$5 Dinners Week of 9/12 $4.99 Average Cost

September 12, 2011 by
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My goal is to provide dinner for my family for an average of $5 except on special occasions. We don’t have to eat beans and rice to accomplish this goal!  I shop the grocery sales each week.  Then I plan my menu based on the foods I have already at home (at a great price). I balance more expensive meals with less expensive ones. We typically only cook a main dish 4 or 5 times a week. Each main dish cooked will serve 4-6, and the leftovers will be for easy dinners on the weekend, or to freeze for another week. This cuts down on cleaning, cooking, and meal planning– saving us lots of time!

For those of you with a Brookshire’s in your town, don’t miss Pary Moppins’ menu made from the 9/7 – 9/13 ad.  She’s got 22 dinners for 4 people created at $5 a meal without using any coupons!   


Frozen Pizzas and Apple Slices
2 Frozen pizzas @ 5 (mine were actually free using RRs)
2 apples @ .90
total cost: $5.90

Salsarita’s (using our Seize the Deal GC)
I expect our bill to be similar to last time:  $6.57
the GC was $5 (I used credits so mine was free)
Total Cost: $11.57

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Sweet Peas and Corn, toast
1 lb. pork chops @ 1.47
3 potatoes @ .80
butter, cheese and bacon bits for the potatoes @ .20
1 can sweet peas @ .24 (my last can- pout pout) LOL
1 can corn @ .52
4 slices of bread for toast @ .16
total cost: $3.39

Breakfast for Dinner: Raisin Bran Crunch with bananas
1 box Raisin Bran Crunch @ 1.00
4 cups milk @ .56
4 bananas @ .80
Total Cost: $2.36

Baked Beans and Weenies, Plums and Toast
2 can pork and beans @ .98
brown sugar etc.
4 hot dogs @ .28
4 small plums @ 1.17
leftover fruits and veggies @ free
6 slices of toast @ .24 (good for sopping up bean juices) :-)
Total Cost: $2.67

Chicken Spaghetti, green beans, chocolate chip cookies 
3/4 lb chicken @ .96
6 servings spaghetti @ .50
velveeta @ 1.00
1 can generic rotel @ .59
cr mushroom soup @ .50
1 can green beans @ .25 

chocolate chip cookies @ .27

Total: 4.07

Average Cost for the meals we’re cooking this week: $4.99.

This post is part of Menu Plan Monday over at OrgJunkie.


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Filed Under: $5.00 dinners

Comments

  1. K-Koira says:
    September 12, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    Looks like a pretty good plan. I try to avoid as many of the pre-made foods as possible, even when they are cheap, but every so often they are really good.

    I am just stopping by from the MPM linky list, checking out what everyone else is planning for the week.

  2. TyKes Mom says:
    September 20, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    This is a great idea! It is definitely possible to feed your family on such a small budget. I love that you show the cost break downs of your meal plan. I wish I could be that precise! It would be wonderful if you could share this on my meal plan link-up to show my readers how frugal menu planning can be! Thank you for sharing!