20 ways to feed your family on $100 a week

If you have a bread maker buried at the bottom of a cabinet, haul it out and you can cut at least $3 from your budget for each store-bought loaf, Sass says.

Say what? Who in their right mind spends well over $3 a loaf? I live in New England and you can get bread for far cheaper. White is 1.09, wheat is 1.19, and whole wheat is 1.29. That is, if you buy the store brand, which I believe this article was saying you should do anyways... The only way you'll spend over $3 is if you are buying a brand name.

Making your own bread is still cheaper, but not as much as they claim.

I think this article is ridiculous. How big are the serving sizes you are giving your family? Good luck finding leftovers at my house. We are a family of 4, we are fit, and I cook healthy food. But you are not leaving money for the other necessities for everyday life. You are planning dinner only. Well at my house we eat 3 meals a day and snacks. If I brought home only $100 in groceries, my poor kids and husband would run me out of town. The article had one and only one good point and that was about the hamburger trick. Whoever wrote this needs to visit a normal person's home for a week and then re-do it. Because realistically, it is not possible to feed your family for $100 a week. GET REAL!

I also think it's crazy to think you can do all this for $100 a week. Plus they suggest you actually spend less than that & save a bit for an unexpected event (gimme a break - ordering pizza for the kids soccer team would cost $30!). They also tell you to stock up. Well, duh...the only problem with that is that in order to stock up on stuff you would have to spend your whole weekly budget to do that. Did you see the picture with the lady cutting up veggies? She had like $15 worth of veggies there! Add milk, eggs, juice and bread to that and you have about $70 left! Who has the time to compare prices in different stores and then go to more than one store to shop? And wouldn't you be spending in gas what little you might save on the groceries? I definately think the garden is a good idea (we have one), I take leftovers for lunch a lot and thought the hamburger trick was interesting, but all in all, the article was not realistic.

The article is so much unrealistic that I wonder: had the author ever tried any of her "strategies"?

Healthy (meaning fresh and added-ingridients-free) foods are not fit for stocking at home. They have to be sold and consumed quickly, that's why their cost is higher than pre-packed and preservative-filled stuff. Even flours, beans and rice will go rancid if left for a couple of months in a corner of the kitchen. Let alone bag of baby carrots left for just a couple of weeks... if it won't turn moldy, half of the nutrition value will be gone anyway. Unless it is possible to invest quite a lot in a new fridge and about $200 more for good food saver device and matherials, stocking anything but canned goods is not only wasteful but can be plain dangerous for health. "Cheaper" cuts of meat are great to cook, but there's a problem: today one has to find an old-fashioned butcher in order to get some soup bones, scraps and chicken backs. Super-chains usually sell steaks and bone-free roasts, as everybody knows. Baking bread at home is, actually, expensive business. Without artificial raising agents, it is necessary to buy more expensive sorts of flour in order to get good results. Home-made bread still cheaper than one from artisan bakery (not counting time spent) but squashy white stuff from supermarket cost about two times less still.

And is there one real person who spends hours planning "every meal and every snack" for weeks ahead and then forces her family to follow the plan??

I read this article and it was almost like it was written by a 20 something. Here's what I do.

1. We always eat the same 40 or so things. Most families don't eat something different every single day all year. So, I have my cupboards organized so that I keep all the canned and boxed ingredients for all the stuff I make in stock all the time. It really makes it easy to make a grocery list! If I'm only replacing what we've eaten, then I'm not over-buying or buying stuff we don't use.

2. I check the adds in advance and put the store name where the item is the cheapest on the list.

3. I take the list and look on-line for coupons (we don't get a paper in our area that has coupons). I only print and take with me the coupons for the things on my list. (This is especially good for laundry detergent - and some name brand stuff on my list)

4. I plan on making caseroles. I make at least one great big one a week. This way my husband and I have left-overs to take to work for lunches. There's nothing more expensive than going out to lunch. Also, leftovers tend to be cheaper than sandwiches made with deli-meats (except balogna which gets tiresome).

5. Lastly, I shop once a week. I go on Saturday morning about 8:00 AM. I recommend it because the people who shop with their screaming kids are not out yet and you can hear yourself think. I think that being able to think while you shop can save you a ton. I make a lot more mistakes when the store is crowded and kids are running all around.

I never buy dumb stuff like hamburger patties already made up or a $3 loaf of bread. (Who does that?)

