys think! I posted the link here- http://shopaholicsavers.com/?p=5297

My only problem with this is my hubby hates chicken. I could eat like this and be happy- any ideas of what to supplement the chicken with that is still healthy and cheap?

This is really inspiring! I really appreciate this post.
Thank you

I am surprised (and not so surprised) how many people feel the need to comment negatively! This is a very interesting post. I would like to challenge myself to do something similar when my husband takes a break from doing a keto diet (and I can have dairy again). Good for you for getting a weeks worth of wholesome food for cheap!

Food in your area is so cheap! I definitely love this as a guideline so thank you for the tips! But that amount of food is anywhere between $40-$50 dollars in my area. I need to search for cheaper grocery stores.

This is clearly for Americans! No way is fm food even close to that cheap here 🙁

First I have a question:
Would I need to double this grocery list for 4 people?
and Second Do you have anymore menu plans and recipes that are budget friendly? I would love to see more gluten free menu plans with shopping lists. I am just getting started with the gluten free diet and could use all the help I can get.

As of August 2015, everything on the list would cost $60.13. My grocery budget for one is over $200/mo. I am a diabetic and I don’t eat meat, so sugar free items cost more as well as meat substitutes/vegan food. I paid $4 for just 5 vegan hot dogs. Milk wasn’t on the list, but it’s $2.99/gal right now. A doz eggs are $4.15. It’s crazy! I would be very bored on this diet. By the time I buy my fruits, veggies and vegan foods, I am still stretching to make it through the month. I use gluten as a meat sub, a 22 oz. bag of wheat gluten is $8.19 and will make about a months’ worth. A 1 lb. bag of sugar sub is $5.29. Everything is overpriced. I can’t afford cereal anymore. Not to mention everything is in smaller packaging, so we are still getting less for our money. It’s not easy when you have to follow certain diets. Items with things taken out (ie, sugar, wheat, meat…) always cost more, which makes no sense.

That is way to much chicken product for me. And eggs and chicken are going thru the roof because of the recent chicken flu, where they had to kill millions of birds.

Thank you so much for doing this gluten free!! My husband also has Celiac Disease and his food is so expensive, and we always eat the same stuff for dinners. This gives me new ideas that I am excited to make.

Walking through Publix (Miami florida) I realized that I need to move….Everything here is twice the cost. -____-
God forbid I go to a whole foods. ;( Every trip to the grocer is around $100+ dollars for us for about a weeks worth of foods. Yup, moving.

Where do you shop because eggs at Kroger in Murfreesboro are $2.50 a dozen for organic. My mouth dropped as I ran through your grocery list!! We spend $200 a week to feed 4. One of those is a toddler!!!

Not only could I never buy food this cheap in DC, these meals might suffice for me, but would not be enough for my calorie needy DH.

I’m not sure what everyone is talking about here… I think this is a GREAT list and a great starting point. This list, I believe was meant as an example of how you can buy an entire week of groceries for $20. This is not a guarantee that you will be able to find these exact foods in your location for the exact same prices… let’s use some logic here; that type of list would be near impossible! And those of you saying that you can’t find these items for that price when you’re looking for strictly organic… well no you can’t, because organic food is much more expensive (shocking, I know). Lastly, for those of you saying that this would not be enough food for a person for an entire week, I’m sorry but you are out of your mind! 8lbs of chicken- that is approximately 4,800 calories for the whole pack and if you ate that chicken every single day, all 7 days of the week that is nearly 700 calories PER DAY from the chicken alone! If you ate all of the eggs that week you would be eating 300 calories from just the eggs alone. 1000 calories strictly from protein!!!! Add all of the rice, beans, veggies and extras on top of that; this list is more then enough food! Now I am a relatively petite (healthy) women but I wasn’t able to eat even 2/3 of this food this week (I had to freeze a LOT)– and yes, that does mean I actually followed this grocery list. So to all of those people who have a lot to say about amount of food and price of food I would like to say, this was more then enough food and although I did not follow this list to the T, I was right around the $20 mark! Thank you frugal farm wife, this is a great article!

