This is the lowest budget amount of the Pick Your Budget Plan at $1.25 per person per day. This meal plan will be quite boring and repetitive due to the extremely low budget amount and the current cost of groceries. Of course if you have spices, condiments and a pantry you could spice it up some but for this meal plan I am assuming you have absolutely nothing. It should also go without saying that this extreme budget plan is not considered a balanced nor healthy diet and should not be eaten on a regular basis.
The problem is sometimes you just can't afford to eat, so I want to try and help with that. So as you may have already gathered I use a Dollar Tree pricing structure, meaning I use the $1.25 pricing model to base this plan on; here's how it works:
Let's say I have two people in my household and I have 7 days to feed us until I get another pay check. At $1.25 times 2 people times 7 days… I have a $17.50 budget for the week.
Now just because I use the Dollar Tree pricing model doesn't mean I have to shop there. In fact sometimes Walmart is cheaper. I start by downloading the Walmart, Dollar Tree, Dollar General and any local grocery store apps onto my phone so I can check and compare prices in the comfort of my home. Here's the 2 person 7 day extreme meal plan I came up with and my thoughts:
Day One
B - 1 package each of the instant maple brown sugar oatmeal (there are 10 packets in a box so we have 5 days of breakfast and with it already being flavored we don't need to add anything else - just cook using water and eat)
L - a peanut butter sandwich each using two pieces of bread (again we will be eating this for 5 days. This way we are using up our food so we ain't wasting any.)
D - spaghetti with half a can of pasta sauce (you'll only be using half a can because you will be having spaghetti with sauce again)
Day Two
B - 1 packet oatmeal for each of us
L - 1 peanut butter sandwich each using two pieces of bread
D - rice and smoked sausage (you will want to finely dice only one of the smoked sausage as we will be using the other half later on. By finely diced the sausage you'll get a bit of sausage in every bite and it will feel like much more sausage.)
To cook the rice - use a ratio of 2:1 - put one cup of rice (a ½ cup of rice is considered a serving - there is about 4 servings in a one pound bag) and two cups of water into a pan (I’d dissolve a chicken bouillon cube, per package instructions, instead of just plain water. as it will help flavor your rice as well as adding some salt to the plain rice) Bring this to a boil on the stove-top. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat and cover the rice with a tight fitting lid. Simmer for 15-20 minutes with no peeking or stirring. When the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed, it's done. Fluff the rice with a fork.
Day Three
B - 1 packet oatmeal for each of us
L - 1 peanut butter sandwich each using two pieces of bread
D - pinto beans on 2 pieces toast with brown gravy (make sure to only use half the gravy mix for this meal as the other half will be used later on)
To make beans - start by sorting your beans, You are looking for any pebbles. Once they are sorted, you will need to wash your beans several times to get all the dirt off them. I would do the whole bag and just refrigerator the remainder. A serving size is ¼ cup dry beans, so there are 12 servings in a one pound bag. I honestly disagree with the serving size. I feel it should be closer to ½ cup, but you do as you wish. Put the beans in a large bowl and cover them with at least 3 inches of water, toss on some plastic wrap and leave it on your countertop for anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. Once you're ready to cook the beans you're going to drain the water and rinse your beans again - you only need to rinse them once or twice. Toss the the beans into a big pot and add six to eight cups of water. (Again I would use bouillon made per package instructions and use that instead of just plain water to help season the beans.) Bring them to a boil. Once they are boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover them and cook them for an hour. After an hour you're going to want to check your beans. Now you will start checking your beans every 15 minutes thereafter (you can stir the beans at this time.) You want your beans to be fork tender. Once your beans appear to be close to being cooked remove the lid and continue to simmer the beans for another 30 minutes. (It could take up to two hours to cook your beans depending on how fresh they are.) This will help thicken and/or evaporate any water/bouillon that may be remaining. Now you're ready to eat.
