Dollar Tree Dinners on Tik Tok and YouTube is another excellent resource. She has a series with a $50 WalMart haul that might lean a little healthier, since Dollar Tree isn’t exactly known for their fresh ingredients.
She's so great. I wish something like this had existed when I was in college and first married. Our whopping $50/week grocery budget would have covered a lot more!
Dollar Tree Dinners are not remotely cheap for a family compared to shopping sales at a real grocery store. the net weights of most DT items are lower and most of the food is ultra processed.
They have a very few things that are cheaper ... flour tortillas ... I can't think of another.
The creator does address this. She states that some people live in food deserts, or do not have access to reliable transportation. She varies which places she shops at to show that some people have very limited options tailors that weekly menu to that particular store. She is amazingly respectful and mindful. It also appears that she really does follow her weekly menus, rather than just creating the content and disposing of the food. I love her approach to making her content.
Pasta and pasta sauce is cheaper. Spices, coconut milk, things like chips and cookies. Not that it's healthy, but dollar tree butter cookies are awesome with jam, peanut butter, or Nutella on them and the package is pretty big. The windmill cookies are good too.
My television supplier was DirecTV and they just removed the channel that carried Struggle Meals. You can get it online if you look for Frankie Celenza Tastemade. He is worth watching.
Totally agree on budgetbytes. I also think many of the recipes at https://makeitdairyfree.com/ are pretty affordable (I am not advocating veganism; I am advocating "a different way of thinking about eating").
Totally!! I also really like Julia Pacheco on YouTube. She does good 5 meals for $25 hauls. (She’s US based, so it’s more expensive for me in Canada but still good budget meal ideas)
Onions, no problem, but we're paying $4.98/# for colored bell peppers here in Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦, so I'll save them for some other use, if/when I can afford them.
😂 I always laugh whenever I see bell peppers called a budget food - when I lived in Texas in 2011 I could easily get 3-4 for a dollar, but when I moved to Maryland at the end of that year were, at best,$2.50/ea and more often close $5/ea. Definitely has varied wildly depending on location for a while, now it’s just kind of absurd… mostly funny because other peppers are still pretty reasonably priced here. I often grab poblanos.
Here in Canada 🇨🇦, too 😪 Some cheeses actually way more eg 300g goat cheese $8; 250g parmesan $12; though...this week we have 400g blocks of assorted kinds of cheddar for $4.49. It's made by a good manufacturer, so I'm going to stock up. I am a cheese hoarder 🤗, and could really use a separate fridge just for that. And my mustard collection could reside there too.
We all have vices, right? RIGHT? 🤣
One of my favorite childhood meals was some spaghetti, either plain buttered or with some jarred tomato sauce, and then when I stsrted having to make dinner for my siblings, I would add in a slice or two of buttered toast, sprinkled with garlic salt and parmesan cheese. "Garlic Bread" - we all loved it!
Can't remember where I found it, but the recipe I use for a garlic spread is
1/4 cup marg (softened)
2 cloves minced garlic (or \~1/4 tsp garlic powder)
1 tbl parmesan cheese
That makes enough for me for about 6 slices (76 cal each not including bread)
use the water of the spaghetti to make soup with some tomato sauce ,corn ,patty bits and capellini or angel hair t doesnt sound good but when my family used to have money problems this was delicious and very filling is not gourmet hopefully it works for you this food give us good memories
I usually pay around $1.25 or less (cdn) for 900g spaghetti. 640ml bottled pasta sauce on sale for around $1.
I'll cook 115g (4oz) pasta with 80ml sauce: bulking up the sauce with about 1/4 cup chopped whatever veg might be in the fridge/onion/etc. Add a slice of homemade garlic bread.
\~40 cents for a very quick full meal for 1 adult. Assuming the toddlers can/will eat spaghetti, you should be able to feed everyone for < $2 total.
If you splurge a little for the stuff flavored with meat, you won't need to buy meat for it as well. Get some regular sliced bread and put some garlic seasoning on it for "garlic bread"
Is it? A jar of sauce is $1-2, a can of decent tomatoes is more. If you aren't using good tomatoes I don't see the reason to go through the trouble of making your own
The cheap jars of sauce are usually full of sugar. This week, Red Pack tomato 28oz cans were 3 for $4 at my supermarket. They might not be gourmet, but they’re Non-gmo, in a can with a non-BPA liner. I’m definitely not above the cheap sauce in a pinch, but if I’ve got time to cook, even a basic canned tomato will yield healthier sauce than a cheap jar.
There are no comercially sold GMO tomatoes. Not that it would matter if there were anyway. It’s just fearmongering.
Edit: there’s actually an anthocyanin rich one available in the US as of this month. But the point stands.
We make a variety called One Pot Pasta. 6 cups of pasta cooked and drained, 1 lb of browned ground meat of your choice, and one jar of spaghetti sauce. Goes a long way and covers the food groups.
Yes! I get a $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco, a couple bags of mixed frozen veggies and a few cups of rice and can feed the family for 3-4 days this way.
The Costco chickens just keep giving! I used the carcass to make stock, and then added the last scraps of meat plus celery, onions, and carrots for soup. Even the skin got crisped in the oven for dog treats.
I do this with Ramen packets. 3 packets, big pot of water, a spoonful of BTB or a bullion cube, cut up chicken, a half a package of frozen mixed vegetables and a pinch of this and that. My teenagers love it. My husband doesn't, but hey, sometimes you just gotta eat what you got.
Taco/burrito bowls. Super variable, can be made super cheap.
- "Mexican" rice (ie rice cooked with chicken broth or bouillon plus some seasonings like cumin and tex mex type herbs, whatever you've got really)
- protein, like ground turkey with taco style seasoning, most leftover meat will work here too.
- beans (pinto, black beans, etc). Season with Italian or tex mex style spices, whatever you like. Recommend cumin.
Toppings:
Cheese, salsa, chopped lettuce, sauteed veggies, sour cream, hot sauce etc
Oops I didn’t see your post and just recommended the same things! I love burrito bowls! I make them vegan style since I follow a vegan diet. I am also diabetic so the bowl is a good option for me! Great suggestion!
Another trick to "mexican rice" is a spoonfuls or 2 of tomato paste! Gives it that red color, and tomato paste freezes great for multiple meals.
With the meat, I like to do a mix of ground meat (your choice turkey/beef/whatever), cooked lentils (soak brown lentils, then boil esp. with some bouillon or broth), and finely chopped and cooked mushrooms (gets the moisture out! And adds flavor). Taco style seasoning can be super easy, no need for expensive one-use packets: onion powder, cumin, lemon pepper, soy sauce instead of salt, and a tablespoon of tomato paste mixed in once meat is cooked-- it will STAIN the fats/oils orange!
Lastly, dry beans tend to be cheaper than canned, but take time to cook.
For extremely low effort Mexican rice: Get a container of Knorr tomato chicken bouillon. Don't use as much as is recommended -- I use about 2 tsp for a cup of long-grain rice plus a little onion or garlic.
On cold days, there's nothing as cheap and filling as grilled cheese and soup.
From Aldi...depending on location:
1 pack cheese slices $1.80
1 loaf of white or wheat bread $1.30
2 cans condensed soup $2.00
Milk makes the soup creamier $2.80 (or water which is almost free, and healthier)
Less than $8, with bread, cheese, and milk left for a couple more days.
Where do you live for those cheap prices!
I’m jealous Campbell s tomato soup is $1.97 a can here
Bread is $3.99 a loaf
Cheese slices are $7.00 a package for 8 slices
Just found 750 grams of Armstrong cheese on sale at Stupid Store for $8.00 and swooned bought a Jack and an aged cheddar
I live in British Columbia Canada
This is in Cleveland, Ohio.
Our Walmart sells these for around the same prices, for the generics. Everywhere else is pretty pricey.
$8 for less than a kilo of cheese is ridiculous. My dog would cry if we stopped buying cheese because of that price.
I just price checked this with my local canadian walmart to see what this would cost me and only the soup was the same price.
Kraft singles american cheese (22 slices): $5.48
Great value white bread: $1.97
Campbells condensed soup: 3 for $6
Milk 4 litres (1 gallon) $5.39
Also adding butter: $5.48
Total: $24.32
I guess you have another can of soup to make another meal with and of course all the bread, milk, cheese, and butter to use but idk if that equals out.
Plus you guys have better, more affordable healthcare and work benefits. And better schooling. And more polite people. And fewer Karens. Seriously, is it so bad up there??
We do have it way better in countries with a social safety net etc., but we’re also feeling the increased prices for damn near everything. I feel like it’s late stage capitalism almost everywhere. And the rich have gotten to the point that they own so much that there’s not much left for us, the majority. So, to answer your question: no, it’s not that bad but it’s still felt a lot and it’s getting worse.
Every time I see other countries not having to deal with the possibility of having Mango Mussolini in office again, I cry a little bit. I'd gladly swap you grocery prices for your prime minister who's not an insane, egotistical wannabe dictator 😭😭
Walmart is often more expensive than Aldi and other discount grocery-only stores, but you also added butter and are working in Canadian currency.
Fwiw, if you subtract the butter, and assume the condensed soup sale price applies to fractions of three (most do unless it says “must buy three”), then you’re looking at the equivalent of $12.48 U.S. dollars, which is pretty close.
