How to Feed 3 People for $30 a Week: A Discount Lover's Shopping List

Feed three people for one week for only $10 per person. This really can be done if you shop at discount stores. For some reason, many people are "afraid" of discount stores as a food source. I really do not understand this. You can prepare great tasting meals at half the cost from ingredients bought at dollar stores and discount supermarkets.

I have lived off $1 cheap eats for years and I am perfectly fit and healthy. The quality really isn't bad and you cannot beat how cheap they are. I see no reason to cringe at dollar store food, especially in today's economic world. Just check the expiration date and your fine, though I have never seen anything past expiration at my stores. If you do, complain to the manager, they obviously are not doing their job. Just like any other store, dollar stores are required to get rid of expired merchandise. Dollar stores get their general merchandise from warehouses when the items have not "moved" in quiet some time but, food items at a dollar store come from a regular manufacturer just like supermarkets food does. They are just generic brands or from supermarkets that are going out of business and need to rid their supply at any cost. This is why dollar stores can afford to be so cheap. There are also companies that make things just for dollar stores. So, a dollar store does not mean poor quality or risking your health from "stale" or expired food.

With the rising cost of living, it's difficult to feed a large family, or a house full of hungry roommates just as poor as you, for under $300 a month. However, thanks to places like Dollar Tree and Aldi, you CAN afford to eat for a week on $30 bucks. I have done it. Actually, my family has survived on $30 every two weeks when times were really tight. If this sounds like your family, buy a lot of rice, dry beans, and seasonings and really get creative! These are cheap, store forever, and can feed a lot of people. With a lot of patience it can be done. If its just you, you could afford to eat for a month on $60! You just need to get creative, be prepared to use the same ingredients all week, buy a lot of storage containers, and possibly eat leftovers.

The main thing you need to remember when grocery shopping for a large household on such a small budget is "mixable". "Mixable" means look for ingredients that can be mixed 100 different ways, to make 100 different meals. This can really help you deal with eating the same ingredients day after day. Look for things that will change a meal by adding it. For instance, sloppy Joe sauce can be used as pasta sauce to give spaghetti a new and different flavor. You could as use it as a topping on a baked potato, a dip for chips, or mix it with a can of tomato paste and sauce to give your lasagna a slight kick. I think you find that shopping on a small budget really gets you thinking about creating new meals. You will be amazed by what you can up with without a lot of expensive ingredients!

Here is an example of a shopping list that WILL feed 3 people and cost $30 or less:

The shopping list:

Buy at Dollar Tree:
1 Jar of stuffed olives
4 bags of pasta noodles
2 boxes of cereal
A bottle of oil
A bottle of dressing (vinaigrette) or vinegar
A Jar of sun dried tomatoes (if you can find them)
1 jar/can of pasta sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
A can of sloppy Joe sauce
A small tub or sticks of butter (if your lucky enough to have a dollar tree with a freezer section)
1 pack of hot sausage (again in the freezer section, if you have one)
* Should come to around $15.00 (with tax maybe, $15.75)

Buy at Aldi:
1 pound of frozen ground turkey (For sloppy Joes, Freezer section, Usually in a white package for $0.99)
1 package of green peppers (usually come 3 in pack for $1.99)
1 gallon of milk (For cereal, various prices based on location, mine is $3.29)
2 Cucumbers (usually around $0.59 each)
1 "can" of Quaker Quick Oats (usually around $1.50, 1 can will probably last two weeks or more)
1 bag of white onions (usually around $1.99)
* Should come to around $10.94 (with tax maybe, $11.49)

If you have a Compare Foods near you: (it's a Hispanic grocery store with cheap produce)
Buy:
1 10-pound bag of potatoes (usually no more than $1.97!)
1 head of lettuce or cabbage (cabbage is usually cheaper, 3 for $0.99 or sometimes 4 pounds for $0.99, check the sales each week. We will just say $0.33 for 1 head of cabbage)
* Should come to around $2.30(with tax maybe, $2.42)

Your total should only be around $28.24. Depending on your state, you may get taxed for your groceries. Some states do not tax, like Pennsylvania; mine (NC) a 5% tax on groceries. So with tax, it should come to around $29.66.

Now, what do you do with all this stuff? You can actually do a lot with it! Oatmeal and cereal are easy and filling for breakfast everyday and with some creativity you can have a few filling meals for dinner.

Here are just a few examples of what you can do with your $30 groceries:

Day 1 Dinner:
In a bowl, mix, Half the jar of stuffed olives (cut up), 1 whole green pepper (diced), 1 onion (diced, reserve a 1/3 of it for potatoes!), 1 bag of the pasta noodles (cooked), half the jar of sun dried tomatoes (cut in "shreds") and add 1/3 of the oil they were in - we will use the rest of it later, 2 of the sausages (cooked and diced), and toss with a little bit of oil and vinegar (or dressing) to taste. If you have garlic on hand - chunk it up and toss it in! If not, your finished with the pasta, put in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the baked potatoes.
Baked potato: You should know how to bake a potato but, just in case, wrap in foil, poke a couple holes in them and toss in oven to bake for an hour or so at 350 degrees. When they are done, scoop out the insides and place in a small bowl. Add butter, salt, pepper, herbs and spices (if you have them), a tablespoon of milk, 2 ½ tablespoons of sun dried tomatoes oil, and the 1/3 of diced onions you saved. Mix it all up and scoop it back into the potatoes! You may want to put potatoes on a cookie sheet, and warm at 250 degrees in oven, if they cooled down a lot.

