Trying to feed your family well without spending too much? This menu plan shows exactly what our family of six has been eating on our frugal budget. Use it to get recipe ideas and be inspired!
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I’ve kept a grocery price list for the past 15 years and I don’t remember ever needing to update prices as often as I have the past year! Every week when I do my grocery shopping, I notice more items that have increased in price.
While I’m continuing to try to be creative in finding ways to save (examples of that in my last menu plan), I ultimately decided it was time to increase our grocery budget by another $25.
Because along with the increase in prices, our children are also growing and are eating more. I’m especially amazed at how much food we go through if one of them is in a growth spurt! What used to give us leftovers now gets totally eaten up. It’s incredible!
NEW TO MY MENU PLANS?
It might be helpful to know a few things before reading further.
- The size and ages of our family.
Our family of six consists of two adults, a 14 1/2-year-old boy, an 11-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl and a 6 1/2-year-old boy. All of our kids have hearty appetites and tend to be big eaters.
- Having a stockpile saves me money.
If an item that we use goes on sale, especially if it’s a particularly good sale, I try to stock up whenever possible. Sometimes the saving seems small- it may only be $0.25 an item. But doing that with multiple things does add up rather quickly! Then when I plan my menus, I first look at what I have in my cupboards, fridge and freezer and try to plan as many meals around that as possible.
- I use my freezer a lot.
I freeze so many foods to extend their shelf life- everything from cottage cheese to zucchini to onions! Another thing I like to do is cook up extra meat, rice and even things like soup and then freeze them to save time later. Both of these things help save me time and money too.
- I cook almost totally from scratch.
That means when I bake a cake, I make it from scratch. I rarely use pre-packaged sauces. I make my own cream soups, homemade Bisquick and pie crusts. Making our own food is typically less expensive and healthier too.
- We eat simple, filling breakfasts.
Typically we have either Homemade Granola, Chocolate Granola or Baked Oatmeal, and occasionally some store-bought cereal and fruit too. I know that might seem awfully boring to some of you, but the simplicity of it works well for us. I also have a homemade iced latte, homemade frappe or some other fun beverage like Warm Vanilla Custard every afternoon.
- We rarely snack.
By eating hearty food like granola at breakfast we don’t get hungry until lunchtime. And our lunches are big enough that we usually are fine until dinner time. When we do need a snack, I try to keep it mostly healthy by offering fruit, nuts or maybe No Bake Energy Bites. We don’t always do it perfectly though, and sometimes end up having chips or cookies instead.
A little side note: I occasionally get asked why I only do a two-week menu plan instead of four weeks. To be honest, it’s mainly for my own convenience.
Keeping track of everything we eat gets to be a little tedious. So only doing it for two weeks helps me not get bogged down with it.
Get my FREE $50 Aldi Meal Plan here! It has 7 easy dinners for a family of 5.
WEEK ONE
Sunday
- “Baked” Potatoes (made in my Instant Pot); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Rhubarb Cheesecake Squares
- Beans on Toast (used this recipe for the Baked Beans); Homemade Popcorn; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie
– The beans on toast is a classic British “dish” that is simply hot baked beans eaten with or on toast.
Monday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Homemade Hummus and Carrots; Flavored Organic Yogurt; Apples; Fresh Pineapple
- BBQ Chicken Drumsticks served over Rice; Green Beans; Leftover Rhubarb Cheesecake Squares
– I double the sauce part of the BBQ Chicken recipe to create more sauce to eat with the rice. It means the chicken doesn’t have a thick glaze but we really enjoy it this way.
