Just fed my family for a whole month on $150

I kept all my grocery receipts from March and added them up yesterday, and I was shocked to see the total. I spent exactly $152.37 by sticking to cheap stuff like dried beans, big bags of rice, and frozen veggies. I planned all our meals around sales and used a lot of spices to keep things from getting boring. Has anyone else managed to hit a budget goal that low, and what was your main cheap meal?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant7282mo ago

Rice and beans, man. The ultimate cheap meal.

cameron68422d agoMost Upvoted

Rice and beans is a lifesaver for real. I've been living off that combo myself lately, just switching up the spices like everyone says. A little cumin and chili powder one night, some garlic and onions the next, it never gets old. Lentil soup is a good move too, I do that when I can find cheap carrots and celery on sale. It's wild how far you can stretch a bag of beans and a sack of rice, feels like cheating almost.

nina_clark2mo ago

Yeah, that's seriously impressive. I read a blog post once where someone did a similar challenge and their big tip was to treat spices like an investment, just like you said. It makes those basic beans and rice meals @grant728 mentioned feel totally different every time. My go-to cheap dinner is a huge pot of lentil soup with whatever veggies are on sale, it stretches for days. Getting the total that low for a whole family takes real planning, so major respect for that.