How I Fed 4 People for 8 Days for $98.01
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I spent $1.02 per meal per person for eight days!! And I have $13 to spend on groceries and home goods until this Friday’s payday!
This is how I did it!
Learn some of my secrets to lower spending when the budget is tight.
Last week our food and home goods budget needed to be cut quite a bit to cover the expenses of taking a short vacation the days prior. Down from our usual weekly food budget of $300 to $98.01. (The vacation accommodations cost only $158 total for four nights plus gasoline. We cooked meals in the kitchenette and went out to eat only twice, but we still needed to tighten the budget belt this week.)
If $300 sounds extravagant for one week’s food, read on to understand how I typically spend my grocery budget.
The Facts
There are two adults over 55 and two teens in our home. We parents don’t eat large amounts of food at one time like we used to and our teens are not big eaters. But, we do eat and love good food. Mr. Patient and I like to eat some sort of snack after supper sometimes when we are watching a movie or show together. LMM (15 yr old son) has specific texture preferences and routine eating habits. He eats a bagel with peanut butter every morning with his coffee and unflavored powered vitamins. (I try to purchase healthier bagel options as I am able.) He likes a nighttime snack of homemade, stove-top popcorn with Redmond Real Salt and nutritional yeast on top. Sometimes he’ll have chips and salsa instead.
All of us drink coffee every morning. I have decaf and the others have Eight O’Clock which we have on subscription basis. We use Trim Healthy Mama Super Sweet Blend and half and half.
We buy raw milk once per week from two cow shares. I make yogurt, kefir, and learning to make hard cheeses.
We buy eggs from one of our sons and his wife.
I make sourdough bread once a week, or every other week if I already have some in the freezer. I do purchase store bread a couple of times a month.
I visit a local Amish/Mennonite store once or twice a month for any spices, baking items, bulk items when my storage is low.
Out of my grocery money comes any non-food item that I might need on a regular basis for the home. This includes toilet paper, paper towels, cleaners, etc. I have much of this in two storage closets. Tennessee food tax comes from this amount, which is almost 10%.
We have a restaurant budget that is small but appreciated because, let’s be honest, we like to go out every now and then. We use apps for discounts and rewards as often as possible.
Most foods are homemade but I don’t mind buying store-bought if I need to. This week’s budget was extra-tight, however.
I used a lot from our three freezers, pantry and food storage closet. I can NOT stress enough the importance of having food stores, even if it is just a small amount. An ingredient kitchen is the kindest thing you can do for your food budget.
We use the envelope system and pay cash for groceries and eating out.
I use coupons and had four or five this week. Kroger sends them in the mail and I use those often.
Years of Frugal Life
I was blessed with a frugal Mama and Daddy and clearly recall the tight times of the 1970s recessions. My Grandma and great-aunts modeled the thriftiness they learned during the Great Depression.
Mr. Patient and I have been married 37 years. We have had very lucrative times when Mr. P had a fancy career and super leans ones when the company he worked for closed its doors and moved out-of-the-country. We have known both plenty and scarcity. There have been times when I was thankful for local food banks and times when we purchased groceries for families in need. Mr. Patient is currently beginning his own business so times are lean again. But, through it all, three factors have remained the same.
- God has always, always provided for us.
- I have always counted my blessings and noticed the positives.
- I have made frugality a game that I was determined to win. We have never been hungry and always given God the glory.
Grocery expenses last week were $98.01
April 6-11, 2026
Menu (We typically don’t eat but two meals a day because our breakfast is usually brunch. All foods are homemade unless indicated. As explained above, I leaned into my food storage and freezer contents especially hard this week.)
*indicates I purchased part or all of the ingredients
Sunday
B: (It was Easter so the kids ate peanut butter cups from their baskets. Hey, don’t knock Reece’s for breakfast. ha)
L: (Untraditional but we had been gone the days prior and I cooked what I could manage for Easter dinner. Had one granddaughter with us.) Instant Pot spaghetti (meat from freezer, other ingredients from pantry), Barely There chicken strips (freezer), Caesar salad with homemade dressing and croutons, homemade bread, pineapple-cottage cheese salad, corn*, green beans*
S: scrambled eggs (from son’s chickens) for LMM, Ramen for Missy (She is allowed to eat two packs of Ramen once a week.)
