That week I fed our family of four for under $75

It was back in early March when our car needed a surprise repair. I had exactly $80 left for groceries until payday. I bought a whole chicken for $8, a 5lb bag of rice for $3, two big bags of frozen veggies for $5 total, and a bunch of dried beans and lentils. I roasted the chicken for one meal, used the carcass for soup, and stretched the meat with beans and rice for the rest of the week. We ate well, but it took a lot of planning and zero food waste. Has anyone else pulled off a super tight grocery week, and what was your go-to meal?

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seanm937mo ago

My grandma used to do that kind of meal math all the time, and now I see my friends doing it too. It feels like a basic skill that got lost for a while but is coming back hard with these prices. Your chicken plan is the exact same logic people use for those big family meal prep videos now, just for survival instead of views. It's wild how being broke forces you to learn the efficient, old-school ways to cook that actually make sense.

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laurajenkins7mo ago

Wait, your friends are actually doing meal math now too, @seanm93? My generation barely knows how to boil water.

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betty_price146mo ago

Is it weird that I'm kinda proud of my broke meal math skills now lol

3