Wow…there are a lot of whiners commenting. As someone who can’t always buy organic but still tries to feed my family healthy foods, I appreciate this post a lot! We Americans are so spoiled!

Our family of 3 lived off of a menu similar to this for 8 months. We usually had about $85/mo and supplemented with a garden. It wasn’t fun but now we are in a much better financial position. Most of the prices mentioned are in line with western Missouri. I just bought eggs for 1.69/doz and milk for $2 gallon. Thank you for sharing what works for your family!

Unfortunately, here on the central coast of California, prices are much higher. For example, eggs are $5.00 a dozen.

I love this post! I see it as a challenging game to see how to make my dollars stretch as far as possible and make nutritious meals for my family. I came up with even more dishes from her ingredients like cole slaw, King Ranch chicken etc. Yes, it IS possible and Aldi is a great place to shop!!!
Keep up the good work! You are an Encourager!!!

I think groceries/produce are different prices throughout the country, so it’s not a matter of argument. For example, I bought a brick of Colby Jack cheese for $1.49/lb, but my cabbage was $5/lb! My bananas are cheaper, dried pinto beans are cheaper, etc. I usually spend $100 a week on groceries for a family of five(minus Costco), and last week used the menu plan, and saved $40!! money for babysitting and date night!

I am lucky, I live in the country, USA. I either buy or raise my own vegetables and get my chicken, eggs and raw milk from neighbor farmers, cattle are grass fed, no antibiotics, gmo feed. Chickens, eggs are range feed .

I love this idea. I just bought a 10lb bag of leg quarters at HEB in Texas for $2.90.

If those are actual food prices in Nashville then I need to move my butt to Nashville. There still could be no way that this plan includes organic foods or meat from grass fed animals which makes such an enormous impact on one’s overall health and vitality. In Portland, OR right now organic free range eggs run as much as $7.50 a dozen, though typically more like $4.50-5.00. Cheese is $5-7/lb, the carrots more like $3, and organic chicken is around $5-7/lb also. So her 8lbs of chicken would double the budget right off the bat… LOL! $4 for 1lb butter, and the veggies would be more like $3/bag not $3 for 3 bags. As a trainer/nutritionist who strongly believes in eating as much organic free range as possible, I typically tell clients about $50-70/week is realistic depending on goals and caloric requirements. As a bodybuilder I am personally eating 24-30 oz meat, 4 whole eggs, 3oz pork shoulder meat, 1-2oz cheese and 12oz each of steamed broccoli and asparagus, either an apple or 1 cup berries, and 1-3 cups mashed sweet potatoes each day and my food bill averages $66/ week and that’s at least 80% organic free range.

Not sure where she lives or how dated this article might be, but I pay double in Seattle. I like her point though. Eat clean and simple, you’ll save more money than if eating packaged, over processed foods.

Thank you very much Elise. This is a great guideline to eating more frugally since my husband retired. We don’t have kids living at home anymore and are in our 60’s but this gives me a lot of help in my quest to try and put healthier meals on the table. Very much appreciate the helpful post.

Thanks so much! This is exactly what I needed to read today! I’m thinking of making this project a friendly competition among my friends who also need this information. Maybe we can together come up with even more great menu options! Thanks for sharing!
~Ginger

I agree that these prices seem very low. Kroger/Smith’s has great prices, and you can often pair their digital coupons with various Ibotta rebates (there’s almost always rebates available for half of the items listed like cheese, milk, lettuce, bananas, carrots, etc). With digital coupons loaded to your card (or coupons from a website like coupons.com) and instant rebates from Ibotta (https://ibotta.com), you could probably get this list at around $60-$65 (she lists it as $40 for 2 people). At $30 per person, that’s still pretty low. It would definitely bring my grocery bill down!!!

It sounds like a good challenge, but who wants to eat chicken rehashed everyday? (A good way to get the gout). Also, no milk in the budget? I am not convinced this is a balanced diet, we need red meat also. I can feed my family much better than this.