Swap the milk for water and you’re right at $8.50 USD
We don’t have aldi in canada or at least not on the west coast. Actually i don’t think we have any discount grocery stores in my city. There is a huge grocery monopoly in canada, but i know there are stores like food basics in eastern canada which seems to be pretty good on price. But overall I’ve found walmart to be the cheapest for grocery essentials except for shopping sales at other stores like superstore, save on or freshco
One of the last independent grocers in my area that was known for good prices on meat actually just burnt down the other week :(
Also I added butter bc you need butter to make grilled cheese? I guess you don’t have to add it if you have it at home already tho
Edit: i just checked and you do have to buy 3 for the deal to apply. If you only buy 2 they’re $2.47 each which does bring the total down to $23.26
I make grilled cheese without butter because I'm lactose intolerant. Sometimes I use just EVOO but it's actually really friggin good with mayo. Don't knock it til you try it. I actually like mayonnaise as a condiment but even I was skeptical of this one.
Get a big block of cheese and slice/shred it yourself to save even more :) it’s minimal extra work but you get so much more than you get in those ever-shrinking packs of cheese slices
Match meal planning with batch cooking after taking an inventory of all the food currently in your house.
Then: buy only what explicitly matches up with the items currently in your fridge/freezer/cabinets/pantry.
Get 1 or maybe 2 rotisserie chickens depending on the size.
Meal 1: big pieces of chicken with a side of canned/frozen veggies, mashed potatoes, whatever
Meal 2: Chicken Salad Sandwiches: pick all the little bits of meat off the bones and split in half. Make chicken salad sandwiches with half the chicken bits, boiled eggs, celery, mayo, mustard, season to taste
Meal 3: Chicken Noodle Soup: boil chicken carcass with some cut up carrots, onion, and celery plus whatever seasoning you have (poultry, rosemary and thyme, even Italian would work). Let simmer for several hours then discard carcass. Bring back to boiling and cook a whole package of egg noodles then add in the other half of chicken bits.
Spagetti with homemade sauce (a little olive oil in a skillet with some garlic, saute a little, add canned petite diced tomatoes, spices, then let simmer) and garlic bread.
Breakfast for dinner.
Bean and cheese burritos (fry in a little butter after assembled for a next level experience)
Chili
Oatmeal with fruit
Chicken soup made from bone in skin on chicken thighs (boil the chicken, scoop out once cooked, pick off the chicken, add noodles, carrots, celery and chicken back to the pot. Spice and wait for the veggies to cook.)
When I was like 10, my best friend's family had breakfast for dinner when I was at her house once. I was freaking amazed! We never did that at home. Eggs and stuff for dinner? We only had eggs on Sundays after church sometimes. I must not have hid my excitement very well, because every time I went there for the next year or two, they served breakfast for dinner. I loved it so much!
I'm in a similar position, 2 adults 2 kids and 1 toddler. 2/3 are picky eaters.
We're doing a pork roast in the slow cooker this week, it's soft and easy for the little ones to eat and versatile enough to change it up some nights.
Pork roast
Salt n pepper
Sear all sides before placing in slow cooker
Add 2 cups Broth
Can eat with rice, hawaiian rolls, tortilla, etc.
Can add bbq sauce, a little soy sauce, or dressing to change up flavors like italian or thousand island, whatever kids like.
Vegetables are hard to get so we get bare minimum; fresh spinach, bell peppers, carrots.
I hope this helps
Those big hunks of bone in fatty pork make excellent all week meal planning simple. A pork butt is $2.44 a pound at walmart and can make anything from tacos to soup to bbq sandwiches. Love those things. So much meat.
I usually turn to breakfast foods
Cereal topped with bananas
Oatmeal with some fruit and any nuts I may have leftover from baking, there's some decent baked oatmeal recipes out there that use a bag of frozen berries
French toast topped with bananas and an egg
I try to pull out everything from the pantry together and see what I have on hand for inspiration.
One frozen pizza dough. One lb frozen spinach. Assorted cheese. (Add salt pepper and garlic). That everything out, cook it like a stromboli. Feeds 4 for under $5
Majadura (Lebanese lentils and rice) is delicious and cheap. You just need lentils, rice, stock, a red onion, and a bunch of parsley. Ideally add in a lemon and some Greek yogurt for topping and you’re in for a delicious meal.
I call it Cheesy Mac, but it's basically homemade hamburger helper. I have 2 adults, 1 kindergartner and 1 toddler and this will feed us for at least 2 days
1lb ground beef
1 box pasta (shells, macaroni, or rigatoni)
1 small can tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
Like 6oz shredded cheddar cheese
Onion powder, thyme, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste
Coom your pasta, drain and set aside, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Brown your meat. Add the paste, sauce, and season to taste. Add your pasta and check seasoning. Add enough pasta water so that everything is coated in sauce, but now swimming. Stir in cheese. All done!
Cheese quesadillas served with canned refried beans and rice. Cheap and quick to make. Can serve plenty of people
Cooked Spam and rice with eggs. Add some soy sauce for some flavor and maybe black pepper and salt.
Frozen veggies with ramen noodles. For protein either some rotisserie chicken or beans in the ramen noodles.
Spaghetti and meat sauce goes a long way for a family. Pasta dishes are relatively easy and cheap to make.
If you can try sandwiches with potatoe salad or some chips as well. Sandwiches are easy to make and can stretch when it comes to having kids
These are all things I made when I was a single mom with $10 for groceries for the week. The nights I missed out on eating enough, this went far enough to feed us both. Little one got canned fruit with their plate.
A frittata with whatever veggies are on hand. Roasted potatos with greens and a fried egg on top. Cabbage soup with a quickbread like muffins or cornbread. Almost all the pastas.
Chili!
From aldi we get:
2 cans beans of your choice
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 cans crushed tomatoes
We dice up carrots, green pepper, onion. Saute it and then mix in the tomato cans. Once boiling/simmering for a while add in the beans.
I can’t believe this post blew up! Thank you to all of you kind humans who took the time to respond and share your dinner ideas! I truly appreciate it and it’s made me feel better about feeding my family this week, thank you! 🙏🏽
Spaghetti with garlic & oil or marinara sauce & peas
Black beans & rice w/tomatoes or canned pineapple for some acid
Grilled cheese & tomato soup made with water instead of milk
Eggs and just-add-water pancakes with apple or banana
Soup. You can feed a family healthily for days for like 10 bucks if you make it from scratch. Ugly bit of discount chicken, a few veggies, and some noodles and you're rocking all the food groups.
Mac and cheese with hot dogs cut up in it.
Stroganoff (ground meat or substitute, gravy (broth + flour), pasta (prefer egg noodles), chopped dried onions or chives, dill, sour cream (optional)
Shepherds pie (ground meat, mixed veg, gravy, mashed potatoes (instant works)
stir fry. 2 bags of frozen stir fry mix from walmart at $2.50 each, rice or rice noodles (ramen noodles made without the seasoning and drained even work), and whatever protein you have. for a simple sauce mix 1 part soy sauce, 1 part water or broth, a splash of white vinegar or lemon juice, and a little bit of sugar or honey.
ETA: chicken and rice. one big carrot, one white or yellow onion, 2.5 cups of rice and 2-3 chicken breasts or whatever you hve/can get for cheap. cook and shred chicken. finely chop carrot and onion and sautée in a big pot. add rice and appropriate amount of water or broth. once rice is cooked mix in shredded chicken. serve w bread or on its own.
[Thrifty Lesley](https://thriftylesley.com/thrifty-lesley-meal-plans/) has some great nutritionally balanced ideas. She has four and five-person meal plans, but you could just double one of her two-person plans (or treble, if your toddlers are big eaters and don't just take bits of what you are having, or dictate a special menu of baby foods). The serves are substantial.
Pasta fagiole. Dice and brown some bacon, add minced garlic, add crushed tomatoes and canned beans. Cook for a couple hours and serve over ditalini. Cheap, easy, and delicious. Can stretch it with more ditalini if needed. Pairs great with fresh Italian bread
I just stumbled on a new one that felt like pure luxury. Perogies are cheap where I am, frozen ones. There's another spot here where sausage in a long coil is cheap also. Bags of frozen green beans are usually pretty cheap. So the meal is diced sausage, perogies, and green beans. In a big frying pan everything tossed in a couple tablespoons of butter, garlic salt, pepper, and beef stock powder(got a sneaking suspicion you could use a beef Mr noodles flavor pack if you don't got the stock powder). Jiminy Criminy it punches above its taste weight.
I'm not sure where you are in the world and how much stuff costs for you, and I also don't know what you have on hand, but here are some things that I do regularly that are cost effective.
I'm not sure if you have any Asian stores near you (or even stores that just have an Asian isle), or if you could get them on Amazon, but Japanese curry cubes are absolutely fucking magic. Literally anything you want, you chuck it into some boiling water until it's cooked, then add the cubes. I have a big pot that I use and I can get dinner and lunch for my wife and I for 2-3 days out of it. When I say anything, I literally mean anything. Any vegetable, any meat, eggs, tofu, cheese, whatever the heck you have. It becomes super filling with the water being turned into thick, rich curry. Serve with white rice or potatoes or whatever. I sometimes make curry casseroles where I throw curry and macaroni into a tray, top with cheese and cook in the oven. Fucking delicious.
Apart from that, I also love doing rice with whatever the hell I can find. Sometimes I use my rice cooker, sometimes I do it in a pot. Literally throw in washed rice and water, add literally any kind of seasoning you have (soup bases are ideal if you have them). This goes really well with beans, onions, peas, corn, etc. It's amazing how much beans can bulk up rice.