Monday
B: breakfast blueberry cake (I made up a recipe using pantry items including freeze-dried blueberries), home-canned peaches
L: Jimmy John’s subs with the kids (reward points on app), sent deli* meat sandwiches and potato salad with Dad to work every day
S: white beans (dried) with Southern Country Ham (frzr), cast-iron skillet cornbread, cole slaw
Tuesday
B: same as Monday
L: sandwiches with deli meat* and seeded bread from Aldi (had in freezer)
S: leftovers from last few suppers, add fresh cooked cabbage with onion and country ham
Wednesday
B: chocolate chip pancakes, real maple syrup (I have gallons from upstate NY.)
L: same as Tuesday
S: Instant Pot Beef Vegetable Soup (used meat from frzr and veg. from pantry), homemade bread (had in freezer), homemade potato salad (Son’s family was here to eat.)
Thursday
B: sausage gravy (used freeze dried sausage from pantry), toasted homemade bread
L: leftovers
S: chicken pot pie (pantry items, bought rotisserie chicken*, made homemade condensed soup), cole slaw, pineapple-cottage cheese salad
Friday
B: same as Thursday
L: leftovers
S: buffalo chicken dip, tortilla chips* (LMM was ill so didn’t eat; Missy was at work and too tired to eat afterwards.)
Saturday (cousins’ reunion, everyone brought food, listed is what I provided)
L: sloppy joes (5# beef from freezer), canned sauce*; hot dogs* (the ones I could afford); buns* and sliced white bread* that was on sale (no hot dog buns, went old-school); condiments; Summer Vegetable Salsa (recipe in my cookbook); stevia tea; infused water with mint (from my garden), cucumber* and lemon slices
S: leftovers from the day (Some family members left what they brought… tortilla chips for the salsa, potato salad and sweet tea.)
Sunday
B: We usually don’t eat much or at all before church.
L: (We typically go out to eat but we needed to watch $$ since we have a birthday this week and we already had plenty of leftovers.)
S: LMM made pizza with homemade crust (freezer), home-canned pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese*; Missy-Ramen; Mr. P – Buffalo Chicken Dip and chips
Monday (4/13)
B/L: Birds in a Nest
S: fried chicken strips (breasts in freezer, sliced into strips), fried in batter sent to Heritage Ways, mashed potatoes* (bought 2 large bags from Kroger mark-down buggy for $1.50 each bag), boiled cabbage* with onions and ham
Upcoming Week
I have $13 to spend on groceries for upcoming Tuesday – Friday. I will continue to use from my freezers, pantry and food storage. Those treasured places hold various meats; marked-down store breads; cookies from Christmastime; home- and store-canned foods; tubs of pasta, beans and rice; and many ingredients for meals and baked goods. We have restaurant money for son’s 15th birthday lunch. He has requested pancakes for breakfast, my blue-ribbon-winning Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins as his birthday cake because “we have to have something to put candles in and I love those muffins, Mom!” and potato soup for supper. We will be fine and thankful. That’s the key: gratitude and fortitude.
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Family Favorite Recipes
Years ago my Mr. Patient and children encouraged me to write down many of their favorite recipes in one book. My first cookbook, From Katie’s Kitchen, Vol. One, includes 205 of the recipes that they requested. This book has become a fan favorite with Heritage Ways homemakers world-wide. Get your copy HERE and start cooking our many of the recipes that our family has been cooking for generations.
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The Heritage Ways Diligent Homemaker’s Commitment
As Diligent Homemakers, we do the best we can with the resources we have at the time. These resources include our time, physical health and energy, money and possessions. We commit to using these God-given resources to the best of our abilities and give ourselves grace in the process.
Lazy hands make for poverty but diligent hands bring wealth.
Proverbs 10:4 of The Holy Bible, NIV
Count your blessings and know you are loved,
Mrs. Katie of Heritage Ways