I guess I need to move your way because grocery prices in California, even at Costco or Winco don’t compare to the prices in this article! Unless I follow the normal college kid path and eat ramen, mac and cheese, and rice a roni every day. But it’s a great and thorough article either way and hopefully helpful for people in your area 🙂

Maybe this is a groceries list from the 90’s because in 2016 this is not the price for those item , in my area , i live in Canada and i will show u what the price for the same list is .
•Eggs, 2 1/2 dozen. $5.89
•Potatoes, 10 lbs. $6.99
•Carrots, 2lbs. $2.50
•Cabbage, 2 heads. $5.00
•Onions, 3lbs. $3.49
•Corn tortillas, 2pkgs (60). $5.80
•Pinto beans, 2lbs. $3.99
•Salsa, 1 jar. $3.89
•Shredded cheese, 1lb. $6.99
•Rice, 2lbs. $5.50
•Chicken leg quarters, 8lbs. $25.00 ( and this is when in sales)
•Apples, 3lbs. $12.00
•Bananas, $3.00 ( about 6 bananas)
•Butter, 1lb. $5.99
•Frozen veggies, 3 bags, $12.00 and this is the low price brand
•Oatmeal, 1 carton, $5.49
Total: $113.52 and this is without taxes , here we have to pay for taxes on groceries amount of 13%…. so it depend on the area we live , it is hard to eat healthy on low budjet …

Thank you. Very helpful.

Just wanted to say that I can find similar prices to these in Omaha. Not necessarily every week, but if I stock up when things go on sale. I freeze butter, milk, onion or veggies I diced. Sometimes I do feed my family of 5 for this little. We average about $600 a month though since I overbuy a lot and that money includes dogfood and most non-food items. Right now we’re doing a pantry challenge to use up what’s in the house, so my budget is less than $20 a week per person. It’s a perishables and emergencies only budget for this month and however many weeks it takes til the freezers are empty. Otherwise, meals are too-bad-you-get-what’s-in-the-house. LOL. Not always the healthiest options, I know, but we do this once a year. Today is spaghetti using garden tomatoes I froze, with homemade garlic bread.

Don’t know what part of the country is based around but groceries listed are not nearly that inexpensive where I live…

I love this article and def think it’s doable. I live in a suburb of chicago and I can swing this easily…. maybe not all from Aldi but our Dollartree has a huge assortment of frozen fruits and vegtables. I buy almost all my fruit there for green smoothies. I can get a huge tub of organic spinach or spring mix for $5 @Jewel or Meijer. Not to mention bananas and apples are always on sale. This is doable if you are a little creative and willing to visit at least two stores.

You can’t find these items this cheap in my area. I spend 7 bucks just on two dozen eggs.

Irregardless of what the prices are, I found this to be an inspiring menu planner. The menu items are a good value, nutritious and customizable! Kudos!

Your prices are cheaper than ours here in California. We are doing no processed foods and are trying to eat only grass fed and open range meat and dairy, organic produce or frozen veggies. This is expensive here but it is worth it. We shop a lot at Trader Joe’s. We also have found a lot of organic at Sam’s Club. The other way I shop is online at Grub Market. I just watch prices and have not been disappointed. I appreciate this page. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I put this in my favorites.

I think your great…I live in socal and like you I buy 8lbs of meat for $0.99lb or less a week. Our budget is $200 a month… I’m excited to learn how to do it for $80-$100 =)

Try making your own butter!! Its a 2 for 1 its how I do it. Buy Heavy Whipping Cream and I get butter and butter milk. its a win/win plus my kids love helping make it!!