Day 2 Dinner:
Take turkey out to thaw. Dice 3 potatoes and spread out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 350 until golden brown.
When the potatoes are almost done baking, fry the pound of turkey in a non-stick skillet without any oil. (Makes it a bit "healthier" and browns better) Once its cooked, cut up the other half of stuffed olives, add the can of sloppy Joe sauce and olives to skillet. If you have bread, you can have sloppy Joes and French fries. If not, divide the fries onto 3 plates and pour the sloppy Joe over the fries.

Day 3 Dinner:
Cook 1 bag of pasta noodles. While noodles are cooking, Dice 1 green pepper, remainder of sun dried tomatoes (still save the oil in the fridge for later use!), 1 onion, and other 2 sausages.
Once pasta noodles are done, add 1 can of pasta sauce, half the diced green peppers, half the diced onion, the sun dried tomatoes, and sausage. Mix and your pasta is ready.
Next, slice up both cucumbers into a bowl. Add a pinch or two of sugar, vinegar and oil to taste, rest of the diced onion and green pepper. Mix this up and you have cucumber salad as a side dish.

Day 4:
Boil 4 potatoes for mashed potatoes. Once done, mash and add butter, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons of milk and half a diced onion. If you have herbs, spices, and garlic add them too.
Cook 1 bag of pasta noodles while the potatoes are boiling. Once the noodles are done and the potatoes are mashed and ready, rip off and wash a couple leaves of cabbage and cut into thin shreds. Next, sauté the cabbage shreds and other half of diced onion in some butter until golden brown. Note, sauté the cabbage first because it will take longer. Add the onions once the cabbage is almost done. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Toss the pasta noodles with a little oil and add the sautéed onions and cabbage.
This meal is done.

Day 5:
Chop up half the head of cabbage and put in a greased baking dish. Drizzle some sun dried tomato oil over the cabbage (1/3, again) and add salt and pepper. Sprinkle a bit of vinegar or dressing (which ever you bought) over the cabbage as well. Again, if you have spices, herbs, and garlic, add it. Set aside for now. Dice a few potatoes and an onion and put on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350. Melt some butter, salt, and pepper in the microwave or on the stove. Every 10 minutes brush or sprinkle melted butter on the potatoes and onion while they bake. Once golden brown, mix into the cabbage mixture in the baking dish. If you have breadcrumbs or anything like that, top it off with those. If not, this will taste fine without it. Bake the "casserole" at 350 for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Day 6:
Cook last bag of pasta noodles. While cooking, Dice up an onion. Next, in a bowl, mix 1 cup of milk, 1/3 cup of flour (I hope you have flour on hand), salt, pepper, and some butter (right out the fridge so its not soft). The consistency should be paste like. If it's too firm, add more milk or butter (melted this time). If it's too runny, add more flour. Once it's a soft, slightly gooey, paste like substance add the cooked pasta and half the diced onion, toss until coated well. Lightly butter a baking dish and add the pasta. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
While baking, chop up 1/3 of the cabbage you have left and put into a bowl. Add the rest of the diced onion, half the last green pepper (save the other half in fridge for later), some salt and pepper, and the can of diced tomatoes (drained). Toss with oil and vinegar or dressing. Now you have a side of salad ready.

Day 7 Dinner:
Leftovers if you have them!
If not, dice up some potatoes and put in a baking dish. Dice up the other half of green pepper from day 6, and if you have some left, dice up an onion. Chop up the rest of the cabbage and add all that to the baking dish. Use the rest of the sun dried tomato oil and pour over mixture. Add salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of butter or vinegar (not both!), either will taste fine with this. Toss to coat. Bake at 350 until golden brown. This is fine as it and filling too, but if you have an extra $3 bucks lying around, you could spice it up a bit. Go to Dollar Tree and get a tub of sour cream from the freezer section, 1 jar of salsa, and a jar of spicy nacho cheese dip. Mix all 3 into a bowl and microwave for a minute. Mix well. Take the potato mixture you just baked and toss it with this "dressing". Note, if you use this "dressing" you may want to skip the butter or vinegar step!

These are just some of the things you could do. It is not the healthiest by any means but, if you do not have a lot of options, it works and tastes good. Plus it's healthier and cheaper than McDonalds or Burger Kings dollar menu! If you just get creative you can feed an army of roommates, or a large family for next to nothing. This can work for vegetarians too. Chinese grocery stores usually have packs of tofu for $0.99, stock up on that and check out Aldi, Compare foods, or Trader Joe's for really cheap produce. Actually, I'll tell you from personal experience, it is far easier and cheaper to feed a group of vegetarians! Just look around your neighborhood for a Chinese grocer. They usually carry a lot of vegetarian foods for half the cost of whole foods or similar stores. As for cheap produce and other things, Trader Joes, Compare Foods, and Aldi seem to have the lowest prices. For Aldi, get there early in the morning when they get their trucks in and you'll have the pick of the freshest produce. Trader Joes has really good prices depending on what you're looking for. Their Tempe is only $0.99 for an 8oz chuck, their pasta noodles are organic and cheaper than Wal-Mart ($0.59 for a 1 pound box or bag normally). So, there are quite a few options for vegetarians trying to eat cheaply as well. Just get creative and make friends with the discount stores.