Cheap End of the Month Meals and Must Have Ingredients printable

In case I’ve never mentioned it before…We live on a pretty tight budget.  So I’ve acquired a gift for making Budget Friendly Meals. That’s why it’s so important to plan End of the Month Meals and Must Have Ingredients to have on hand! Not only do we live on a tight budget, we only get a paycheck ONCE a month. Yep that’s right…ONCE a month. 

If you need Cheap Meals then I can show you how to streeeetch that paycheck to the end of the month. 

End of the Month Meals and Must Have Ingredients

With a plan and some frugal living practices, it’s really not as hard as it seems.  After many years, one thing that has helped us in the food department is to always have certain ingredients on hand for end of the month meals. 

These are ingredients that I try to never run out of. 

Why? 

They are versatile and you can make lots of meals out of them.  If you are having a hard time making ends meet I hope you find this post helpful in making it to the end of the month without feeling totally stressed and still eating well.

So first the list (this is of course for my family, your must haves may be a little different):

• Flour ~ You really need to learn to make bread…which is SO EASY! I can teach you! You can then make so many other yummy things out of bread/pizza dough.
• Eggs ~ A super great and inexpensive protein
• Butter
• Milk ~ Because if we run out of milk, my husband panics…LOL
• Cheese ~ This might not be for everyone BUT since I have kids and want them to get protein, cheese is easy to add to everything!
• Yogurt ~ Everyone loves yogurt
• Fresh or Frozen Fruit
• Fresh or Frozen Veggies
• Rice ~ I store different kinds, then when we have to have rice for a few days we can have different varieties with different flavors in different recipes using rice!
• Beans ~ dry or canned
• Potatoes ~ Check out these 21 Budget Potato Recipes…Sooo delish
• Chicken and Ground Beef ~ I try to buy chicken and beef in  bulk so I usually have enough of these two meats to last a couple of months on hand.
• Canned goods ~ make sure you are stocked with your favorites along with cream soups for casseroles (unless you want to make your own cream soups)

In order to have a successful end of the month plan you need to know your families needs and eating habits. 

It really does no good to have food in your cupboard that nobody will eat and you also don’t need to have a huge amount of food.  This is where knowing portioning will help.  You don’t need to give a child an adult portion.

Now do we run out of some of these things? Yes!  But if you have most and lets say you are down to your last $50.  You need gas and food…(also with gas…don’t do so much running around)

When we go to the store we think we NEED so much…we don’t.  Think it through and price it through…

• Buy carrots $1.00 on sale
• Buy bananas $2.00
• Buy a bag of frozen veggies $2.50
• Eggs $2.50
• Potatoes $2.00
• Buy one Orange ~ cut up and sprinkle coconut on it. .75

See what I mean…decide what foods you really need before you go to the store.

So what meals can you make with simple inexpensive ingredients?

• As stated above…Pizza..lots of different types
• Simple Recipes that include Ground Beef

• Soups ~ So cheap to make…try this super easy Creamy Potato Soup!
• Breakfast for dinner ~ eggs and potatoes
• Salad ~ add a little cheese and chicken and hard boiled eggs
• Potato side dishes that everyone will love!

Well you get the picture.  The plan is to have very simple ingredients that your family loves/likes and make those meals last until the end of the month. 

Stock up slowly…and after a couple of months your cupboards will have extras that you can get creative with.

Want a Whole Month of Cheap Meals?

Remember:

^“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Have a blessed day!