Wow, I’m impressed! I hope to come up with something similar for our family, but we are not only gluten free but also grain free, paleo /low carb so there are several things on your list that we do not eat. But you have inspired me to come up with a similar plan. 🙂

I would be interested to know the total nutritional value of this meal plan, it seems that there would be some deficiencies in vitamins, minerals and really no super foods or greens here. I think this is great for anyone on a budget and even who wants to stick to a strict caloric intake and only drink water but it wouldn’t be feasible long term, but as a two week out of a month with some variations I would try this! Thanks for posting. 🙂

I am confused. It says $20 a week but the grocery bill added up to almost $40? What am I missing? Is that the grocery bill for a 2 week period?

Just seeing this in Spring 2016 from Missouri USA. Our grocery prices are very similar to what is listed here. Currently, eggs are kind of at a premium, but I have four little hens so my eggs are pretty cheap. I buy feed at $14 that lasts about a month. If you can get chickens, definitely consider doing so. As far as other food costs, it doesn’t seem fair to compare so much to where you live as to learn from this article a way that you can cater the ideas to your own personal situation. For instance, this list includes only chicken as the meat source. What meats are cheaper for you to buy? What grains can you come by cheaply? My husband and I are on a starch free diet so we would be eating mostly meats and veggies. We are putting in a garden this year. Try to use the ideas presented rather than directly comparing the price of groceries where you are compared to the groceries where the author is. I’m sure if she hadn’t done her research, she could spend hundreds of dollars a week on food. Ultimately, we all have to use our energy more on helping ourselves than making comparisons and just being frustrated that the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.

Wow!
How amazing to see the price difference for food between the US and Canada.
There is no way to ever get those prices here, try double or triple these prices.
But, everything’s more expensive here, so following this plan will save a lot.
You’ve done a great job.

Love it and it is very doable. The entire grocery budget at our house is $60/week for 3people. And we have lots of variety and all real foods.

Really awesome diet.

I think I missed something in the article. The headline and graphic says $20 a week, but the shopping list came to $39.

I live in San Diego and this grocery list would easily cost me about $80 if not more. Just a dozen “cheap” eggs not even organic is $4.00 and don’t get me started on chicken. “Cheap” Chicken is about $2.50lbs, we buy about 4 for any where between $8-10.

my whole foods is almost 1/2 the price of my grocery stores here (excluding meant), although as of this year all have closed down but 1. our prices would be at least 3 times this amount.

Fresh Markets/Produce stands really help cut costs too because there is less overhead

I hate to point this out but in the article she states “in the greater Nashville area” however the current up date photo as of January 2016 states Waco,TX printed at the top of the receipt. Um, hold up was you on Vacay in Tennessee or vacay in Texas, not my business, I know just confused on where you shopping! But prices are just about right here in SC all but onions3lb @ .69¢

Elise, thank you for sharing these ideas. I am retired and shop for my husband and me. I am always looking for ways to get the most for each of our dollars, and I see a lot of good suggestions here. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Love the time and energy you out into this, and thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!

I am one of those unfortunate people who cannot eat oats, even certified clean oats as they make me sick. What could I substitute please?

Any help on recipes? I am waiting to make some of this but if there aren’t recipes then how is one supposed to make the food…..?

Wow what a great base to go off of. I love how you broke this down i have seen eating for cheap like this but never actually seem it broken down. I cant wait to take this home and edit a smidge. This is perfect for me and my husband!!!

Hi from Wagga Wagga Australia! Just went out and bought everything on ur shopping list and I thought u would be interested to know that it came in at $99!! This is more a statement about how expensive food in Australia is rather then a critism of you! P.s only spending $99 on food for a week is really cheap, I usually downs $230 +. Anyway, I’m excited to give it a go! Cheers for ur post 🙂

For the record. I went shopping today 8/24/16 at Aldi in the Chicago Northwest suburbs and bought the items on the list (except oatmeal and butter as I had those on hand). I spent 33.25 on these items and actually for 10lbs of chicken due to how it was packaged.
Thank you so much for this list!!

Sorry, this is laughable. Eggs for 2.69 for 2 dozen???? Not here. Try 4$ a dozen. Onions 3 lbs for 69cents???? How bout 89 cents a lb. Apples 3 lb for 3$?? 3$ A LB here, and this is known as apple country! I’m sorry, but this is just unrealistic.

