Budget Meal Plan for a Week on $75 For Family
This is a full week of food for a small family on $75 built around a verified grocery list using current store prices. Seven dinners, seven breakfasts, lunches from leftovers and a shopping list you can take straight to Walmart or Aldi.
No weird ingredients. No recipes that need three steps of prep before the actual cooking starts. Just food your family will eat, from a cart that stays under $75.
The $75 Grocery List
These prices are based on BLS June 2026 average retail data and Aldi-comparable store brand pricing. Shop at Walmart, Aldi, or any store with a strong store-brand selection to hit these numbers.
Proteins
| Item | Approx. cost |
|---|---|
| Chicken thighs, 2.5 lb | $8.00 |
| Ground beef, 1 lb | $6.83 |
| Eggs, 1 dozen | $2.14 |
| Canned tuna, 2 cans | $2.50 |
| Canned black beans, 3 cans | $3.00 |
| Canned chickpeas, 1 can | $1.00 |
Pantry and Dry Goods
| Item | Approx. cost |
|---|---|
| Pasta, 2 boxes | $2.00 |
| Rice, 2 lb bag | $2.00 |
| Old-fashioned oats | $3.00 |
| Bread, 1 loaf | $2.50 |
| Flour tortillas | $2.00 |
| Pasta sauce, 2 jars | $3.00 |
| Canned diced tomatoes, 2 cans | $2.00 |
| Peanut butter | $3.00 |
| Vegetable oil, small bottle | $2.00 |
Produce
| Item | Approx. cost |
|---|---|
| Bananas | $1.50 |
| Apples, 3 lb bag | $4.00 |
| Baby carrots | $2.00 |
| Potatoes, 5 lb bag | $4.00 |
| Onions | $2.50 |
| Garlic, 1 head | $1.00 |
| Frozen broccoli | $2.50 |
| Frozen corn | $2.00 |
Dairy
| Item | Approx. cost |
|---|---|
| Milk, 1 gallon | $4.32 |
| Shredded cheese | $3.50 |
Grocery total: $72.29
That leaves about $2.70 of breathing room for price differences by store or region. If your store runs slightly higher on one item, drop the shredded cheese or grab one less can of tomatoes.
7 Dinners This Week
Monday: Pasta With Meat Sauce
Brown the ground beef in a pan. Add both jars of pasta sauce and one can of diced tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cook both boxes of pasta. Serve half, refrigerate the rest for Thursday lunch.
This makes enough for two meals from one pound of meat. That is the whole point.
Tuesday: Sheet Pan Chicken and Potatoes
Cube the potatoes. Toss with chicken thighs, vegetable oil, garlic, salt, and whatever dried spice you have. Roast everything on one pan at 425 for 40 minutes.
Serve with frozen broccoli on the side. Almost zero active cook time. Clean up is one pan.
Use only half the chicken thighs tonight. The rest go into Friday’s soup.
Wednesday: Rice and Black Beans With Tortillas
Cook a big pot of rice tonight and keep it in the fridge all week. You will use it three more times.
Heat two cans of black beans with diced onion, garlic and a little salt. Warm the tortillas. Wrap everything together with shredded cheese. Add frozen corn on the side.
This is one of the cheapest dinners you can make and kids almost always eat it without complaint.
Thursday: Egg Fried Rice
Use the leftover rice from Wednesday. This is the whole reason you made a big pot.
Scramble three or four eggs in a hot pan. Add the cold rice, a handful of frozen corn, and frozen broccoli. Stir it all together until everything is heated through. Add a splash of soy sauce if you have it in the pantry.
Done in 10 minutes. One pan. Uses up leftovers before they sit too long.
Friday: Chicken Soup
Use the remaining chicken thighs from Tuesday. Simmer them in a pot with water, diced onion, carrots, and garlic until cooked through. Pull the chicken apart with two forks. Add it back to the broth with a cup of rice or a box of pasta.
This makes a large pot. Dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.
Saturday: Tuna Pasta
Cook pasta, drain it, stir in both cans of tuna, the remaining can of diced tomatoes, and shredded cheese. Heat everything together for two minutes.
Kids who like mac and cheese usually eat this version. Ready in 15 minutes.
Sunday: Chickpea and Potato Curry
This sounds fancier than it is. Saute diced onion and garlic in vegetable oil. Add cubed potatoes, one can of chickpeas, the last can of diced tomatoes, and curry powder if you have any. If you do not have curry powder, add garlic powder, cumin, and a little paprika.
Simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Serve over the last of the rice.
Entirely plant-based, filling, and costs almost nothing to make.
7 Breakfasts
- Oatmeal with banana (4 days): make a big pot, reheat as needed
- Peanut butter toast with apple slices (3 days): under $1 per person
Both take under 5 minutes. Both keep kids full until lunch.
Lunches All Week
You do not need to buy anything extra for lunches. Use what is already made:
- Leftover pasta from Monday
- Leftover soup from Friday
- Peanut butter sandwiches with carrot sticks
- Leftover rice and beans wrapped in a tortilla
- Egg scramble with whatever vegetables are in the fridge
This is the whole strategy. Cook more than you need at dinner so lunch is already handled the next day.
3 Rules That Keep the Budget at $75
Buy chicken thighs, not breasts. Chicken breast runs about $4.18 per pound according to BLS June 2026 data. Chicken thighs run about $3.20 per pound at Walmart or Aldi. They taste better in soup and sheet pan dinners anyway.
Cook a big pot of rice on Wednesday. It shows up in four meals this week. Cooked once, used four times, that is where the savings actually come from.
Shop with the list and do not browse. Every section of the grocery store you wander into that is not on your list costs you money. Go in with the list. Stick to the list. Leave.
What to Do If You Go Over $75
If your store runs higher on a few items, here is where to trim without losing meals:
- Drop the shredded cheese ($3.50) and use none this week
- Buy only 1 jar of pasta sauce instead of 2 and use an extra can of tomatoes
- Skip the apples and stick to bananas for fruit
- Buy 2 lb of potatoes instead of 5 lb
Any of those adjustments brings the cart back under $75 without cutting any of the seven dinners.
Stacking Help on Top of This Budget
If you are on SNAP, your benefits cover everything on this list. If you receive WIC, it separately covers milk, eggs, cereal, and produce for children under 5, which means several items on this list cost you nothing out of pocket.
If groceries are one piece of a bigger budget problem our guide to cutting your grocery bill covers store-brand swaps that lower your weekly number without clipping coupons. And if you want to see how groceries fit into your full monthly budget our one-income budget guide walks through exactly that.
Our free budget planner printable has a weekly grocery tracker you can fill in while you shop to keep the running total visible.
