How Do You Cook Dinner for Just $5? Reader Question Series

Jayme says: I really want “to get my couponing together along with my meal plan. I use yours. How
are you making these meals for under 5.00?“

First, my $5 is an average.  You’ll see that several meals will be over $5,
even up to $10 for something like Dairy Queen, Salmon or Shrimp, or
higher for a sit down meal at a restaurant.  When I have a more
expensive meal for the week I try to balance this with something
inexpensive like spaghetti or breakfast for dinner. 

That being said, food prices will vary by area just like gas.  That doesn’t mean that you
can’t get great prices though.  You will need to stockpile (in moderation) and “shop from your stockpile” and the week’s best sale prices to plan your menus.  Here’s how I do it:

I stockpile when things are at a
great price so that I don’t have to pay full price.  I don’t do this on
everything, just whatever is a great price and I have room for.  I
haven’t bought green beans since before Thanksgiving.  Honest.  I bought
them when they hit $.45 (as they do just about every year) and used
several $1/5 Qs to get them for $.25 each. My husband and I each bought the limit (was
either 10 or 12) on different trips to Target.  Before I had a Target
close I would price match them at Walmart.  I shopped
more frequently to get those great prices that week, and I’m still
reaping the benefit of it.  I do this with several items that we use frequently.

I plan my meals based on the deals I have found recently and what is
in my freezer, fridge and pantry.  I post them here as a reference and
an inspiration to show that you can feed a family inexpensively without
having beans and rice every night. Use what you have on hand for your
meals or what is in your current ads at a good price.   If there’s a great sale on
smoked sausage (I got some last week for $1- with no Q) have smoked
sausage for your meat one night.  If you find some reduced chicken, get
as much as you can fit in your freezer (I recommend you season and bake
it all at once and then watch a movie while you chop it or pull it, and
put it into freezer bags in appropriate portions for your family) and
use chicken a bit more frequently over the next few weeks until you come
across a sale on something else. 

If you try to go to the store and
duplicate my meals each week, you’re going to be paying full price for
most of the items.  You could also plan full menus from your current sales
ads. If you have a Brookshire’s locally you could use the menus my friend
over at www.ParyMoppins.net writes most weeks.  She does a fabulous job of
coming up with menu ideas using items exclusively from the ad. 

Remember never to throw food out.  Always be conscious of what is in your fridge that needs to be used.  You’ll save a lot of money just by doing this one simple thing.  For many families you’ll find that you won’t need to cook every night if you are watching your leftovers closely. 

Depending on the size of your family (or ages of your kids), you may not be able to eat on $5 a meal, but if you are eating on $10 a meal now, you can probably shave a few bucks off that by using these tips.