Day Four
B - 1 packet oatmeal for each of us
L - 1 peanut butter sandwich each using two pieces of bread
D - spaghetti and sauce (you can use it up)
Day Five
B - 1 packet oatmeal for each of us
L - 1 peanut butter sandwich each using two pieces of bread
D - rice and smoked sausage (using the other half of the smoked sausage)
Day Six
B - mashed peas on toast (you will be eating this for 2 days so only mash half a can and divide the mash between the two people and serve it on 2 pieces of bread or toast)
L - 2 hot dogs on 2 pieces on bread each
D - pinto beans on 2 pieces toast with brown gravy each
Day Seven
B - 2 pieces toast with mashed peas
L - 2 hot dogs and 2 pieces of bread
D - boxed mac and cheese with a tuna pouch tossed in. You could add the can of green beans if you desired or do as I do and just serve them on the side. Each person can also have a slice of bread to pile the mac and cheese mixture on.
Note: if you have any extra pinto beans, you can toss them into the mac and cheese to use them up and boost the protein.
To make the mac and cheese - cook the macaroni per the instructions on the box. When you drain the pasta be sure to save 1/2 to 1 cup of the pasta water as this will be the replacement for the milk and margarine the box calls for. Sprinkle the cheese powder on top of the drained macaroni and then start adding in your reserved pasta water, stirring it until you get to the consistency that you want. If you read the notes below and pick up salt and pepper packets at, say, the Walmart deli try also picking up a couple packets of mayonnaise. You can put two or three packets into your macaroni and cheese to help give it a creamier texture.
Shopping List
Dollar General:
7oz. smoked sausage ($1.35)
Dollar Tree:
24oz can of pasta sauce (1.25)
Walmart:
16oz. bag white rice (.92¢)
8 count hot dogs ($1.00)
15oz. can of peas (.76¢)
16oz. box spaghetti (.98¢)
16oz. jar peanut butter ($1.94)
1 box mac and cheese (.58¢)
1 can green beans (.50¢)
1-2.6oz. pouch of tuna (.94¢)
2 packet brown gravy mix (.48¢)
1lb bag dried pinto beans ($1.00)
2-20oz loaves of white bread (2.84) make sure there's 22 slices in each loaf
1-10ct box maple brown sugar instant oatmeal ($1.87)
Optional: Box of 8 cubes chicken bouillon ($1.08)
The grand total is: $16.40 (or $17.48 with the optional pick of chicken bouillon)
If you don't want the optional choice, you could purchase 2 cans of green beans, another gravy packet or a second box of mac and cheese. I picked the bouillon simply to help flavor the rice and beans. It will also give you some salty flavor making things less boring. You will also be able to add the remaining bouillon to your pantry for later use.
Notes
I do not believe in per serving price for the simple fact that you still have to purchase the product. So let me give you an example: if I say you can eat for a dollar for one day and then show you a plan that requires you to purchase hot dogs and bread that you only eat two pieces of bread and two hot dogs yes that may cost you a dollar but the problem is you still spent $2.42 to buy that meal. I try to do everything based on what I'm actually spending, not the actual per serving cost
With that being said if you are a single person and follow this plan for one week, it will cost you $17.50. To remedy this you could freeze the food for a free week of eating in the future or follow the plan for 2 weeks then it would work out to $8.75 for one person per week.
Without salt and pepper this menu plan is going to be very bland but you may be able to stop at (say the Walmart) deli counter or a convenience store that sells food and ask if you can pick up a few packs of each for free.
This meal plan is not intended to be followed exactly, it is literally here to give you some ideas and to show you that it can be done. So if you don't like something, substitute it for something else you do like for about the same cost.
If you live in a state where groceries cost more than the state where I live your price may be higher. All the prices I have listed here where the current prices at the time of this writing in the area where I live.
Building a pantry (which includes flour, sugar, spices, oil, etc.) is a must have. On this low of a budget you're not going to be able to afford to add anything to this pantry (unless you bought the chicken bouillon) but when you do have a little bit more money, begin building your pantry (I will be posting a page about how and where to start building a pantry.)
Always remember cooking on a tight budget is going to require more cooking. Easy convenient foods are always more expensive. So I'm sorry to say it but being poor is going to require more work in the kitchen.
Next I will be posting an example of a $2.50 weekly meal plan, so stay tuned.
💗 Jo
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