The $10 Food Day: Four Cheap Recipes to Feed a Family of Four
Feed a Family of Four for $10 a Day
Eating nutritious, delicious food does not have to cost a lot of money. In fact, you can feed not only yourself – but also your family for less than $10 a day.
The following recipes are part of my first $10 Food Day series. I am featuring four recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack), enough to feed four people for less than 10 dollars – for the entire day.
How I Saved Money
- I shopped at a regular, non-discount grocery store.
- I did not use coupons, but rather looked for in-store deals. For example, I found a pound of pasta for $.88.
- I bought the cheapest available ingredient – which is often the generic brand.
- I chose food items that were cheapest per unit. For example, I bought a bag of onions instead of buying one individual onion. Major cost savings here.
- I used some of my favorite cheap food items to come up with this menu: Oatmeal, lentils, pasta, and popcorn.
The $10 Food Day Menu
Breakfast: Berry baked oatmeal = $1.47 for four servings. Get the recipe here.
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Lunch: Lentil and tomato soup = $2.53 for four bowls of soup. Get the recipe here.
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Dinner: Pasta with amazing 3-ingredient pasta sauce = $3.31 for four servings. Get the recipe here.
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Snack: Sea salt popcorn = $.23 for one huge bowl of popcorn. Get the recipe here.
Total cost: $7.53. There is even some wiggle room to account for drinks, bread, fresh fruit, or other food.
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I plan on doing more $10 Food Day posts in the future, so be sure to check back. Your ideas, feedback, and comments are always welcome:
- How do you feed your family on a budget?
- What are your some of your favorite ultra cheap meals?
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Denise Olson — January 21, 2013 @ 2:46 am
Wow Haley!! What a great website and a wonderful idea. The receipes look sooo delicious!! I’m definetly going to try some. keep up the good work.
Haley replied: — January 21st, 2013 @ 3:38 am
Thanks Denise!
liz — January 21, 2013 @ 9:09 pm
What a fantastic idea for a series; I look forward to following it, along with the rest of your fabulous blog.
To eat cheaply in our family, we totally use in-store deals and some coupons, and I try to plan 1-2 meals a week purely from what we already have in the freezer, fridge, or pantry. Plus, we eat seasonal produce…which is typically cheaper because of excess supply.
Great post! Can’t wait to try that soup!
Haley replied: — January 22nd, 2013 @ 12:47 am
Thanks Liz!
Frugal Tuesdays: Cheap and Unique Recipes using Frozen or Canned Tomatoes | carpe season — January 22, 2013 @ 7:56 pm
[...] just $2.53 for four servings! This recipe is one of four that author Haley has posted in her series The $10 Food Day – one day of four recipes for four at just $10! image from [...]
colleen storr — May 9, 2013 @ 5:17 pm
OMG, you are the a answer to my problem I only have a food budget of $300 a month for a family of 5,( ages 47, 45, 20, 12, 7), which equals out to $10 per day for all meals, so I need recipes for breakfast lunch and dinner and snacks, HEEEEEELP!!!!!!!!! Thanks Colleen, you are a blessing keep it up
Haley replied: — May 10th, 2013 @ 6:12 pm
Thank you so much! I hope these recipes can help you save some money