And after doing all of this and shopipng very carefully, I still spend over $100. I don't know if this counts, though, because it includes sundries and the occasional package of socks or a t-shirt.

"Bring your own healthy snacks to movies and sporting events."

There isn't a movie theater or sports venue I have ever been to that allows you to bring in food.

I have 2 sons in college and a spouse who is here only on the weekends, due to work, so it's usually just me & the 12 yr old home from August to May. My food bill is way down then, however the boys more than make up for it during the summer.

The suggestions were, for the most part, good ideas but the article neglected to add in the most important ingredient -- time. Freeze? Can? Yeah, right ....... like most of us have entire days we can devote to putting up food, not to mention the initial expense for supplies AND having the room to store all this canned & frozen food.

Good ideas -- but not very practical.

Not a very useful article for me. I live in Alaska where food prices are 2 to 3 times higher, even locally grown produce. I'm older and grew up in a large family, so I already know how to cook with basics, like making a cake from scratch. I've recently been put on a low-sodium lifestyle by my doctor, so canned foods are out, as are many processed foods anyway. I have to pay extra for lower/low sodium foods. (Yes, paying more for taking things OUT of food makes so much sense!)

I also have a teenager to feed, which is like throwing groceries into a black hole! Thankfully, he will eat leftovers, generally cold, right from the fridge.

My biggest savings come from co-ops! You can find all the fresh-organic goodies you'd find at the expensive organic stores like Whole Foods but at WAY!!!!!!!!!!better prices. Selections are always seasonal and fresh, plus you can find a lot of gourmet items you'd never find at your local Walmart. The one I shop at is done like a home buying event where every member hosts it one time. They do demos, give recipes, have samples, or you can buy at an e-store on-line. Most members spend less then used to at any grocery store with much better quality. Check out food buying clubs in your area or start one of your own, ours is Club Bon Vivant in northern Colorado.

This article is just silly. We used to do some of these things. We stopped because we no longer have the time. Sad but true.

The article sounds like it was written by a woman with nothing else to do. That's a dying breed.

Most of this article is worthless drivel. It appears to be written by someone with very little firsthand knowledge of meals, families, and grocery shopping. Feeding a family on $100 per week can be done, but is tough. By the way--are we talking $100 for five to seven weeknight dinners or are we talking about every bite you put in your mouth for a week? There's a BIG difference. The article does not mention the idea of food cooperatives or sharing bulk purchases with neighbors. Bulk items may yield savings at a per-serving level, or over a period of time but if you've only got $100 to spend THIS WEEK it's not gonna happen by buying in bulk.

Angel Food Ministries operates in many areas of the county and that is a food cooperative-type program available to all families without regard to income qualifications although they do accept Food-Stamps. The program makes it possible to buy enough nutritious, good quality food for a family of 4 for a week (7 meals) for approximately $30.

Who on earth spends $100 a week on food??? Where are they shopping?! Maybe food is just really cheap here, but that seems like a lot.

That aside, some of these are just stupid. I never understood why buying in bulk is a good idea. Hell, I can't use up a normal-sized package of something without half of it going bad! I hate that I throw so much food away. I guess if you can eat two weeks' worth of food in one day, buying in bulk can save some money, but not if you eat like a normal person. Not to mention that you need somewhere to store all that stuff.

I'm also a big fan of farmers markets. Grocery store produce is hideously expensive (4 apples cost over $6 here) and is often inferior quality. With farmers markets, you save money, support local growers, and usually won't have unnecessary chemicals in your food. They're also excellent for baked goods and meat. Hint: Farmers markets are usually only open a few days a week, so go the evening before they close for the week - the people are looking to get rid of everything and will reduce their prices.

And don't skimp on meat. Get the good stuff. Hopefully you have a butcher nearby. You get what you pay for with meat.

Canned meat is an abomination. I also don't like canned vegetables because they're often soaked in sugary syrups that are loaded with preservatives. If you can't get fresh, go for frozen.

Making your own bread?? Please! A loaf of bread is what, 99 cents?

Don't buy stuff that you plan on freezing for a long time. It'll get freezer-burned or forgotten or lost in the freezer, and you'll just throw it out.

I am sorry, but I could have written a better article because I do feed my family of four including 2 growing daughters for $100 or less a week - have for some time.  Here are some PRACTICAL tips:

(1)  Buy into a CSA share (Community Supported Agriculture) - I get a large box of organic produce - fruits and vegetables - and plan meals around the weekly bounty.  The share I receive on a weekly basis costs our family $30 per week.  If you don't have access to a CSA, visit a Farmer's Market and buy produce IN SEASON. They are everywhere, and a  lot of times the farmers will cut deals AT THE END OF THE MARKET, a good time to save loads of cash and cut great produce too!  If anything, buy what you need for the week and stay away from foods that are not in season because they are more expensive.