I live in western New York, and these prices are exactly what I would find in our nearby Aldi store. I could also find these items at wal mart super center for slightly more.

This makes me realize how expensive it is to live in Hawaii. I just bout 1/2 a dozen eggs for $3.19 on sale

Your list and menu looks a lot like mine, and may I also add Aldi is a god send!! Their prices are ridiculously low. We would be paying almost twice what we do now if there wasn’t an Aldi near us! My list includes frozen ground turkey, box pasta, pasta sauce and several kinds of fresh fruit.

This looks like a pretty good diet, unfortunatly it isnt what i am looking for. Since i am in a dorm room all i have is a coffee pot and microwave for cooking. Thank you for the ideas anyway

I love Aldi & I know this plan works!!!

The idea of simplifying grocery shopping is a great idea, but the prices are completely inaccurate.

Love your posts…thank you so much. 😉

What a great article! I consider grocery shopping a challenge and always keep an eye out for great bargains. Only items we will use however do we stock up on. This article is dated 2014 and it is now early 2017 and I can find all of those items for around that price and some cheaper (Indiana). I always stock up on butter when it goes on sale during the holiday baking period for just under $2.00 a pound. Our local store always marks down baking items after Christmas such as chocolate baking chips and I pop them in the freezer to use throughout the year. Honestly I don’t pay more than 2.00 a pound for meat either. I shop at Kroger and Fresh Thyme and always stock up when it’s on sale, beef, pork or chicken. There is a benefit to having a deep freezer. I also find the recipes you listed as wholesome and not full of preservatives and junk food.

Well, this menu is all good – but does seem to weigh heavy on rice and beans – which is a way to cut costs….and I am a lover of bean burritos for breakfast….but if you plug it into a tracker of nutrients you are missing some here…

I would love to see an update now of what you spend to eat like this….since it is currently on my Pinterest feed .Last update I see was 1/16. I find it very interesting. It would not work for us but I do find articles like this interesting. Must admit my favorite part is reading all the comments!

Hello there! I’m on a super tight budget, so this is helpful. I am also gluten intolerant, but I can’t have eggs either. Is there something I could use instead of eggs, especially with breakfast? this has been my biggest problem.

I live 5 hours north of vancouver in canada. We drive 2.5 hours to costco for the bulk of our products. I spend about $300 every few months to stock up. Then I spend about $20 in town a week to buy fresh veggies for two people to eat all week long. This is in the dead of winter and I do not have my huge garden or greenhouse built yet. I will then be nearly self sufficient within a couple years! I should add that we eat plant based except for eggs on saturday mornings (from our own chickens) and wild game meat I trade for massage therapy with friends for. I also make everything from scratch and eat a lot of legumes, pulses, nuts, organic tofu etc. I make my own nut milk for less than .50 cents a liter. We are very healthy and got by on very little income when times were tough. It can be done, but you have to be diligent, find the cheap stores, compare and shop sales.

i like how simple it is! i hate when meal planning takes over life. i will still make chocolate chip cookies but will gibe this a yry because hey, why not make my life easier? I will be buying Kerrygold butter though do that will bring my bugdet up 5$ right there. but boy It is good….

Even though the prices are different than where I live (bay area California), I plan to use the meal plan just to get back to basics. I have had a hard time menu planning this summer and staying on budget. Please continue with these simple meal plans.

Could you please come up with a Vegan version?

I put in your grocery list using Kroger click list and was able to get everything listed for right at $49.00. That is not bad at all!!! I think I am going to use this menu for our family…even with buying enough for 7 it brings me well under budget. Do you have other menus?

There is no way I could get that menu for under $65 for 2 people, and that would be at best sale prices. If we wanted it to be free of gmo and pesticides and herbicides, add another $30 to that. Nutritional value of this menu is weak as well. It would keep you from starvation, but it’s hardly enough to be considered healthy.