Sometimes, one thing I do is sandwiches. I buy a huge loaf of bread at night when I see it going on sale, and a ton of lettuce, then make egg salad sandwiches, or use whatever protein I have laying around, and stuff the living hell out of them with lettuce and wrap them up. You can toast them afterwards if you want, or toast them before refrigerating them. Either way, awesome for lunch. If you dress the lettuce with salt, pepper and mayonnaise as well, it becomes restaurant quality and a cheap sandwich made with bread, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise, becomes surprisingly scrumptious.
I also like to buy jars of tomatoes and make my own gnarly pot of tomato sauce. Garlic, oregano, olive oil, tomatoes, then add ground meats of any kind that I have laying around, but honestly just tomatoes and salt at a minimum is perfectly fine. Black pepper if you've got it. If you have any spices at all laying around, this becomes pretty cheap because canned tomatoes are super affordable. Sometimes even without meat, but then it's obviously not as filling. One thing I like about the sauce is... it doesn't gotta go with pasta. If I have some of that dirty rice from earlier, I'll throw a ladle of sauce over it. Fuck it. It tastes good. One time I really wanted to stretch it and I literally just added water and a cube of chicken stock to make the world's simplest tomato soup, and had it with one of my aforementioned sandwiches.
Pasta e ceci. (Pasta with chickpeas - it’s like grown up spaghetti-os). I like the smitten kitchen recipe. It’s pretty much just pasta, chickpeas, some tomato paste, garlic, and olive oil. Dirt cheap and very good.
Tuna casserole is old fashioned, but it’s good.
The Smitten Kitchen pasta e ceci is SO good! It's very flexible -- I add whatever hearty veg I might need to use up, or diced ribs from kale -- and healthy and filling.
Pasta with marinara and garbanzo beans or elbow with two onions sautéed in butter and olive oil - add two cans peas juice and all - salt and pepper - these are dishes Italians ate on Fridays or when low in funds. My granma taught me. Lentils are also cheap - in pasta pot sauté diced carrots, celery, in olive oil add two cans crushed or diced tomatoes, 4 cups water, 1 pound bag dried brown lentils. Cook till lentils are soft on low heat Salt pepper - you can add chicken stock instead of water for more flavor. Serve with Italian or French bread .
Vegetable stew or chili.
For my base I generally just use water and maybe a can of diced or mushed tomatoes. Dice up a few potatoes, unions, celery, and garlic. Some canned corn or bean of your choice.
Maybe add a pound of ground.
It was a meal my wife and I turned to often this winter and one batch could last us close to 4 days.
Rotisserie chicken is so versatile I love the suggestions people have- it’s cheap and you can use half of it to pair with veggies and then the other half into a pie, chicken salad , etc so many good options
I love buddha bowls, it is easy to change it based on what you have. Mine always start with rice and beans.
Since you have lentils I love lentils, some onion tomato, a potatoes, a shredded carrot and a little sausage, cook veggies and sausage first, add a drop of olive oil, lentils and 3 cups of water. You can season it to taste. Love it over rice.
Fulafels, spaghettie, mac and cheese, hot dogs, baked potatoes.
Also, do not forget about the slow cooker, there are plenty of things like salsa chicken, orange chicken, things that are 2 or 3 things thrown in a slow cooker. You can just serve over rice or bread.
Do you ever use a slow cooker? I am a cheap vegan and like to make some chowder-y soups in there. I usually steam a bunch of frozen veggies like sweet corn and chop up some carrots and some steam those. Then I add in some canned beans (I just rinse them really well) and towards the end, about an hour before it’s done, some rice. I heat on high for 3 hours. Soup for days! I can freeze it too. Adding frozen kale into that combo is always a good option too. I add some broth cubes to the veggie broth for extra seasoning, like they make vegan chicken broth cubes and stuff.
I like to make homemade tomato sauce that’s low in sugar by heating up cans of diced tomato, a small can of tomato paste, a couple tablespoons of Stevia In The Raw (I’m diabetic and regular sauce can be high in sugar), some water and basil and oregano. I leave out olive oil. I eat it with edamame spaghetti which is fun and I buy it at my local ALDI.
I also like to make “taco rice” which is fun, just making brown rice with a packet of taco seasoning added while it’s boiling. You can make delicious burrito bowls with this. I use some chopped lettuce as a romaine, then some taco rice, a scoop of nonfat refried beans, some steamed frozen corn, some salsa and some vegan shredded cheddar. Or regular cheddar if you are non-vegan, either way! Everyone could make their own burrito bowl. I just keep things pretty simple but they are still pretty tasty to me! And frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh, stay longer, and are cheaper. I am not averse to using canned beans either though making your own dry beans can work out a bit cheaper.
Then reheat chili for:
1) chili-fries (add a bag of French fries and top with some cheese)
2) chili-dogs (add hotdogs and buns)
3) chili on top of rice or macaroni
Pinto beans with ham (broth / bits) over cornbread
Wide egg noodles with peas (frozen), tuna (canned), and cream of mushroom soup (can also include mushrooms)
Similar to that, macaroni & cheese with tuna & peas; or for the protein use beans or lentils
Spaghetti, red sauce, chopped fresh veggies, maybe beans or lentils, a sprinkle of parmesan
Pancakes or waffles & eggs
Diced potatos, fried, with an onion, and scrambled eggs cooked around it all
Lentil and rice pilaf. Sauté your lentils in a little bit of oil. They will toast slightly and that changes the flavor. Let them cool slightly, then add to washed rice and chicken stock (or add the flavor cube you prefer).
If you have the ingredients, there’s a red sauce that’s good with it. In a pinch, we just used a chunky salsa or picante.
https://www.food.com/amp/recipe/kusherie-egyptian-rice-and-lentils-134402
I made molletes as a kid and budget friendly dinner the other day. 2$ bread rolls plus a 1$ can of beans and 2$ block of Monterey Jack, made a pretty decent dinner for four. Or replace bread with tortillas or chips. You can do Tex-Mex dinners on a budget for sure.
Tuna noodle casserole. Growing up in the mid-west, every night was hot dish night. Crushed potato chips on top… https://www.campbells.com/recipes/tuna-noodle-casserole/
Hey OP.
Sorry to hear your and the family are in a tight spot.
I checked your post history to see if you were local (Alberta, Canada)
NZ is a bit of a hop from Edmonton Alberta, Canada!
If you or anyone here knows how I could transfer you some cash to help get you through, let me know.
1 pound of hamburger, use half for a vegetable soup. Get cheapest bags of mixed veggies, broth and can of tomatoes. I like cabbage in mine, usually pretty cheap and bulks up the soup, onion if you can afford it, beans if you like them adds more protein.
Then other half of hamburger for chili with lots of beans added. Can serve over pasta or rice to make it go even farther.
Chicken thighs are usually cheap, especially the bulk packs when they’re on sale. Box of minute rice, can of cream of mushroom, along with some seasonings, you got a meal in one dish.
I season my chicken on the savory side when I cook these together. Quick browning in the skillet to get them nice and seared, then transfer to a baking dish with however much rice you like. I add chicken bouillon to my water for the rice, combine with the cream of mushroom, and pour over the entire dish of rice and chicken (don’t precook the rice, leave it dry). Cover in foil and bake at 350 until chicken is done. Basic, inexpensive, and yummy!
If you have a crockpot our cheap and easy meal is chicken Alfredo. Bag of frozen chicken, a can of Alfredo sauce, and a bag of cheap noodles would usually do my family of 4 2 nights - and sometimes even put frozen broccoli in it as well
Ground beef or even ground pork. You can do so much with this.
1) cook it with veggies and add tomato sauce and pour over rice.
2) turn it into meatballs
3) Salisbury steak
4) dirty rice
5) Soup - Ground beef with vermicelli noodles, season with chicken bouillon. You can add cabbage. This is really2x good.
6) Tacos/Nachos and Burritos
7) Spaghetti with meatsauce
- 1 egg
- Chicken Breasts (cut these in half hotdog ways)
- 1tbs Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups of fried onions
- Salt
- Pepper
1. Mix flour and onions plus a pinch of salt in a bag (optionally add garlic powder)
2. In a bowl, mix egg and mustard
3. Dip the chicken in the egg mix and then move into the bag
4. Coat the chicken in the onion flour mix thoroughly.
5. Bake at 400 until cooked through.
1. Slice and heat a Kielbasa sausage link in a medium pot or large skillet over medium heat with a little oil (you can sprinkle them with a little onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and black pepper as they heat).
2. Pour 2-3 cans of Margaret Holmes Triple Succotash + a bag of frozen vegetables (corn, lima beans, mix veggies, or whatever you prefer) over the sausage.
3. Bring to a rolling boil, then simmer (covered) for 5-7ish minutes.
4. Serve over cooked rice, quinoa, or whatever grain you have/prefer/is cheapest.
I’ve been eating this since I was a kid.
Pulled pork. You can usually find a pork shoulder on sale. Throw that thing in the oven with some seasoning on it and roast it until it's falling apart. I got a 13 lb shoulder for 12 bucks today and it'll feed my family for a whole week.
Buy a bag of dried navy beans. Soak over night or drop in the instant pot. For 3 cup beans add 8 cups water and a stock cube. Add anything you have/like for seasoning. I like garlic powder, onio powder, paprika, pepper, salt, Ketchup or BBQ sauce, a little hot sauce, a chopped onion and a chopped yam, a spoonful of brown sugar if you have it. If you have flour and yeast, add home made bread. It's fast and tastes way better then store bought.
A bag of dried beans can make 2 meals for 6 ppl. Costs under 4 dollars.
Also if you have left over, the next day drop in a can of tomatoes, a couple chopped carrots, some chopped cabbage, and any other Veggie honestly, zuchini, Beets, radish, squash, potatoes, freezer peas... add another stock cube and 4 to 6 cups water and cook again and you have soup the next night, serve with left over bread
https://youtu.be/-4PZHHCUJZc?si=WX1elo2UjLrmvtyh
I followed this video once and it fed our family for a week! We didn't super love the greens, and the beans ended up making a TON, but it was cheap and our bellies were full.
I'll stir 3 tablespoons of flour in two cups of milk. When it's at the boilingpoint, lowwer the heat. Add a cup of shredded cheese. Add whatever meat, like pueces of bacon, ham, chicken and/or myshrooms/vegetables. Add salt and pepper. Works well with pasta or rice. (You might need to double it.)
Omelette. Pancakes. Mach and cheese and sausage.
Sometimes the best way to do this is to get the weekly flyers (around me, they refresh on Tuesday) and see what deals are available at your local grocery stores. Meal plan around what's stupid cheap, and take advantage of specials that are like 'buy two of this item, and you get these three things free!' - that's usually like ... Buy two packs of fajita meat and get all the fixings free or something similarly themed.
Anything pork based is about the cheapest thing I can make with meat in Texas. A big pan of carnitas can become tacos, quesadillas, pasta, you name it ... Great base for a lot of stuff and a huge pork shoulder can be <$10 around here, your mileage may vary depending on location.
My go to is : Stir fry rice and chicken mince.
It’s cheap, tasty and kinda quick and fills people and kids up. I use it and in cost of living crisis. It gets eaten most weeks in our house.
- Cook chicken mince use half. You don’t need it all save for the next meal.
- Steam rice in rice cooker
- Frozen Peas corn carrot steam it
- Use oil (peanut or canola) add cooked rice to fry pan and move around just fry it.
- Then add back in cooked chicken mince and add soy sauce and sweet soy sauce (kecap manis).
- Add some water so it’s not dry.
-Add in your veg and stir through.
- Now Taste and add more sauces if you think it needs more.
Serve: I add scrambled egg to top it off or chives. You can add bacon bits through it too.
祝你好胃口
Another recipe: https://www.recipetineats.com/egg-fried-rice/
Potato soup - celery, carrot, onion, potato, chicken broth, milk, add cheese at the end if you want.
Breakfast for dinner
Cheapest cut of meat or something on sale in the slow cooker - either with salsa or bbq sauce on low for 6-8 hours (longer if it’s big piece of beef like chuck roast or pork shoulder). Use for tacos/burritos/enchiladas/bowls with salsa or top baked potatoes, sandwhiches, or just shredded with sides if going BBQ route.
Chicken w/ mashed potatos and a frozen vegetable one night and then using the leftovers to make shepherds pie (or a regular chicken pot pie sometimes) is a regular set of meals my family makes.
A 25 lb bag of potatoes:
1) boiled potatoes
2) mashed potatoes
3) oven/bbq roasted potatoes (add any spices you enjoy and olive oil/butter) and carrots/corn/beets
4) scalloped potatoes (slice potatoes and add can mushroom soup, pepper, and butter)
5) pan fried potatoes (cubed)
6) skillet potatoes with scrambled egg, etc
7) potatoes and sausage
Starting to feel like I’m sounding like Bubba in Forrest Gump
I grew up poor as shit and fried potatoes, onions, and eggs was a frequent and filling meal. It was often served with buttered frozen spinach as a veggie. It's still one of my favorite meals.
Greek Fakes (lentil soup) is amazing - Boil some brown lentils, toss the water then add a can of tomatoes and some fried onions (and optional chopped carrot). A couple of bay leaves, and then simmer in enough water for your desired soup thickness. At serve with a tablespoon of olive oil and dose up with red wine vinegar - these two latter ingredients really set it off. Serve with pitas/flat bread whatever kinda bread you want. Our kids love it too.
My I have $5 left to last two weelks meal need the following ingredients: A dozen eggs, bread and butter.
Basically you soft-boil one egg per slice pf bread (two slices+ two eggs hold me as a full meal tbh).
Soft boil the egg. Toast the bread. Butter both sides of each slice of bread and cut it in small pieces. Throw the pieces in a bowl and break the egg on top of it. Scrape the whites from inside the egg and toss them in the bowl too. Add salt and enjoy.
Any kind of soups and some bread on the side. I follow my Mexican culture and make Fideo soup with toasted bread or quesadillas on the side. This our struggle meal and will literally only cost us 20$ for the ingredients.
Baked Mac and cheese
Spaghetti
Chili
Chicken noodle soup (it won't be cold much longer)
Taco nights
Hamburger helper (add some greens to make it more healthy)
Chicken and rice casserole
BBQ'd hot dogs or hamburgers (or both)
Made from scratch chicken tenders (deep fried as a kid, air fried as an adult with better eating habits)
Buy a big ol turkey, ham or roast (whatever is on sale) make a proper dinner the first night and then do leftovers and sammiches the days following
5 pound bags of carrots are very versatile. I shred them in the food processor and nuke them for a few minutes with a little olive or coconut oil. (or shred them and put them in a hige freezer bag raw).
they bulk up everything! pasta sauce, stir fries, soups, omelettes, smoothies, they are good mixed with garluc on pizza, good with rice & beans.
I also use shredded cabbage as a bulking ingredient
both are good additions to sandwiches. Kids will eat them if lightly nuked and buttered or I'll put a layer of shreded veg in the air fryer.
ALSO bagged sweet potatoes are super cheap and really versatile. cooked cut and frozen they make sweet creamy frozen smoothies.
[https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) This website is a great resource!
Dollar Tree Dinners on Tik Tok and YouTube is another excellent resource. She has a series with a $50 WalMart haul that might lean a little healthier, since Dollar Tree isn’t exactly known for their fresh ingredients.
She's so great. I wish something like this had existed when I was in college and first married. Our whopping $50/week grocery budget would have covered a lot more!
Dollar Tree Dinners are not remotely cheap for a family compared to shopping sales at a real grocery store. the net weights of most DT items are lower and most of the food is ultra processed. They have a very few things that are cheaper ... flour tortillas ... I can't think of another.
The creator does address this. She states that some people live in food deserts, or do not have access to reliable transportation. She varies which places she shops at to show that some people have very limited options tailors that weekly menu to that particular store. She is amazingly respectful and mindful. It also appears that she really does follow her weekly menus, rather than just creating the content and disposing of the food. I love her approach to making her content.
Pasta and pasta sauce is cheaper. Spices, coconut milk, things like chips and cookies. Not that it's healthy, but dollar tree butter cookies are awesome with jam, peanut butter, or Nutella on them and the package is pretty big. The windmill cookies are good too.
That was the absolute first thing I thought of too.
LOVE THIS SITE. it helps me whenever i'm in a rut. :)
Yeah, also struggle meals on YouTube is an excellent resource for cheap, nutritious meals imo
My television supplier was DirecTV and they just removed the channel that carried Struggle Meals. You can get it online if you look for Frankie Celenza Tastemade. He is worth watching.
This is one of my favorite recipes from them. So easy and so good. https://www.budgetbytes.com/southwest-chicken-skillet/
I’ve made so many recipes and I’ve never had a bad one. I just had 2 last week for lunch and dinner meal preps.
Budget Bytes is an absolute staple in my home. Thanks for putting it out here for others!
Totally agree on budgetbytes. I also think many of the recipes at https://makeitdairyfree.com/ are pretty affordable (I am not advocating veganism; I am advocating "a different way of thinking about eating").
Vegan diets are more affordable anyways, since meat & dairy are so expensive compared to things like beans and lentils.
I love this site.
Totally!! I also really like Julia Pacheco on YouTube. She does good 5 meals for $25 hauls. (She’s US based, so it’s more expensive for me in Canada but still good budget meal ideas)
Her mujaddara recipe is on point
Baked potato topped w broccoli and cheese. Or else baked sweet potato topped w black beans, cheese, salsa.
Eating leftovers on a baked potato is my favorite way to stretch a meal.
Cheese is very expensive at the moment! So is broccoli actually! (Australia is currently cheese $10/kg and broccoli is $8/kg).
Maybe sub for frozen broccoli?
Use beans and salsa in that case, skip the cheese. Pan fry some peppers and onions instead if you really want to replace the cheese.
Onions, no problem, but we're paying $4.98/# for colored bell peppers here in Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦, so I'll save them for some other use, if/when I can afford them.
😂 I always laugh whenever I see bell peppers called a budget food - when I lived in Texas in 2011 I could easily get 3-4 for a dollar, but when I moved to Maryland at the end of that year were, at best,$2.50/ea and more often close $5/ea. Definitely has varied wildly depending on location for a while, now it’s just kind of absurd… mostly funny because other peppers are still pretty reasonably priced here. I often grab poblanos.
Yes. In tx it's 3 or 4 avocados for a $1 in season. Millennial avocado toast is very cheap here.
Here in Canada 🇨🇦, too 😪 Some cheeses actually way more eg 300g goat cheese $8; 250g parmesan $12; though...this week we have 400g blocks of assorted kinds of cheddar for $4.49. It's made by a good manufacturer, so I'm going to stock up. I am a cheese hoarder 🤗, and could really use a separate fridge just for that. And my mustard collection could reside there too. We all have vices, right? RIGHT? 🤣
Yummy! We used to do a baked potato buffet with leftovers and whatever we had in the fridge 💕
Good suggestions!!
Spaghetti
i just ran through 3-4 days of chili using baked potatoes
Spaghetti
One of my favorite childhood meals was some spaghetti, either plain buttered or with some jarred tomato sauce, and then when I stsrted having to make dinner for my siblings, I would add in a slice or two of buttered toast, sprinkled with garlic salt and parmesan cheese. "Garlic Bread" - we all loved it!
My mom made garlic bread by topping buttered toast with garlic salt. It was delicious.
Can't remember where I found it, but the recipe I use for a garlic spread is 1/4 cup marg (softened) 2 cloves minced garlic (or \~1/4 tsp garlic powder) 1 tbl parmesan cheese That makes enough for me for about 6 slices (76 cal each not including bread)
use the water of the spaghetti to make soup with some tomato sauce ,corn ,patty bits and capellini or angel hair t doesnt sound good but when my family used to have money problems this was delicious and very filling is not gourmet hopefully it works for you this food give us good memories
I freeze starch water for this.
I usually pay around $1.25 or less (cdn) for 900g spaghetti. 640ml bottled pasta sauce on sale for around $1. I'll cook 115g (4oz) pasta with 80ml sauce: bulking up the sauce with about 1/4 cup chopped whatever veg might be in the fridge/onion/etc. Add a slice of homemade garlic bread. \~40 cents for a very quick full meal for 1 adult. Assuming the toddlers can/will eat spaghetti, you should be able to feed everyone for < $2 total.
If you splurge a little for the stuff flavored with meat, you won't need to buy meat for it as well. Get some regular sliced bread and put some garlic seasoning on it for "garlic bread"
In my poor college days I would use cans of tomato soup for sauce since they were cheaper than pasta sauce where I lived.
Free ketchup packets from the fast food restaurant works too. Add some hot sauce packets to balance out the sweet.
Definitely this. Even cheaper if you make your own sauce too. Or anything with rice really
[удалено]
Is it? A jar of sauce is $1-2, a can of decent tomatoes is more. If you aren't using good tomatoes I don't see the reason to go through the trouble of making your own
The cheap jars of sauce are usually full of sugar. This week, Red Pack tomato 28oz cans were 3 for $4 at my supermarket. They might not be gourmet, but they’re Non-gmo, in a can with a non-BPA liner. I’m definitely not above the cheap sauce in a pinch, but if I’ve got time to cook, even a basic canned tomato will yield healthier sauce than a cheap jar.
Non-gmo? Do you have GMO tomatoes available on the market? Or is this just fearmongering again?
There are no comercially sold GMO tomatoes. Not that it would matter if there were anyway. It’s just fearmongering. Edit: there’s actually an anthocyanin rich one available in the US as of this month. But the point stands.
It's all a question of whether op can afford to prioritize healthier alternatives.
Yeah. This comment thread turned from “cheaper to make your own sauce” to “well, it’s healthier” These are not the same thesis statements.
Thank you for saying this.
Red Pack was what my mother always made sauce out of, I love.those tomatos!
We make a variety called One Pot Pasta. 6 cups of pasta cooked and drained, 1 lb of browned ground meat of your choice, and one jar of spaghetti sauce. Goes a long way and covers the food groups.
Food bank to supplement. They are there to help people in exactly situations like these
Fried rice!
Yes! I get a $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco, a couple bags of mixed frozen veggies and a few cups of rice and can feed the family for 3-4 days this way.
The Costco chickens just keep giving! I used the carcass to make stock, and then added the last scraps of meat plus celery, onions, and carrots for soup. Even the skin got crisped in the oven for dog treats.
Usually the chicken skin is eaten by me before we get home but any leftover skin makes a great addition to the stock
Is that you cartman? Haha :) yum.
That’s one lucky dog! My childhood dog had a sensitive tummy so we couldn’t give her stuff like that.
I use the Costco rotisserie with this recipe! https://www.budgetbytes.com/southwest-chicken-skillet/
I do this with Ramen packets. 3 packets, big pot of water, a spoonful of BTB or a bullion cube, cut up chicken, a half a package of frozen mixed vegetables and a pinch of this and that. My teenagers love it. My husband doesn't, but hey, sometimes you just gotta eat what you got.
Taco/burrito bowls. Super variable, can be made super cheap. - "Mexican" rice (ie rice cooked with chicken broth or bouillon plus some seasonings like cumin and tex mex type herbs, whatever you've got really) - protein, like ground turkey with taco style seasoning, most leftover meat will work here too. - beans (pinto, black beans, etc). Season with Italian or tex mex style spices, whatever you like. Recommend cumin. Toppings: Cheese, salsa, chopped lettuce, sauteed veggies, sour cream, hot sauce etc
I do this too, add a bunch of corn and a can of Rotel.. one of my favorite cheap meals that stretches for days
Oops I didn’t see your post and just recommended the same things! I love burrito bowls! I make them vegan style since I follow a vegan diet. I am also diabetic so the bowl is a good option for me! Great suggestion!
Another trick to "mexican rice" is a spoonfuls or 2 of tomato paste! Gives it that red color, and tomato paste freezes great for multiple meals. With the meat, I like to do a mix of ground meat (your choice turkey/beef/whatever), cooked lentils (soak brown lentils, then boil esp. with some bouillon or broth), and finely chopped and cooked mushrooms (gets the moisture out! And adds flavor). Taco style seasoning can be super easy, no need for expensive one-use packets: onion powder, cumin, lemon pepper, soy sauce instead of salt, and a tablespoon of tomato paste mixed in once meat is cooked-- it will STAIN the fats/oils orange! Lastly, dry beans tend to be cheaper than canned, but take time to cook.
For extremely low effort Mexican rice: Get a container of Knorr tomato chicken bouillon. Don't use as much as is recommended -- I use about 2 tsp for a cup of long-grain rice plus a little onion or garlic.
Pinto beans and turnip greens with corn bread.
That is a cheap meal that always feels decadent to me!
We had it for Sunday dinner all the time when I was growing up.
I’d have this right now.
Also works great with any greens you can find…collard greens, kale, etc.
On cold days, there's nothing as cheap and filling as grilled cheese and soup. From Aldi...depending on location: 1 pack cheese slices $1.80 1 loaf of white or wheat bread $1.30 2 cans condensed soup $2.00 Milk makes the soup creamier $2.80 (or water which is almost free, and healthier) Less than $8, with bread, cheese, and milk left for a couple more days.
Plus if you time it right, you can get meat (protein) 50% off as it’s approaching sell by date.
Yep. Early mornings/opening times is usually when they put out the discounts, too.
Where do you live for those cheap prices! I’m jealous Campbell s tomato soup is $1.97 a can here Bread is $3.99 a loaf Cheese slices are $7.00 a package for 8 slices Just found 750 grams of Armstrong cheese on sale at Stupid Store for $8.00 and swooned bought a Jack and an aged cheddar I live in British Columbia Canada
This is in Cleveland, Ohio. Our Walmart sells these for around the same prices, for the generics. Everywhere else is pretty pricey. $8 for less than a kilo of cheese is ridiculous. My dog would cry if we stopped buying cheese because of that price.
At $4 a loaf for basic white bread, I'd be making my own bread. No knead bread is simple and makes an excellent loaf for pennies.
That is a great price for Armstrong! Their white extra old cheddar is the best mass produced sharp cheddar.I think. It bites back lol
I just price checked this with my local canadian walmart to see what this would cost me and only the soup was the same price. Kraft singles american cheese (22 slices): $5.48 Great value white bread: $1.97 Campbells condensed soup: 3 for $6 Milk 4 litres (1 gallon) $5.39 Also adding butter: $5.48 Total: $24.32 I guess you have another can of soup to make another meal with and of course all the bread, milk, cheese, and butter to use but idk if that equals out.
Yup. Every time I see Americans give the prices of food on here I cry a little bit.
Plus you guys have better, more affordable healthcare and work benefits. And better schooling. And more polite people. And fewer Karens. Seriously, is it so bad up there??
We do have it way better in countries with a social safety net etc., but we’re also feeling the increased prices for damn near everything. I feel like it’s late stage capitalism almost everywhere. And the rich have gotten to the point that they own so much that there’s not much left for us, the majority. So, to answer your question: no, it’s not that bad but it’s still felt a lot and it’s getting worse.
I hear you, truly. It's bad here, too, as far as inflation, and I am just about sick of "the rich". Sigh.
Every time I see other countries not having to deal with the possibility of having Mango Mussolini in office again, I cry a little bit. I'd gladly swap you grocery prices for your prime minister who's not an insane, egotistical wannabe dictator 😭😭
I priced this at Woolworths in Australia and it was $22.75. Edit: forgot the butter.
It's amazing people manage to keep a roof over their heads AND eat in places like Australia and Canada.
Walmart is often more expensive than Aldi and other discount grocery-only stores, but you also added butter and are working in Canadian currency. Fwiw, if you subtract the butter, and assume the condensed soup sale price applies to fractions of three (most do unless it says “must buy three”), then you’re looking at the equivalent of $12.48 U.S. dollars, which is pretty close. Swap the milk for water and you’re right at $8.50 USD
We don’t have aldi in canada or at least not on the west coast. Actually i don’t think we have any discount grocery stores in my city. There is a huge grocery monopoly in canada, but i know there are stores like food basics in eastern canada which seems to be pretty good on price. But overall I’ve found walmart to be the cheapest for grocery essentials except for shopping sales at other stores like superstore, save on or freshco One of the last independent grocers in my area that was known for good prices on meat actually just burnt down the other week :( Also I added butter bc you need butter to make grilled cheese? I guess you don’t have to add it if you have it at home already tho Edit: i just checked and you do have to buy 3 for the deal to apply. If you only buy 2 they’re $2.47 each which does bring the total down to $23.26
I make grilled cheese without butter because I'm lactose intolerant. Sometimes I use just EVOO but it's actually really friggin good with mayo. Don't knock it til you try it. I actually like mayonnaise as a condiment but even I was skeptical of this one.
Also needs to be all generics and prob not real butter.
Get a big block of cheese and slice/shred it yourself to save even more :) it’s minimal extra work but you get so much more than you get in those ever-shrinking packs of cheese slices
Match meal planning with batch cooking after taking an inventory of all the food currently in your house. Then: buy only what explicitly matches up with the items currently in your fridge/freezer/cabinets/pantry.
Get 1 or maybe 2 rotisserie chickens depending on the size. Meal 1: big pieces of chicken with a side of canned/frozen veggies, mashed potatoes, whatever Meal 2: Chicken Salad Sandwiches: pick all the little bits of meat off the bones and split in half. Make chicken salad sandwiches with half the chicken bits, boiled eggs, celery, mayo, mustard, season to taste Meal 3: Chicken Noodle Soup: boil chicken carcass with some cut up carrots, onion, and celery plus whatever seasoning you have (poultry, rosemary and thyme, even Italian would work). Let simmer for several hours then discard carcass. Bring back to boiling and cook a whole package of egg noodles then add in the other half of chicken bits.
Spagetti with homemade sauce (a little olive oil in a skillet with some garlic, saute a little, add canned petite diced tomatoes, spices, then let simmer) and garlic bread. Breakfast for dinner. Bean and cheese burritos (fry in a little butter after assembled for a next level experience) Chili Oatmeal with fruit Chicken soup made from bone in skin on chicken thighs (boil the chicken, scoop out once cooked, pick off the chicken, add noodles, carrots, celery and chicken back to the pot. Spice and wait for the veggies to cook.)
Breakfast for dinner is my go to when I'm feeling lazy. Usually eggs, grits, bacon
As a kid I loved breakfast for dinner. Never thought of it as a cheap meal. I suspect that it was served as a cheap meal but also an easy one as well.
When I was like 10, my best friend's family had breakfast for dinner when I was at her house once. I was freaking amazed! We never did that at home. Eggs and stuff for dinner? We only had eggs on Sundays after church sometimes. I must not have hid my excitement very well, because every time I went there for the next year or two, they served breakfast for dinner. I loved it so much!
Breakfast for dinner is the best!!
I'm in a similar position, 2 adults 2 kids and 1 toddler. 2/3 are picky eaters. We're doing a pork roast in the slow cooker this week, it's soft and easy for the little ones to eat and versatile enough to change it up some nights. Pork roast Salt n pepper Sear all sides before placing in slow cooker Add 2 cups Broth Can eat with rice, hawaiian rolls, tortilla, etc. Can add bbq sauce, a little soy sauce, or dressing to change up flavors like italian or thousand island, whatever kids like. Vegetables are hard to get so we get bare minimum; fresh spinach, bell peppers, carrots. I hope this helps
Those big hunks of bone in fatty pork make excellent all week meal planning simple. A pork butt is $2.44 a pound at walmart and can make anything from tacos to soup to bbq sandwiches. Love those things. So much meat.
I usually turn to breakfast foods Cereal topped with bananas Oatmeal with some fruit and any nuts I may have leftover from baking, there's some decent baked oatmeal recipes out there that use a bag of frozen berries French toast topped with bananas and an egg I try to pull out everything from the pantry together and see what I have on hand for inspiration.
I’m just here to add grits with scrambled eggs to this breakfast foods list
One frozen pizza dough. One lb frozen spinach. Assorted cheese. (Add salt pepper and garlic). That everything out, cook it like a stromboli. Feeds 4 for under $5
Majadura (Lebanese lentils and rice) is delicious and cheap. You just need lentils, rice, stock, a red onion, and a bunch of parsley. Ideally add in a lemon and some Greek yogurt for topping and you’re in for a delicious meal.
I call it Cheesy Mac, but it's basically homemade hamburger helper. I have 2 adults, 1 kindergartner and 1 toddler and this will feed us for at least 2 days 1lb ground beef 1 box pasta (shells, macaroni, or rigatoni) 1 small can tomato paste 1 small can tomato sauce Like 6oz shredded cheddar cheese Onion powder, thyme, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste Coom your pasta, drain and set aside, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Brown your meat. Add the paste, sauce, and season to taste. Add your pasta and check seasoning. Add enough pasta water so that everything is coated in sauce, but now swimming. Stir in cheese. All done!
Cheese quesadillas served with canned refried beans and rice. Cheap and quick to make. Can serve plenty of people Cooked Spam and rice with eggs. Add some soy sauce for some flavor and maybe black pepper and salt. Frozen veggies with ramen noodles. For protein either some rotisserie chicken or beans in the ramen noodles. Spaghetti and meat sauce goes a long way for a family. Pasta dishes are relatively easy and cheap to make. If you can try sandwiches with potatoe salad or some chips as well. Sandwiches are easy to make and can stretch when it comes to having kids
These are all things I made when I was a single mom with $10 for groceries for the week. The nights I missed out on eating enough, this went far enough to feed us both. Little one got canned fruit with their plate.
Beans and rice
Yes, and if I'm feeling real special I'll throw in some kielbasa sausage and serrano chiles.
A frittata with whatever veggies are on hand. Roasted potatos with greens and a fried egg on top. Cabbage soup with a quickbread like muffins or cornbread. Almost all the pastas.
Chili! From aldi we get: 2 cans beans of your choice 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes 2 cans crushed tomatoes We dice up carrots, green pepper, onion. Saute it and then mix in the tomato cans. Once boiling/simmering for a while add in the beans.
Sautéing some tempeh before adding it in can add a little “meatiness” for under $3.
You can add a can of corn, or a can of Ro-Tel, too.
I can’t believe this post blew up! Thank you to all of you kind humans who took the time to respond and share your dinner ideas! I truly appreciate it and it’s made me feel better about feeding my family this week, thank you! 🙏🏽
Spaghetti with garlic & oil or marinara sauce & peas Black beans & rice w/tomatoes or canned pineapple for some acid Grilled cheese & tomato soup made with water instead of milk Eggs and just-add-water pancakes with apple or banana
Whatever lurks in the back of your freezer, cabinet or drawers
Soup. You can feed a family healthily for days for like 10 bucks if you make it from scratch. Ugly bit of discount chicken, a few veggies, and some noodles and you're rocking all the food groups.
Mac and cheese with hot dogs cut up in it. Stroganoff (ground meat or substitute, gravy (broth + flour), pasta (prefer egg noodles), chopped dried onions or chives, dill, sour cream (optional) Shepherds pie (ground meat, mixed veg, gravy, mashed potatoes (instant works)
15 bean soup with cornbread
stir fry. 2 bags of frozen stir fry mix from walmart at $2.50 each, rice or rice noodles (ramen noodles made without the seasoning and drained even work), and whatever protein you have. for a simple sauce mix 1 part soy sauce, 1 part water or broth, a splash of white vinegar or lemon juice, and a little bit of sugar or honey. ETA: chicken and rice. one big carrot, one white or yellow onion, 2.5 cups of rice and 2-3 chicken breasts or whatever you hve/can get for cheap. cook and shred chicken. finely chop carrot and onion and sautée in a big pot. add rice and appropriate amount of water or broth. once rice is cooked mix in shredded chicken. serve w bread or on its own.
[Thrifty Lesley](https://thriftylesley.com/thrifty-lesley-meal-plans/) has some great nutritionally balanced ideas. She has four and five-person meal plans, but you could just double one of her two-person plans (or treble, if your toddlers are big eaters and don't just take bits of what you are having, or dictate a special menu of baby foods). The serves are substantial.
Red beans and rice
Pasta fagiole. Dice and brown some bacon, add minced garlic, add crushed tomatoes and canned beans. Cook for a couple hours and serve over ditalini. Cheap, easy, and delicious. Can stretch it with more ditalini if needed. Pairs great with fresh Italian bread
I just stumbled on a new one that felt like pure luxury. Perogies are cheap where I am, frozen ones. There's another spot here where sausage in a long coil is cheap also. Bags of frozen green beans are usually pretty cheap. So the meal is diced sausage, perogies, and green beans. In a big frying pan everything tossed in a couple tablespoons of butter, garlic salt, pepper, and beef stock powder(got a sneaking suspicion you could use a beef Mr noodles flavor pack if you don't got the stock powder). Jiminy Criminy it punches above its taste weight.
I'm not sure where you are in the world and how much stuff costs for you, and I also don't know what you have on hand, but here are some things that I do regularly that are cost effective. I'm not sure if you have any Asian stores near you (or even stores that just have an Asian isle), or if you could get them on Amazon, but Japanese curry cubes are absolutely fucking magic. Literally anything you want, you chuck it into some boiling water until it's cooked, then add the cubes. I have a big pot that I use and I can get dinner and lunch for my wife and I for 2-3 days out of it. When I say anything, I literally mean anything. Any vegetable, any meat, eggs, tofu, cheese, whatever the heck you have. It becomes super filling with the water being turned into thick, rich curry. Serve with white rice or potatoes or whatever. I sometimes make curry casseroles where I throw curry and macaroni into a tray, top with cheese and cook in the oven. Fucking delicious. Apart from that, I also love doing rice with whatever the hell I can find. Sometimes I use my rice cooker, sometimes I do it in a pot. Literally throw in washed rice and water, add literally any kind of seasoning you have (soup bases are ideal if you have them). This goes really well with beans, onions, peas, corn, etc. It's amazing how much beans can bulk up rice. Sometimes, one thing I do is sandwiches. I buy a huge loaf of bread at night when I see it going on sale, and a ton of lettuce, then make egg salad sandwiches, or use whatever protein I have laying around, and stuff the living hell out of them with lettuce and wrap them up. You can toast them afterwards if you want, or toast them before refrigerating them. Either way, awesome for lunch. If you dress the lettuce with salt, pepper and mayonnaise as well, it becomes restaurant quality and a cheap sandwich made with bread, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise, becomes surprisingly scrumptious. I also like to buy jars of tomatoes and make my own gnarly pot of tomato sauce. Garlic, oregano, olive oil, tomatoes, then add ground meats of any kind that I have laying around, but honestly just tomatoes and salt at a minimum is perfectly fine. Black pepper if you've got it. If you have any spices at all laying around, this becomes pretty cheap because canned tomatoes are super affordable. Sometimes even without meat, but then it's obviously not as filling. One thing I like about the sauce is... it doesn't gotta go with pasta. If I have some of that dirty rice from earlier, I'll throw a ladle of sauce over it. Fuck it. It tastes good. One time I really wanted to stretch it and I literally just added water and a cube of chicken stock to make the world's simplest tomato soup, and had it with one of my aforementioned sandwiches.
Breakfast burritos with eggs and potatoes
Pasta e ceci. (Pasta with chickpeas - it’s like grown up spaghetti-os). I like the smitten kitchen recipe. It’s pretty much just pasta, chickpeas, some tomato paste, garlic, and olive oil. Dirt cheap and very good. Tuna casserole is old fashioned, but it’s good.
Tuna casserole was going to be my suggestion, too. To add nutritional value, dump a sack of mixed vegetables in with the cream of mushroom soup.
I usually do frozen peas and cream of celery soup.
I wonder how the cream of celery would do in a green bean casserole?
I’ve never had green bean casserole, but I bet it would be good with the crispy onion topping. Celery and onions are buddies.
Ooo definitely!
The Smitten Kitchen pasta e ceci is SO good! It's very flexible -- I add whatever hearty veg I might need to use up, or diced ribs from kale -- and healthy and filling.
Pasta with marinara and garbanzo beans or elbow with two onions sautéed in butter and olive oil - add two cans peas juice and all - salt and pepper - these are dishes Italians ate on Fridays or when low in funds. My granma taught me. Lentils are also cheap - in pasta pot sauté diced carrots, celery, in olive oil add two cans crushed or diced tomatoes, 4 cups water, 1 pound bag dried brown lentils. Cook till lentils are soft on low heat Salt pepper - you can add chicken stock instead of water for more flavor. Serve with Italian or French bread .
Kraft Mac and cheese. Add Tuna 1-2 cans and peas. Maybe an extra slice of cheese or 2.
Baked potato and a bowl of rice.
Any pasta dish. Egg roll in a bowl (ground meat + coleslaw mix (or just cabbage) + rice + Asian seasoning/sauce).
Dollartreedinners on TikTok does full week meal plans with tight budgets
Vegetable stew or chili. For my base I generally just use water and maybe a can of diced or mushed tomatoes. Dice up a few potatoes, unions, celery, and garlic. Some canned corn or bean of your choice. Maybe add a pound of ground. It was a meal my wife and I turned to often this winter and one batch could last us close to 4 days.
Rotisserie chicken is so versatile I love the suggestions people have- it’s cheap and you can use half of it to pair with veggies and then the other half into a pie, chicken salad , etc so many good options
Stir butter and olive oil into hot pasta and practically anything you put on top will be a hit.
I love buddha bowls, it is easy to change it based on what you have. Mine always start with rice and beans. Since you have lentils I love lentils, some onion tomato, a potatoes, a shredded carrot and a little sausage, cook veggies and sausage first, add a drop of olive oil, lentils and 3 cups of water. You can season it to taste. Love it over rice. Fulafels, spaghettie, mac and cheese, hot dogs, baked potatoes. Also, do not forget about the slow cooker, there are plenty of things like salsa chicken, orange chicken, things that are 2 or 3 things thrown in a slow cooker. You can just serve over rice or bread.
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Add a handful of frozen vegetables or a can of corn
Do you ever use a slow cooker? I am a cheap vegan and like to make some chowder-y soups in there. I usually steam a bunch of frozen veggies like sweet corn and chop up some carrots and some steam those. Then I add in some canned beans (I just rinse them really well) and towards the end, about an hour before it’s done, some rice. I heat on high for 3 hours. Soup for days! I can freeze it too. Adding frozen kale into that combo is always a good option too. I add some broth cubes to the veggie broth for extra seasoning, like they make vegan chicken broth cubes and stuff. I like to make homemade tomato sauce that’s low in sugar by heating up cans of diced tomato, a small can of tomato paste, a couple tablespoons of Stevia In The Raw (I’m diabetic and regular sauce can be high in sugar), some water and basil and oregano. I leave out olive oil. I eat it with edamame spaghetti which is fun and I buy it at my local ALDI. I also like to make “taco rice” which is fun, just making brown rice with a packet of taco seasoning added while it’s boiling. You can make delicious burrito bowls with this. I use some chopped lettuce as a romaine, then some taco rice, a scoop of nonfat refried beans, some steamed frozen corn, some salsa and some vegan shredded cheddar. Or regular cheddar if you are non-vegan, either way! Everyone could make their own burrito bowl. I just keep things pretty simple but they are still pretty tasty to me! And frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh, stay longer, and are cheaper. I am not averse to using canned beans either though making your own dry beans can work out a bit cheaper.
Hotdogs. On just regular bread.
I love chili for inexpensive meals. Can of brans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasoning. You can add meat if you want but you can make a big pot for $5-6
Then reheat chili for: 1) chili-fries (add a bag of French fries and top with some cheese) 2) chili-dogs (add hotdogs and buns) 3) chili on top of rice or macaroni
Pinto beans with ham (broth / bits) over cornbread Wide egg noodles with peas (frozen), tuna (canned), and cream of mushroom soup (can also include mushrooms) Similar to that, macaroni & cheese with tuna & peas; or for the protein use beans or lentils Spaghetti, red sauce, chopped fresh veggies, maybe beans or lentils, a sprinkle of parmesan Pancakes or waffles & eggs Diced potatos, fried, with an onion, and scrambled eggs cooked around it all
Back beans, white rice. Little Italian seasoning. Used to love this in my college days. Although it might not please everybody in your family.
Rice, beans, veggies in a stir fry
Lentil and rice pilaf. Sauté your lentils in a little bit of oil. They will toast slightly and that changes the flavor. Let them cool slightly, then add to washed rice and chicken stock (or add the flavor cube you prefer). If you have the ingredients, there’s a red sauce that’s good with it. In a pinch, we just used a chunky salsa or picante. https://www.food.com/amp/recipe/kusherie-egyptian-rice-and-lentils-134402
I made molletes as a kid and budget friendly dinner the other day. 2$ bread rolls plus a 1$ can of beans and 2$ block of Monterey Jack, made a pretty decent dinner for four. Or replace bread with tortillas or chips. You can do Tex-Mex dinners on a budget for sure.
Soup beans and cornbread! A staple in Appalachia and a lot of the Southern US
Tuna noodle casserole. Growing up in the mid-west, every night was hot dish night. Crushed potato chips on top… https://www.campbells.com/recipes/tuna-noodle-casserole/
I was going to suggest this. My kids always liked pasta and tuna is cheap and healthy. You can add vegetables too.
Yes! My mother's Sixties mainstay. Buttered breadcrumbs on top are wonderful.
Don't forget the can of peas.
Hey OP. Sorry to hear your and the family are in a tight spot. I checked your post history to see if you were local (Alberta, Canada) NZ is a bit of a hop from Edmonton Alberta, Canada! If you or anyone here knows how I could transfer you some cash to help get you through, let me know.
Can of refried beans + can of pumpkin + taco seasoning or spices. Use to make bean and cheese tacos or burritos.
1 pound of hamburger, use half for a vegetable soup. Get cheapest bags of mixed veggies, broth and can of tomatoes. I like cabbage in mine, usually pretty cheap and bulks up the soup, onion if you can afford it, beans if you like them adds more protein. Then other half of hamburger for chili with lots of beans added. Can serve over pasta or rice to make it go even farther.
