How To Feed A Family Of 4 For $100 A Week
Yes, it’s possible. Learn how to feed a family of 4 for $100 a week – or less.
Grocery prices are skyrocketing. Suddenly, your usual grocery haul is costing 20% to 30% more than it did just a few months ago.
Less food for more money. What is your plan?
I recently partnered with Fox9 News in Minneapolis/St. Paul to come up with a one-week meal plan that details how you can feed a family of 4 for $100 a week.
In fact, you can feed a family of 4 for less than $100 a week.
This $69.79 Meal Plan Leaves Some Wiggle Room In Your Budget
I paid $69.79 for all of this food – enough to feed a family of 4 for a week:
Because I came in under budget (the goal was $100), there is some wiggle room for you to buy snacks, beverages, and additional foods.
2023 Update: Check out the latest $100 7-day meal plan. You can mix and match these recipes and those recipes to fit your family’s tastes.
Feeding 4 For $100 A Week: How To Do It
I did 95% of my shopping at ALDI. The only grocery items I didn’t buy there were lentils and ready-cooked bacon off the grocery store salad bar. Walmart is also a great place to buy cheap groceries.
- This meal plan is comprised almost entirely of affordable, easy-to-find pantry staples
- This meal plan makes great use of leftovers
- Snacks: Carrots are peeled and chopped and celery is chopped – these are intended for snacks as well as ingredients in many of the recipes below. Additional bananas and apples were purchased for snacks.
Pantry Staples
These recipes assume that you have pantry staples stocked in your kitchen, such as cooking oil, butter, basic spices (garlic powder, taco seasoning), basic sauces (soy sauce, mayo), salt, and pepper.
If you have to purchase these items, the total cost will be higher than $69.79.
Optional Items: Save $$$
The shopping list below covers the basics. But there may be additional ingredients listed in the recipes I’ve linked to below.
For example, the bacon fried rice calls for fresh ginger and chopped green onion. These are both optional ingredients. If you happen to have them, add them to the recipe. If not, you can skip them and save the money – the recipes will still taste great!
Day 1
- Breakfast: Perfect scrambled eggs (2 eggs per person, use half and half instead of heavy whipping cream), ham, and avocado slices
- Lunch: Sandwiches and deli meat + veggie sticks
- Dinner: Homemade chili (use 2 cans of chili beans, avoid buying extra chili toppings – save leftovers for tomorrow)
Prep for tomorrow: Save leftover chili, prepare slow cooker apple oatmeal, hard boil 4 eggs
Day 2
- Breakfast: Slow cooker apple oatmeal (refrigerate leftovers)
- Lunch: Hummus with veggie slices and hard boiled egg
- Dinner: Leftover chili over roasted sweet potatoes
Day 3
Prep: Slow cooker salsa chicken cooks in 3 to 4 hours on high, or 5 to 6 hours on low. Plan accordingly.
- Breakfast: Leftover slow cooker apple oatmeal
- Lunch: Sandwiches with deli meat, veggie sticks
- Dinner: Slow cooker salsa chicken, Mexican-style rice, black beans
Day 4
- Breakfast: Denver omelette (2 eggs per person, use half and half instead of heavy whipping cream) with diced ham, onions, and peppers (learn how to make a perfectly fluffy omelette)
- Lunch: Tomato lentil soup
- Dinner: Leftover salsa chicken tacos on flour tortillas, topped with shredded cheddar cheese
Prep for tomorrow: Cook 3 to 4 cups of rice for bacon fried rice.
Day 5
- Breakfast: Egg and veggie breakfast tacos on flour tortillas, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and avocado slices (2 eggs per person, use half and half instead of heavy whipping cream, sauté onions and red bell peppers for filling)
- Lunch: Leftover tomato lentil soup, grilled cheese sandwiches (with shredded cheddar and/or mozzarella cheese)
- Dinner: Bacon fried rice
Day 6 (Weekend)
Opting for a larger brunch instead of breakfast + lunch, to account for sleeping in, weekend activities, etc.
- Brunch: Banana-egg pancakes, pork breakfast sausage, roasted sweet potatoes (prepare two: one for today, one for tomorrow’s brunch)
- Dinner: Tortilla shell pizzas on flour tortillas with shredded mozzarella cheese (Clean out the fridge for toppings: Onion, bell peppers, ham, leftover breakfast sausage, tomato, etc.)