Great advice! My fiance and I are living off of $2000 a month currently to save some serious cash. We do groceries for $60 a week, can’t believe you can do $40 amazing!! Aldi’s is the best!! These prices are realistic, we are in Florida now, was doing this in CT too. Aldi’s makes Walmart look expensive. Where you buy is the #1 in getting the best prices. Thank you for sharing!

My 2 year old is a milk, toast & butter guzzler. I go to the store for milk 2Xper week for milk.

I’m going to be that super annoying person for just a second and then you can feel free to delete this comment. I really was drawn to your site and the idea of spending only $20. I even signed up for the emailed version. After I added my name and email, it linked me straight to the 95% off budget book. Which is very generous. Here is where I get super annoying/the teacher in me comes out. You wrote something along the lines of this being “the one CHANGE” for this deal. I think “chance” is the word you meant there and since it’s such a great deal I just wanted to bring that to your attention. I’m hoping this is an act of kindness and not infuriating. I’m sure I have my fair share of spelling errors in this post too so I’m not implying I’m a perfect speller. Just a overly observant reader. :0) Take care.

I love these plans! Thank you ! Great tips and meal ideas!

Thank you for this post. I’m sorry you have to actually read such nasty comments from individuals who can’t see past the nose on their face. I do see the value in this post even on the days I can’t find the prices you list; it’s like my Dad used to say, “everyone complains about food prices, but they buy sushi, pre-made items, high priced steaks, store bought cookies, etc.”. When he was a kid, his parents bought a bag of potatoes, a bag of rice, a big pack of chicken, a bag of flour, bag of sugar, etc. WE COOKED OUR FOOD. The foods you listed are the lower priced items in the grocery store that may require some preparation, but I get it. So thanks again for the post and the IDEAS it gives me, not that I have to STICK TO IT EXACTLY. PEOPLE need to get a grip and take a chill pill, that might cost them a dollar or two but worth it, LOL. As for your “right” to have children, I’d say a parent that not only budgets their money but feeds their family well is the BEST parent. I’d really like to smack that person in the head for saying what they did to you.

I see that you got your groceries and organized/planned and fed two people on 40$ for a week and I appreciate your ideas and technique that I can use to help make my budget stretch further. I just wanted to say that after reading the comments.

really ? lol Iive in Hawaii and I just payed $2.50 for half a head of a small cabagge.

Pot of beans
1 You could have pinto bean soup & corn bread.
2 tostadas
3 Bean & cheese burritos.
4 beans and eggs
5 bean and egg burritos
6. Beans & rice
7. Nachos with beans & cheese
All these meals for under 10 bucks buying at Wal-Mart
1. Beans $1.97
2. Rice $1.97
3. Sharp cheddar cheese $ 2.22
4. Corn bread .44
5 Corn tortillas .99
6. Flour tortillas .99
7 spices & onions

This is a good list! ! it’s totally possible to eat healthy on a budget!

I enjoyed the article. While I may not be under the $20 budget, the plan still keeps my budget lower than before. Every budget is not black or white , you need to have those grey areas to account for personal taste or life style. Keep up the good work!

Wow. I wish prices were like that in Southern California!!

Well, I can attest to the fact that it’s possible today to eat this cheaply. I spend $40 a week for a family of 4. Not only does that buy our groceries but also other necessities. I take 2 $20 bills out of the atm and head to the stores. I don’t even have an Aldi 🙁 I shop at Walmart, Save a Lot, which is kinda similar to Aldi, maybe… they have good sales on produce and meat. I buy our milk, cheese and butter from Braums, which is a local dairy store. They only have stores within a 300 mile radius of their farm in Oklahoma. I use the summer months when I have lots of produce growing to stock up on extra pantry staples and meats with the money I don’t have to pay for fruits and veggies. Anyone could do this if they really wanted to. You absolutely can eat well and healthily on a tiny budget and I have proof of it!

This is a really great list ( and my son is also gluten free and we live in Northern California -one of the most expensive places) my advice to sceptics is check sale add and compare stores. Go to grocery outlets if possible.

That is a great list. I want it. I have to cook ahead, because I work a lot and I could make this work. Thanks.

I have spent15-20 a week for a single since retirement and use the same formula of $5 for protein, 5 for dairy(yogurt, cheese) $5 for vegs,fresh or frozen, and $5 for oatmeal and bread. It works by watching special buys and sales.

I live in Chicago. 8lbs of Chicken quarters is about 17 dollars. Potatoes are 4 dollars for 5lbs. Produce is super expensive even frozen veggies are almost 2 dollars a bag. My husband is also gluten free. 2.5 dozen eggs would be around 6 dollars more if you want organic. I think this is a good list of healthy foods to buy but should include the caveat that you don’t live in a big city.

I signed up from another page for the month program but had no clue it was gluten free. I have no need or desire to eat gluten free. Do I have other options? Nowhere on the page I signed up from did it indicate the plan was gluten free. Im very disappointed.

Do you have $20 per week meal plans that have meat other than chicken as the meat source?

This is great. I’m alway looking for ways to eat cheap but healthy! Thanks!

Great ideas! I think the trick to limiting grocery costs is finding a routine that works. I once bought groceries for a family of four on $200/month. For the month I would buy a large bag of potatoes, rice, carrots, celery, apples and bananas. Then I would hit the meat section and buy a family pack of pork chops, large pack of ground beef, bacon, and tri-tip steak. Under canned goods, I would buy green beans and corn. For snacks, I bought popcorn kernels and we popped it on the stove (the kids loved it). Because we really were on a low income budget, I received wic coupons and with those I got eggs, milk, cheese, beans, cereal and peanut butter. I found a bread thrift store and was able to pick up bread for .25 a loaf. I would buy $2 worth and freeze what we couldn’t use right away. Milk freezes too so if you find it on sale, freeze a gallon for later. We weren’t dining on filet mignon and lobster, but we weren’t going hungry either.

It’s a littler trickier when one has a diabetic to feed. No tortillas, no apples, no bananas. Way more protein, lots of cheese, etc. We buy a lot in bulk, and use our two large freezers as much as we can.

These prices are amazingly low. Everything in my area is at least double if not triple or quadruple these prices!!! Consider yourself lucky. $5.65 for a dozen eggs. (Cheapest grocery store variety). Chicken goes on sale sometimes for 4.39 a lbs. but usually more like $7.50/lbs. and even carrots are $3 a lbs. but I’m in small town Alaska. So count yourself lucky.

Anyone else come here in 2022 and just laugh … Until you started crying?

I want to know how much her grocery bill a week is now with inflation!

I just tested it out with the cheapest local grocery store online grocery cart. Buying everything on your list with the lowest cost item available to me is just over $100. I cannot eat everything on your list, but it’s interesting to see the difference. Wish I had done this in 2014 and before the pandemic to see the difference in cost. I am a struggling college student struggling to feed myself every day and not just in a healthy manner. I received an email from my former university saying that “Food prices across [the country] have jumped 10.3 percent from just one year ago, and inflation on food items is now at a 40-year high.”

This more like $50, even at Aldi.

Thank you for your hard work and sharing this plan. I have mental health challenges and am avoiding gluten to see if that helps. Having a simple list allowed me to just shop for the list and not get overwhelmed in trying to plan and compare prices. 2023 in Montana, my 2 week grocery bill was 64.00. So post pandemic at 32.00 a week. Excited to play with these ingredients for the next 2 weeks. I am going to meal prep today and will probably use dinner for lunch and lunch suggestions for dinner. I am sure if I planned a trip to a bigger town, I could shave some dollars on chicken.

For funsies, I keyed in this list into my local grocery store that advertises fresh food for everyone: it’s $62 now, which is still half the price of what I’m spending currently to feed a family of three on a weekly basis. It’s still unreal how much more expensive things are.

Please update this for 2023.

I live in Nashville… which stores did you shop at for these prices?

I found these prices to be pretty consistent at every Aldi I’ve been to in the area.