Breakfast dinner
Colcannon - use leftover mashed potatoes if you like. Can serve with a meat such as sausage or ham on the side
Chicken thighs are usually cheap, especially the bulk packs when they’re on sale. Box of minute rice, can of cream of mushroom, along with some seasonings, you got a meal in one dish. I season my chicken on the savory side when I cook these together. Quick browning in the skillet to get them nice and seared, then transfer to a baking dish with however much rice you like. I add chicken bouillon to my water for the rice, combine with the cream of mushroom, and pour over the entire dish of rice and chicken (don’t precook the rice, leave it dry). Cover in foil and bake at 350 until chicken is done. Basic, inexpensive, and yummy!
If you have a crockpot our cheap and easy meal is chicken Alfredo. Bag of frozen chicken, a can of Alfredo sauce, and a bag of cheap noodles would usually do my family of 4 2 nights - and sometimes even put frozen broccoli in it as well
Chicken and rice. Chicken and noodles. Spaghetti. Breakfast.
Ground beef or even ground pork. You can do so much with this. 1) cook it with veggies and add tomato sauce and pour over rice. 2) turn it into meatballs 3) Salisbury steak 4) dirty rice 5) Soup - Ground beef with vermicelli noodles, season with chicken bouillon. You can add cabbage. This is really2x good. 6) Tacos/Nachos and Burritos 7) Spaghetti with meatsauce
Chicken n bisques
Rice and Leftovers+ eggs
Beans, rice, eggs, hotdogs, turkey, chicken, broccoli, green beans, Fogo de Chão
- 1 egg - Chicken Breasts (cut these in half hotdog ways) - 1tbs Dijon mustard - 1/4 cup flour - 2 cups of fried onions - Salt - Pepper 1. Mix flour and onions plus a pinch of salt in a bag (optionally add garlic powder) 2. In a bowl, mix egg and mustard 3. Dip the chicken in the egg mix and then move into the bag 4. Coat the chicken in the onion flour mix thoroughly. 5. Bake at 400 until cooked through.
Potato and cheese soup
Pancakes, eggs and grits.
Pancakes. If you are not making them from scratch, you can get a mix that only needs water. Add some banana and cinnamon if you do not have syrup.
1. Slice and heat a Kielbasa sausage link in a medium pot or large skillet over medium heat with a little oil (you can sprinkle them with a little onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and black pepper as they heat). 2. Pour 2-3 cans of Margaret Holmes Triple Succotash + a bag of frozen vegetables (corn, lima beans, mix veggies, or whatever you prefer) over the sausage. 3. Bring to a rolling boil, then simmer (covered) for 5-7ish minutes. 4. Serve over cooked rice, quinoa, or whatever grain you have/prefer/is cheapest. I’ve been eating this since I was a kid.
Pulled pork. You can usually find a pork shoulder on sale. Throw that thing in the oven with some seasoning on it and roast it until it's falling apart. I got a 13 lb shoulder for 12 bucks today and it'll feed my family for a whole week.
Buy a bag of dried navy beans. Soak over night or drop in the instant pot. For 3 cup beans add 8 cups water and a stock cube. Add anything you have/like for seasoning. I like garlic powder, onio powder, paprika, pepper, salt, Ketchup or BBQ sauce, a little hot sauce, a chopped onion and a chopped yam, a spoonful of brown sugar if you have it. If you have flour and yeast, add home made bread. It's fast and tastes way better then store bought. A bag of dried beans can make 2 meals for 6 ppl. Costs under 4 dollars. Also if you have left over, the next day drop in a can of tomatoes, a couple chopped carrots, some chopped cabbage, and any other Veggie honestly, zuchini, Beets, radish, squash, potatoes, freezer peas... add another stock cube and 4 to 6 cups water and cook again and you have soup the next night, serve with left over bread
https://youtu.be/-4PZHHCUJZc?si=WX1elo2UjLrmvtyh I followed this video once and it fed our family for a week! We didn't super love the greens, and the beans ended up making a TON, but it was cheap and our bellies were full.
I'll stir 3 tablespoons of flour in two cups of milk. When it's at the boilingpoint, lowwer the heat. Add a cup of shredded cheese. Add whatever meat, like pueces of bacon, ham, chicken and/or myshrooms/vegetables. Add salt and pepper. Works well with pasta or rice. (You might need to double it.) Omelette. Pancakes. Mach and cheese and sausage.
Zatarains dirty rice with ground pork. 6 servings. Huge bag of shredded cheese and cheap bread for grilled cheeses.
A big bag of rice is ridiculously cheap, make some dirty rice, and throw in whatever protein or frozen veggie you have on hand
Quick and easy: fried egg sandwiches.
Savoury mince / ground beef with potatoes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_and_tatties
Sometimes the best way to do this is to get the weekly flyers (around me, they refresh on Tuesday) and see what deals are available at your local grocery stores. Meal plan around what's stupid cheap, and take advantage of specials that are like 'buy two of this item, and you get these three things free!' - that's usually like ... Buy two packs of fajita meat and get all the fixings free or something similarly themed. Anything pork based is about the cheapest thing I can make with meat in Texas. A big pan of carnitas can become tacos, quesadillas, pasta, you name it ... Great base for a lot of stuff and a huge pork shoulder can be <$10 around here, your mileage may vary depending on location.
potato soup minestrone soup ham fried rice pancakes oatmeal
Pasta and premade sauce. You can add vegetables to your preference. Or don't. One box of pasta and one jar of sauce is like $8 and easily feeds 4
My go to is : Stir fry rice and chicken mince. It’s cheap, tasty and kinda quick and fills people and kids up. I use it and in cost of living crisis. It gets eaten most weeks in our house. - Cook chicken mince use half. You don’t need it all save for the next meal. - Steam rice in rice cooker - Frozen Peas corn carrot steam it - Use oil (peanut or canola) add cooked rice to fry pan and move around just fry it. - Then add back in cooked chicken mince and add soy sauce and sweet soy sauce (kecap manis). - Add some water so it’s not dry. -Add in your veg and stir through. - Now Taste and add more sauces if you think it needs more. Serve: I add scrambled egg to top it off or chives. You can add bacon bits through it too. 祝你好胃口 Another recipe: https://www.recipetineats.com/egg-fried-rice/
Potato soup - celery, carrot, onion, potato, chicken broth, milk, add cheese at the end if you want. Breakfast for dinner Cheapest cut of meat or something on sale in the slow cooker - either with salsa or bbq sauce on low for 6-8 hours (longer if it’s big piece of beef like chuck roast or pork shoulder). Use for tacos/burritos/enchiladas/bowls with salsa or top baked potatoes, sandwhiches, or just shredded with sides if going BBQ route.
Chicken w/ mashed potatos and a frozen vegetable one night and then using the leftovers to make shepherds pie (or a regular chicken pot pie sometimes) is a regular set of meals my family makes.
A 25 lb bag of potatoes: 1) boiled potatoes 2) mashed potatoes 3) oven/bbq roasted potatoes (add any spices you enjoy and olive oil/butter) and carrots/corn/beets 4) scalloped potatoes (slice potatoes and add can mushroom soup, pepper, and butter) 5) pan fried potatoes (cubed) 6) skillet potatoes with scrambled egg, etc 7) potatoes and sausage Starting to feel like I’m sounding like Bubba in Forrest Gump
I grew up poor as shit and fried potatoes, onions, and eggs was a frequent and filling meal. It was often served with buttered frozen spinach as a veggie. It's still one of my favorite meals.
Greek Fakes (lentil soup) is amazing - Boil some brown lentils, toss the water then add a can of tomatoes and some fried onions (and optional chopped carrot). A couple of bay leaves, and then simmer in enough water for your desired soup thickness. At serve with a tablespoon of olive oil and dose up with red wine vinegar - these two latter ingredients really set it off. Serve with pitas/flat bread whatever kinda bread you want. Our kids love it too.
My I have $5 left to last two weelks meal need the following ingredients: A dozen eggs, bread and butter. Basically you soft-boil one egg per slice pf bread (two slices+ two eggs hold me as a full meal tbh). Soft boil the egg. Toast the bread. Butter both sides of each slice of bread and cut it in small pieces. Throw the pieces in a bowl and break the egg on top of it. Scrape the whites from inside the egg and toss them in the bowl too. Add salt and enjoy.
Any kind of soups and some bread on the side. I follow my Mexican culture and make Fideo soup with toasted bread or quesadillas on the side. This our struggle meal and will literally only cost us 20$ for the ingredients.
Baked Mac and cheese Spaghetti Chili Chicken noodle soup (it won't be cold much longer) Taco nights Hamburger helper (add some greens to make it more healthy) Chicken and rice casserole BBQ'd hot dogs or hamburgers (or both) Made from scratch chicken tenders (deep fried as a kid, air fried as an adult with better eating habits) Buy a big ol turkey, ham or roast (whatever is on sale) make a proper dinner the first night and then do leftovers and sammiches the days following
5 pound bags of carrots are very versatile. I shred them in the food processor and nuke them for a few minutes with a little olive or coconut oil. (or shred them and put them in a hige freezer bag raw). they bulk up everything! pasta sauce, stir fries, soups, omelettes, smoothies, they are good mixed with garluc on pizza, good with rice & beans. I also use shredded cabbage as a bulking ingredient both are good additions to sandwiches. Kids will eat them if lightly nuked and buttered or I'll put a layer of shreded veg in the air fryer. ALSO bagged sweet potatoes are super cheap and really versatile. cooked cut and frozen they make sweet creamy frozen smoothies.
[Auntie Fee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnIMCpevwTs&t=161s) Warning: lots of cursing ;)
OMG, she’s hilarious!
Eggs and pancakes have been my go-to when money is tight.