Day 7 (Weekend)
Opting for a larger brunch instead of breakfast + lunch, to account for sleeping in, weekend activities, etc.
- Brunch: Avocado toast, leftover roasted sweet potatoes, leftover breakfast sausage
- Dinner: Creamy vegetable soup (use up any extra onion, celery, carrots, corn, and peas you have from the week) + cheese quesadilla
Shopping List: What You’ll Need For The Entire Week
I bought 95% of the ingredients below at ALDI, and my total grocery bill was $69.79. If you shop elsewhere, your total may be more.
- 1 lb frozen ground beef
- 1 lb frozen pork breakfast sausage
- 2 ham steaks
- 3 lb package chicken thighs
- 3 dozen eggs
- 16 oz package shredded cheddar cheese
- 16 oz package shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 lb deli meat, your choice
- 1/2 cup pre-cooked bacon off the grocery store salad bar (or cook your own and cut into pieces)
- 1/2 gallon milk
- 1 quart half and half
- 1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
- 2 cans chili beans (16 ounces each)
- 3 cans diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each)
- 24 ounce jar tomato salsa
- 1 to 2 containers of hummus (2 if you like hummus and veggies as a snack)
- 1 can black beans (14 ounce)
- 1 bag frozen corn (16 ounce)
- 1 bag frozen peas (10 ounce)
- 1 bag long grain rice (you’ll need 2 cups but buy a large bag for savings)
- Chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 cup brown or French lentils
- 2 lb loaf bread (I bought sourdough)
- 20-pack flour tortillas (regular size)
- 25-ounce package steel cut oats
- 3 bell peppers (any combination of red, yellow, orange or green)
- 4 large sweet potatoes or yams (if you can only find small sweet potatoes, buy 8 for the week)
- 5 apples
- 6 bananas
- 3 lb bag yellow onions
- 3 lb bag of carrots
- 4 avocados
- 2 Roma tomatoes
Enjoy – and good luck! Let me know your best money-saving tips to feed a family.
I Have Teenagers/Picky Kids/Special Diet Requirements – Will This Work For Me?
Remember: There is no one-size-fits-all meal plan.
This meal plan won’t work for everyone. But some of it might work for your family – and that’s a good starting point.
My suggestion to you: Identify 3 or 4 cheap recipes that fit your requirements – whether you have super hungry teenagers at home, picky children or have dietary requirements that necessitate eliminating certain foods. Add these recipes to your weekly meal rotation – and specifically, have them replace your higher cost meals.
And don’t forget to check out the latest 7-day meal plan for under $100. You’re not beholden to these recipes: You can mix and match recipes to your liking.
Over time, you will save significant money on your food budget. You don’t have to go all in to save money!
Thank you for this detailed list, it’s very helpful. Unfortunately for my family of five it’s going to be more because my husband and I take the leftovers for lunch the following day. Do these recipe account for second helpings as well? I have growing boys who have a healthy appetite ( they are very active).
Good question! Several of these recipes are larger, with the intent of using the leftovers the next day in another recipe. For example, salsa chicken with rice and beans the first night, and salsa chicken tacos the next night using leftover chicken. And chili one night, and chili over roasted sweet potatoes the next night.
With two active, growing boys, I think some great filling, protein-packed options would include ground beef (buy frozen to save $$), ground turkey, chicken thighs, chicken legs, potatoes, peanut butter, etc. Another great option would be burrito bowls or burritos, like you would get at Chipotle. To save money, just keep it simple with rice, beans, protein, shredded cheese, and salsa on top.
Um…sounds pretty inadequate and definately unappetizing. I’d cry if that was my menu for the week! Lunch being a bowl of soup only is really sad.
Hi Lana – Kindly share your ideas for feeding a family of 4 for less than $100 a week, with prices listed, photos, shopping tips, and links to all of your recipes. Also, if you’re looking to match what I paid, it should come it at or under $69.79. Good luck!
I just wanted to say that all of this looks amazing, and I’m looking forward to trying this exact meal plan next week!!!
Thanks, Jaclyn! Please let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear your feedback 🙂
Soup for lunch is sad?
What are you doing on a site for frugal living if you think soup for lunch is sad? Not eating at all is sad.