Tuesday
- Super Easy Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas; Flavored Organic Yogurt; Fresh Pineapple; Bananas
- Shepherd’s Pie; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Homemade Apple Pie with Ice Cream
Wednesday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Homemade Hummus and Carrots; Greek Yogurt with Honey; Grapes; Clementines
- Sausage Gravy and Homemade Biscuits; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Leftover Apple Pie with Ice Cream
Thursday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Carrots; Greek Yogurt with Honey; Grapes; Clementines
- Cheesy Beef Macaroni Skillet; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
Friday
- Refried Bean and Cheese Quesadillas (used my homemade refried beans); Greek Yogurt with Honey; Frozen Cherries; Clementines
- Various Leftovers; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Leftover Chocolate Brownies
Saturday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Carrots; Flavored Organic Yogurt; Grapes; Apples
- Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole; Peas; From Scratch Apple Dump Cake with milk
WEEK TWO
Sunday
- Super Easy Beef and Rice Skillet; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Leftover Apple Dump Cake with milk
- Eggs; Toasted Sourdough Bread; 3 Minute Frozen Fruit Smoothie
Monday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Homemade Hummus and Carrots; Greek Yogurt with Honey: Oranges; Apples
- Creamy Chicken and Rice Skillet; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Rhubarb Crisp
Tuesday
- 5 Minute Refried Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips; Greek Yogurt with Honey; Apples; Grapes
- Creamy Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Leftover Rhubarb Crisp
Wednesday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Homemade Hummus and Carrots; Flavored Organic Yogurt; Grapefruit; Bananas
- Chicken Stroganoff; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake
Thursday
- Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas; Flavored Organic Yogurt; Bananas; Grapes
- Tomato Basil Soup with Parmesan; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Leftover Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake
Friday
- Jelly Sandwiches; Homemade Hummus and Carrots; Greek Yogurt with Honey; Canned Peaches; Apples
- Bisquick Chicken Alfredo Casserole; Roasted Broccoli; Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Saturday
- Meat and Cheese Sandwiches; Homemade Hummus and Carrots; Greek Yogurt with Honey; Canned Peaches; Bananas
- Various Leftovers; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing and Homemade Ranch; Leftover Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Emily
Do you have to double or make one and a half of your casseroles yet? I have 6 kids (10, 8, 5, 4, 2, and 8 months) with #7 on the way and I have to do one and a half the recipe or double it! (We do have some leftovers if we double it.)
Lydia Beiler
Yes, I regularly make at least 1 1/2 recipes of most main dishes and often end up just doubling it because it’s easier and we don’t mind leftovers. One recipe is rarely enough and if my 15 year old is in a growth spurt, I definitely need to double things! I can totally believe that you are finding that one recipe isn’t enough anymore as I’ve been doing this for several years now. I don’t really mind but it does make it a bit tricky when I’m testing recipes for my site!
Emily
😁 I know! There are times when we are trying something new but we’re kinda scared to double it because we might not like it. One more question-do you usually double the meat when you double your recipe?
Lydia Beiler
I typically do, although it does depend a bit. A lot of the recipes that I make don’t have loads of meat in them, so I usually do. If it’s a recipe that is meat heavy, I will sometimes do 1 1/2 times the meat instead of 2x.
Angela
Hi I hope you and your family are doing well. I love your recipes so does my husband. Have you thought about starting meal planning service?? I would be happy to take some of my grocery money. To pay for it so my recipes and ingredients are done for me. There are other bloggers but no one has the tasty recipes you do. Thank you for posting your meal plans.
Lydia Beiler
That’s really so very kind of you, Angela! I’m delighted that you and your husband have been enjoying the recipes that I share. I have thought of doing a meal planning service but they are a LOT of work and at this point in my life, I don’t feel like I have the time to put into it. Maybe someday!
Melissa Smith
Do you have a cookbook we can purchase? I have a family of four adults, a teenage boy and a girl and I am trying to buy less processed foods.
Lydia Beiler
I don’t, Melissa. I have thought of compiling the recipes I share here into one just so it’s easier for people to access, but so far I’ve not done that. If you are trying to buy less processed foods, you might appreciate this list of foods you can easily make yourself.
Emily
I know it’s asking a lot, but I would love to see a full month menu plan with a shopping list. I would even be willing to pay, I’m sure others would too! We love your aldi meal plan week. Every recipe we’ve tried has been fantastic. Thank you so much for blogging.
Lydia Beiler
I really appreciate your feedback and suggestions, Emily! It’s always very helpful to know what my readers find useful and would love to see more of. So thank you! You mention the Aldi meal plan and I assume you were referring to the free one that I offer. Were you aware that I also have a paid menu plan available as well? It’s only 1 week but I thought you might be interested. You can find it here. Creating more meal plans is on my list of things to do, but somehow there never seems to be enough time in the day to get to it! 🙂
Angela
I just saw your paid meal plan. On Wednesday I will be at paying for it. I agree with the other poster there has not been one recipe my husband and I didn’t like. Your meat plan feeds 5 people. So I could feed my son and granddaughter. Who don’t live here. But live close by.
Lydia Beiler
I love that you are sharing with your son and granddaughter. I’m sure they really appreciate it!