I am often asked about our food budget, and how much we spend to feed a family of six.
The last time I wrote about our food budget was back in 2012. Back then I was able to stretch our budget a long way, but in the last year or two our food budget has been forced to grow a little. This is mostly because our children have grown, and their appetites have grown with them, but also because food prices in general have risen.
We still use all the methods described in that original post – I still do a big monthly shop, we still work with the cash system, and we still try to keep our food budget under control. Most months we spend between $600 and $650 on food and groceries. It depends on the month and how insanely busy we are, and also what’s growing in the garden, some months when I am particularly on top of things I can keep it below $600, other months I splurge!
One of the things that keeps us on track is a good list of budget friendly family dinner ideas.
Our family dinners are usually vegetarian, or have less meat than recipes recommend. I stretch many meals by adding extra veggies or pulses (red lentils can go in just about anything!). I rotate meals according to the seasons so I can get cheaper veggies, and so we can grow our own. And I cook meals from scratch when I can.
I am far from being a fancy cook, so our dinner menu is full of simple, easy to prepare meals, that everyone will eat.
Here’s 20 of my favourite budget friendly family dinners from my blog and some of my favourite family bloggers:
Vegetarian Meals
- Spinach Pasta Bake
Felafel Style Veggie Burgers. (freezer friendly)
Crustless Quiche Four Ways (one variation is not vegetarian but could be!)
Lentil-ese – Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese. (freezer friendly)
Pizza Pockets (variations not all vegetarian) (freezer friendly)
Chicken Meals
- Chicken on Sticks
Chicken Meatballs from Childhood 101
Chicken Burritos from Childhood 101
Beef or Lamb Meals
- Freezer Friendly Meatballs
Kid-made Chilli (can also be vegetarian) (freezer friendly)
Beef and Spinach Burgers (freezer friendly)
Pasta Meals
- Pizza Pasta Bake (can also be vegetarian)
Chicken Mushroom and Broccoli Pasta
Easy Tuna Pasta from Childhood 101.
Cheese Burger Pasta Bake from The Organised Housewife (we use less meat and add veggies)
Rice Meals
- Sausage and Rice Bake from Childhood 101
Tuna and Rice from Planning With Kids
Kid-friendly Fried Rice from Planning With Kids
Mexi Bake from Planning With Kids (can also be vegetarian)
What are your best budget friendly family dinners?
Share some links or meal ideas in the comments so we can give them a try!
Love finding new family friendly dinner ideas – we get so stuck in a rut sometimes, eating the same meals week after week! Some new to us ones on this list which is fab :) And thank you for including some of our faves too.
Thanks for sharing, do you do a meal plan for each month? I’ve been redoing my budget. And the way I have found to save is on my grocery bill. I meal plan each month after checking the contents of my pantry fridge and freezer and tailor my meals around what I have. So then I only need to buy what is required. We keep our meals simple and healthy. I don’t buy biscuits or cakes or prepackaged foods. I make from scratch if we want those things. But as we’re trying to lose weight we don’t have them very often.
My food budget is done to $300 a month. This is for 3 adults. I have been following Wendy from An Abundant Life blog, she’s also a member of the Cheapstakes Club and she feeds a family of four per month on $300 a month.
It might be something you’d like to look at one day.
I have a big brood too. I was amazed at how much more kids eat when they are big people size. I enjoyed the new ideas. I’m inspired to take another wack at a lower food budget. Thanks!
I try to prepare enough for leftovers. Then make sure it’s all eaten. Throwing away food can add up.