Budget Grocery List: $50 a Week for Two Adults

Is it possible for two adults to eat for $50 per week?

Maybe you’re in the middle of paying off debt and are looking for ways to cut your food budget. Or maybe you’re saving for vacation and want to lower your expenses for a couple of weeks so that you can save even more. Quite possibly money is super tight because of a layoff or other stressful situation and you have no choice but to spend less.

Whatever it is, I wanted to see if I could make $50 last for an entire week, three meals per day, for two adults to give you some ideas on what you could buy and eat on a tight budget.

Now, I have to make a bunch of disclaimers so that no one freaks out:

• Yes, we live in a low cost of living area in the US
• Yes, we have access to an Aldi store
• No, we don’t have any food allergies
• No, you won’t be eating organic-everything for this price. The priorities are elsewhere when you’re strapped for cash. 😉
• This is based on actual prices that I found in January in West Michigan. For the best deals, you’ll want to swap out the produce for whatever is in season and on sale.

Did that cover it? Haha, everyone’s circumstance is unique. The point of this post is to give you ideas! I want to get you thinking about super cheap meals and foods you could swap into your meal plan to lower your expenses for a week or two. Even if you live in a very expensive area, you can still look for the best deals and make the cheapest meals available to you!

Sidenote: Don’t forget to grab my free weekly meal plan printable. I use this printable every week to plan our meals! Meal planning saves us more money than any other strategy out there! 

$50 Budget Grocery List:

$50 Budget Meal Plan

(Honestly, I think you could probably get by with just one pound each of the chicken and ham, which would lower costs even more.)

Here’s what you can eat with all of this:

Breakfasts

• Coffee with milk
• Scrambled eggs with a buttered wheat mini bagel.

You could easily swap in cream for the coffee and cream cheese for the bagel if that’s more your style.

Lunches

• Peanut Butter Sandwich
• Fruit (you’ve got bananas and apples)
• Raw Veggies with Ranch (you’ve got carrots and cucumbers)

or

• Leftovers from dinner

Dinners

Apple slices or raw veggies with ranch can be served as side dishes with each meal.

• Quesadillas: tortillas, chicken, cheese, refried beans, taco seasoning, salsa, and sour cream. Eat twice.
• Chicken Stir Fry: frozen stir fry veggies, chicken, rice.
• Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Canned Soup
• Baked Potatoes with Ham Slices and Broccoli: sour cream, cheese, and ranch for the potatoes. Eat Twice.
• One Meal Out. This could be super cheap like a Little Caesar’s Pizza.

It can be done! With some planning and sticking to in season and lower cost foods, it is totally possible to eat on a tight budget.

Sure, you may not prefer to eat on such a tight budget long term, but it could help you save money or make it through a difficult period of time.

Don’t Miss These Great Posts:

• The Ultimate Guide: How to Eat Healthy on a Budget
• 3 Ways to Get Help with Meal Planning
• What We Eat in a Week: Low Sugar Diet Edition
• Healthy (Sweetener-Free) Banana Muffins

What are your favorite super-cheap meals? What would you plan on your budget grocery list?