Breakfast, Lunch & Snack = $4

My first post isn't anything grand - just a good starting post to show everyone how my family shops. We try to be frugal with our food purchases because we know we could easily spend hundreds of dollars, each week, on food. But, we've made it a goal to shop once a week and not spend over $100 to feed our family of 4 each week. I'm not going to fib - it's hard - but it's do-able! Here's my proof:


For breakfast, I usually eat fruit, protein, and grain of some kind. This morning I had a Morningstar egg, sausage and cheese biscuit with canteloupe. The cantelope was on sale for $.99 and the Morningstar was on sale for $3. There are 3 biscuits in a box - so, that's a good deal. I mean, we spend $1 on a biscuit at McDonald's right?? So my breakfast came out to be ~$1.25.

Meals around our house need to be easy to prepare. Having 2 kids under 2 means both parents are busy doing something, so if I'm slaving over a stove - Daddy has his hands full. That's why I love the steamer bags!! Our lunch consisted of a steamer bag of pasta/sauce/veggies for $1 and a pouch of salmon for $1. Nice.

Snack times can be dangerous. If I let my hunger get beyond the control point, I will literally eat until I'm sick. So, it's good to have healthy snacks on hand. We rarely buy junk food. Not because I'm a health-nut dietitian but because if we buy it, it's the first thing we eat! My husband claims it's because we can't afford it...haha, good excuse! But, after budgeting our healthy foods the way that we have...he may be right! One of my snacks consists of graham crackers and peanut butter! The whole box of graham crackers was $1.97 and this specific peanut butter was on sale for $1.50. I chose this PB b/c it's trans-fat free! How do I know?!? Because "hydrogenated oil" isn't listed as an ingredient on the label! Take a look at your peanut butter and see if there are trans fats in there ;)

All-in-all, breakfast, lunch and snack costs about $4 or so! Now, this may not be the case everyday but it IS possible to eat healthy without spending too much money. It just takes mental effort and good decision making! What are some cheap ways you and your family eat healthy?