I love this, a great jumping off point for my family. I’m still feeding a baby and a toddler, so that complicates things a bit and a hubby who does not like sweet potatoes, other than that I Love rh options, great for winter and with fall coming this falls right into what I can see us eating. I so disagree with anothers comments about it being “inadequate” and “unappetizing”, I thing a good hearty soup makes a great lunch or even supper, but to each their own. Again thank you for your efforts and sharing!
Thank you, Marianna! I appreciate this comment. It’s impossible to please everyone, but I hope everyone can at least get some ideas from this post. Thanks!
The only lower priced store in our area is Walmart, however often the sale prices at the more expensive stores (Publix) are even less expensive. I keep all my tried and true recipes on my phone. Then I shop the sales and tailor the meals around those items. Also meat often goes on sale in bulk, such as a whole brisket. The butcher will cut that to order (if not at your store then do it yourself at home) then freeze part for future weeks. You may spend more on those weeks but then save extra the rest of the month. I also use those app that give cash back for buying certain items. Occasionally between a store sale then cash back I get an item for free or actually make a little money. Saving significant amounts take a little extra time. Either sale hunting at store or store flyer research in advance. Thanks for a great jumping off point. Since your list came in under $100 those with hungry teens can use the extra to buy low cost filling items- extra bread and peanut butter, salad items, pasta, etc. I used to make a mock cheese soufflé (bread soaked in savory egg custard with cheese added then baked) as an after school snack for my 4 when they were teens. Hearty and filling and then they were set till dinner. Similar ingredients to a grilled cheese but not the same ole same ole. Whatever works for your family. Good luck sale hunting everyone.
Thank you! This has been a life saver. My family has really enjoyed this. Cooking is like jazz (don’t know who originally said that) so we could make any changes to suit our family.
Looking forward to read some more of the blog.
Thanks for your comment, Christi! Glad this has been helpful. That’s exactly what should be done with this info – incorporating what works and improvising (like jazz!) to find what works best for your family.
Why do people have to leave negative comments ? She is only trying to help . If it doesn’t work for you move on .
Come on ladies stop being so petty.
This was so helpful! Thank you so much for all your effort and thought put into this.
My issue is that I have 4 teenagers at home who all work different schedules and so I never know who or when they’re going be home.
That certainly makes things more difficult! Make-ahead meals are key, as well as meals that reheat well.
Shopping at Walmart is a terrible idea. At least when it comes to meats and produce. They’ve had so many recalls for contaminated food.
These are amazing ideas! And they can be tweaked for different tastes and needs super easily. I absolutely love this, and finding this has been perfect timing. 🙂 Thank you!
Thanks, Frankie! I hope it’s helpful.
I really appreciate what you did here! Do you have any more of these lists? I might try one or two of your recipes but not all of them will work for me/my family (allergies, kids, husband’s tastes) so I’d love more options.
Is it the recipes that make it cheap or just shopping at ALDI? I don’t have one of them nearby and usually shop at Wegmans…
I also think we may just have larger appetites, we usually make 3 dry cups of rice for a meal with leftovers, so I wonder if all of these would need to scale up by 50%
Hi Nikki! Thanks for your comment. I am in the process of working on another meal plan like this. In the meantime, you can check out this post which highlights the uber-cheap recipes on this website: https://www.cheaprecipeblog.com/2015/05/the-38-cheapest-recipes-on-cheap-recipe-blog/
Otherwise, stay tuned, as I plan on adding a new cheap meal plan to the site
My favorite at home lunch is soup because it’s delicious!
😁I dropped this grocery list in the Walmart pickup app for northern Utah the before tax amount totalled $115.35. Which is nearly double. My family could totally eat these option. Unfortunately food prices are crazy right now. 1/26/23
Looks very good. Most people would buy processed frozen meals instead of being happy and healthy. Love your list!
Thank you, Edwardo!
I am the worlds most pickiest eater and I really don’t understand why people have to read this blog and be so negative when someone is just trying to help.
Use it as a starting point, take out what you don’t like, add what you do.Haley is trying to be helpful in the tumultuous times when a lot of people are really struggling just to get a meal on the table for their family.
I also scanned the grocery list and found about 1/3 of the items already in my pantry making it easier to bulk up where needed.
Many of these ideas reminded me of past recipes I had forgotten about in my own collection.