(2) Eat vegetarian protein sources.  Dried beans and lentils are so much cheaper per pound than canned beans even though I keep a couple cans of beans on hand in a pinch.  Tofu is a very inexpensive source of protein that we eat once or twice a week. If you eat animal protein, eggs are the most economical source.  If you eat dairy or meat, look for as local as possible to minimize transportation costs that dramatically add to the price.

(3) Bulk up on whole grains, nuts, dried fruits, but enough that you will only use in about a month, no longer.  Most food waste is when things so rancid, stale, or otherwise.  Keep your grains, beans, and nuts in the freezer if you can to keep them fresh.  Keep dried fruit in the fridge.  If there is a really good sale on anything, I always bulk up especially if my family eats a lot of something like brown rice or raisins.

(4)  Buy a crockpot.  It can become your best friend.  Dust it off or find one at a very reasonable price at the store or on craigslist.   Find some really easy recipes online using what you have on hand or what is on sale.  Soups and stews are so easy to make for example.  Saves a lot of time, money, and temptation to eat out.  When you come home, the smell is always welcoming.

(5) Get a blender.  Make your own smoothies, popsicles, salad dressings, dips and save A LOT of $.  Get the best blender that your budget can warrant because it will be worth it.

(6)  Cut the cr@p.  If you cut out convenience foods, processed foods, even canned foods because your bill will drop significantly.  The only things that I get are processed are corn chips, pretzels, canned tomatoes, sometimes pasta sauce, and ice cream, the occasional treat.

(7) Don't watch the Food Network.  Those cooks often use ingredients that are very expensive and sometimes hard to cook with especially for the culinary novice.  Seek out cooking sources - books or online - that you feel comfortable with and work up from there.  A lot of people stop cooking because they watch shows like Iron Chef with professional chefs who make it look too easy and then they try out things and don't work out, so they give up.

(8) KISS your food.  Keep It Simple Sweetie, because extra ingredients can add to your food bill very quickly.  I try to keep my recipes to six ingredients or less and they taste just as good as ones that have a laundry list of ingredients that can make a recipe very expensive to make. 

Hope this helps.

If you are set on doing it, feeding a family for $100 a week isn't that difficult: all it requires is a change in diet. The way this article goes about it is worthless, though. Might as well include stealing......at least that would WORK.

Contemporary magazines (all of them) are little more than advertisement galleries. That's it.

Eat pasta every meal!

It really is doable, maybe not in every single place, but I live in one of the most expensive cities in the country when it comes to cost of living, and my family of four eats for about $85 a week.  Too many people think they need to eat more than they really do in order to be healthy.  Portion sizes are surprisingly small when done correctly.  We use rice and potatoes to help stretch meals, and buy what's on sale in the produce and meat sections and make it work, even if it's not always what we really want.  We drink water and milk, and that's it.  It took time to be disciplined enough to get it done, and it's not always the most fun to do, but we're healthy and have gotten used to feeling full on small portions.  The trick is to teach the family to be thankful and happy eating what we have, even if it gets a bit boring and repetitive at time.  But it does make the occasional splurge or night eating out a lot more fun and we appreciate it way more. 

This article was plain stupid.

It is illegal to smuggle snacks into a movie theater and you can be thrown out of the theater for doing so - and I believe the same holds true at most large live concert and sporting events as well. Sure, some people do it, but people also shoplift and pickpocket - that doesn't make it any less illegal.

Most of the other suggestions are either so "duh" or "huh?" that I wonder if the author was just told to write some fluff piece to fill up a page or two in this section.

Seriously...poorly written, not a single original idea and a waste of good bandwidth.

My husband lost his job a few months ago, and we are living off of $100/week for food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc...) but we're pretty almost on the verge of eating cereal to do it. We buy generic brands, nothing extra or flashy that we don't need, etc... so I don't see how this author expects people with families to do it.

$100 dollar a week? Is the contributor serious? We are a family of 4, all adults, live in southern California, and manage on $75 a week budget, we eat great food, steaks, shrimp, chicken, rice, pasta, bread, salads, fruits, milk, cereal but no canned goods whatsoever.