$225/MONTH MENU PLAN FOR OUR FAMILY OF 6 (POST #42)

Looking for frugal family meals? Here’s the menu our family of 6 enjoyed recently.  We have a $225/mo. grocery budget and these meals were all enjoyed by our kids.

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I’ve had quite a few questions lately about our grocery budget and how we are able to make it work. The things that help us make this a success are eating simply, using coupons strategically when I grocery shop, having a grocery stockpile and also planning our meals around what’s on sale and what I have on hand. 

If I did not do any one of those things, there is no way that I’d be able to keep our budget this low.  And as it is, it’s sometimes a challenge.

But it does work and really, I think we eat quite well! We enjoy the food that I make anyway and feel good eating it, so I guess that’s all that really matters.

Oh and one other thing that you might find helpful. I often am able to get our meat for a good price too. Between watching local sales (and sometimes even using coupons) and occasionally shopping a semi-local discount grocery store I can do quite well and we are able to enjoy meat frequently without blowing our budget. I’m so grateful for that since we do like our meat!

If you looking for some frugal family meals to add to your weekly meal plan ideas but are new to my menu plan posts, it’s probably helpful to know a couple of things first:

• Our family of six consists of two adults with fairly big appetites, a 9 ½-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl, a 4-year-old girl and a 1 ½-year-old boy.  
• I have a stockpile. My cupboards are full from previous shopping and here’s why. When I can get pasta for free with coupons, I buy as much as I have coupons for.  If I’m able to get flour for $0.50/bag like I did last fall, I’ll buy half a dozen and put them in the freezer to use as needed. I do this as much as my budget allows, on as many items as I can and as a result save lots of money. Then when I go to plan menus, I simply plan our meals around what I already have in my cupboards and freezer, as much as possible. Obviously, I still might have to buy a few things at regular price here and there, but by stocking up when the price is at rock bottom I save a lot.
• I cook almost totally from scratch. That means when I make a cake, I almost always make them from scratch.  I make my own bread totally from scratch. I rarely use pre-packaged sauces. I make my own cream soups and pie crusts. Making your own food is typically less expensive and healthier too.
• We rarely snack. By eating “heavy” food like granola at breakfast we don’t get hungry until lunchtime. And the same goes for the afternoon. 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.
• Our breakfasts consist of Homemade Granola or Baked Oatmeal, the occasional bought cereal that I was able to get for $0.50/box and sometimes some fruit too. I know that might seem awfully boring to some of you, but we actually all really enjoy it and prefer it over other breakfast food. I also have a homemade iced latte, homemade frappe or some other fun beverage every morning. It’s just one of the little things that I do to help me have a productive day!

Frugal Family Meals

WEEK 1
Sunday

• Cream Cheese Chicken Soup; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Cheese; Homemade Applesauce; Pumpkin Crunch Cake
• Grilled Homemade Tuna Salad Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Potato Chips; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie
  – My parents spent the day with us and obviously ate with us as well.

Monday

• Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
• Creamy Tomato Basil Soup; Cheese; Leftover Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Tuesday

• Eggs in a Nest (eggs fried in toast); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Bananas
• Kidfresh Chicken Nuggets; Roasted Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes; Lettuce Salad; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream

Wednesday

• Refried Bean and Cheese Quesadillas (used homemade refried beans); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
• Leftover Cream Cheese Chicken Soup; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Homemade Vanilla Pudding

Thursday

• Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
• Salmon Soup (sort of like oyster soup, but uses canned salmon instead); Lettuce Salad; Leftover Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Friday

• Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Grapes
• Leftover Creamy Tomato Basil Soup; Peas; Garlic Butter Swim Biscuits; Leftover Homemade Vanilla Pudding
  – I normally have salad as our vegetable when we eat soup, but I was out of lettuce so…since I had peas in the freezer, peas it was!

Saturday

• Salsa Ranch Chicken Wraps; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Home Canned Peaches
  – We were babysitting our friend’s four children and they ate lunch with us too.
• Eggs; Toast; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing

WEEK 2
Sunday

• Chipotle in a Bowl Casserole; Green Beans; 5 Minute Mandarin Orange Jello Salad
• Grilled Homemade Tuna Salad Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Fruit Smoothie

Monday

• Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Home Canned Peaches
• Instant Pot Chicken and Rice; Peas; Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesday

• Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Frozen Blueberries
• Shake and Bake Pork Chops; Baked Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce
  – The pork chops were good! But just a little tip if you try them. I would reduce the number of crumbs in half. It was WAY too many!

Wednesday

• Refried Bean and Cheese Quesadillas (used homemade refried beans); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
• Super Easy Beef and Macaroni Skillet; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Danish

Thursday

• Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Home Canned Peaches
• Crustless Bacon and Egg Quiche (the recipe uses Bisquick- I use my Homemade Bisquick Mix– and it creates a crust as it bakes); Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (my recipe is similar to this one); Carrot Sticks; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
  – The kids don’t like the broccoli cauliflower salad so they had the carrot sticks and my husband and I enjoyed the salad.  🙂

Friday

• Home Canned Ham and Bean Soup; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Home Canned Peaches
• Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza (used homemade Healthier Alfredo Sauce and homemade pizza crust and topped with chicken, caramelized onions and mushrooms and of course cheese); Leftover Broccoli Cauliflower Salad/Carrot Sticks; Homemade Applesauce
  – This homemade pizza crust recipe is awesome! Not only does it need no time to rise, you can have it ready to go in the oven in 30 minutes! And it’s really tasty too. The only thing I do differently is pre-bake the crust a bit before putting on the toppings. 

Saturday

• Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Frozen Blueberries
• Easy Vegetable Beef Soup; Garlic Butter Swim Biscuits; Homemade Chocolate Brownies

Other posts that you’ll enjoy:

• 36 Quick and Easy Chicken Recipes that are Ready in 30 Min. or Less
• 30 Cheap Healthy Snacks- for kids and adults!
• 25 Simple Budget Friendly Casseroles
• 45 No Oven Recipes that Won’t Heat the Kitchen
• 40 Easy Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget