I just hit $3 a meal for a full month of dinners

I started tracking every single dinner cost in a notebook after my rent went up, and I managed to keep it at $3 per plate for 30 days straight by leaning hard on dried beans, frozen veggies, and big batches of rice. It was a lot of planning, but seeing that final number felt way better than I expected, like I actually had some control. Has anyone else set a super low per-meal goal and found it changed how you shop?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor_robinson1mo ago

My grocery store had whole chickens on sale for five bucks last week and I still walked right past them. Jason Lewis is right about the savings, but after a long day I just don't have the energy to deal with bones and carcasses. My three dollar meals are all about opening a can of beans and calling it a night. The control feels good but honestly the meals get pretty boring by week three.

cole_baker1mo ago

That notebook probably became your best shopping list, right?

jason_lewis31mo ago

Yeah, the notebook thing is key. I did something similar and found that buying whole chickens and breaking them down myself saved a ton. A $7 bird gave me two dinners of roast chicken, then a big pot of soup from the bones.