I truly appreciate the time and effort put into this. We all live in different areas with extremely different food prices and tastes but given a little thought we can all do well .
Thanks for this blog . I appreciate you greatly .
Thank you so much, Kandy! I’m glad you think this is helpful 🙂
Thank you, Hayley, for the awesome meal plan! I will be trying it out this week for our family. Walmart is what we have in our area ( I live in Oregon), and if I were to have to buy everything on the list, it would come in at $94.04. Still under the $100 mark. Thanks again, and I can’t wait to see more of these meal plans!
Thanks Desirae! I am working on #2. They take a lot of time, but be sure to check back in the next few weeks for some new meal ideas!
can you post more lol
I’m so impressed at this variety of food for a week, for an entire family! At such a great price! My goal is to wean us to 100 per week from 150 and you have some great ideas! We have made a bacon rice dish for years, my mom made it when we were especially broke as children and it’s now a family favorite. Our version sautés onion, carrots, thin sliced peel potato in bacon grease with some version of meat, a piece of steak cut small, all the way to hotdogs. Then mix in the rice. Delicious and cheap!
Thanks Bethany! Your fried rice recipe sounds delicious and hearty. Thanks for sharing!
Hello! Thank you for these great ideas and the time/ effort you put into conpiling this plan! Even if the price is not the same with our current state of inflation in 2023, these are still low price and delicious ideas. You can pepper them in throughout the week to cut down spending. We especially love soup for lunch/dinner and breakfast tacos when eggs are available.
Right now we don’t have eggs from our chickens and Costco has been sold out. I don’t desire paying rediculously high prices of $7-$9 a dozen, so we have been doing a lot of overnight gf oatmeal (1 bag from trader joes lasts a week) with raisins and rice (commercial size bag from costco lasts months) “pudding” for breakfast and/or avocado toast, which is quick, filling, and not super $$. I have 2 single digit age kiddos who eat like linebackers, so I try to find healthy filing options that don’t break the bank.
I look forward to seeing your other meal plans. Thanks again!
Love this! We are really trying to cut our grocery bill, but still have good food for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Most cheap food ideas are just for dinners and when you add in breakfast and lunch it’s no longer budget friendly, so I appreciate that yours has breakfast, lunch and dinner! Well done! I hope to see more of these from you. 🙂
Thanks Mallory! I’m working on another one which will go live in the next couple of weeks.
I wish some of the dinner ideas didn’t require leftovers because we usually don’t have any, and when we do, it’s either a portion for one or leftover because we didn’t like the recipe. I know it’s super hard to feed a family on the cheap these days, but this won’t work for my family. I’ll have to keep looking.
Haley, I am very inspired by your post. We are plant based eaters, but using your ideas we can replace with beans /lentils .. ultimately it comes down to organization and meal planning.. you have given us a very good starting point. Will definitely follow up with the plant based version. I find that our biggest area of concern is going back to the store for during the week for fruit .. we go through avocados /bananas and berries but the multiple trips turns into impulse buying.
That’s our hardest obstacle.. again, totally inspired. Thank you for your time and effort in posting.
Thanks for your comment, Stephanie! It is so hard to avoid impulse purchases like you mentioned – but it sounds like you’re on the right track!
This is a huge help and I really appreciate you taking the time to write it and post it. THANK YOU!! I have a family of 4 and we love to make our own pizzas and quesadillas. Another great cheap option we utilize is pita bread and hummus or tzatziki sauce with lettuce tomato and crock pot cooked meat (lamb or chicken). We are lucky enough to own chickens and have an abundance of eggs. Another favorite cheap snack my teens love is popcorn and chips with salsa sour cream and cheese. I agree with the other comments- if you have nothing nice to say or add to the conversation please keep scrolling. Makes no sense to be negative to someone who just wants to help ❤️ thank you again, well done Haley!
Thanks so much for your comment, Jamie! Your ideas are great – I’m jealous that you have your own chickens!
And yes, it’s impossible to please everybody but my goal is just to provide new ideas and hopefully help people save money.
Yes, great ideas and new ones I never tried.
Thanks!
So far we have tasted the chili for last night’s dinner and IT WAS AMAZING!! we are craving tonight’s leftovers Thanks!! you saved my wallet and this week planning time <3
Awesome! So glad you liked it – and so happy to provide some money-saving inspiration!