by Amie Etheridge

Created on: December 10, 2006   Last Updated: September 15, 2011

You've got $30 and a hungry herd - what are you going to do? The first thing. Don't panic! There is a simple way to feed your crew on $30 (hopefully your crew isn't 4 screaming babies though).

There is a simple list of items you will need to get.

* Rice
* Flour
* Milk
* Eggs
* Veggies (anything on special or in a packet)
* Potatoes (I get a 5 kg bag for $3 where I live)

* Tuna (a couple of cans)
* Fruits (on sale of course)
* Mince (or any meat you can get dirt cheap)
* Bread (Bakeries may have cheap day-old bread for toast)

There are a couple of things you can grab also if you have spare money - Noodles and Salt. Normally people have these in their cupboards anyway.

Also, DON'T be afraid to go to a wholesale or a cheapy store like a Warehouse to get your food. They legally aren't allowed to sell items that are bogus or off (without informing you) so you don't have to worry about that.

So, what's the meal plan for the week? Something simple to prepare. I can suggest something like this:

Breakfast
* Scrambled Eggs w/ Toast
* Toast
* Hash Browns
* Fruit Smoothies
* Potato Pancakes
* Plain Fruit

Lunch
* Veggies/Gravy mix on Rice
* Baked Potatos + Veggies
* Tuna with Veggies on Rice
* Vegetable Soup

Dinner
* All of the items in the Lunch above
* Popovers w/ Veggies + tuna
* French Fries (Oven Baked for that healthier touch)
* Popover Shepherds; Pie

The only limit to your planner is your imagination. I challenged myself to live on this for a week, and I did it - along with my Father. We only had to spend about $15 so a family of 4 should be okay for around $25-$30

It's always a good idea though, when you have spare money to spend on food, to stock up on canned food that can just be heated and served, as they are ALWAYS handy when you're having a rough money week. If you have enough of them around, you can probably get by with just buying some milk, butter and bread for the week.

There are many places on the internet to get interesting recipes using the ingredients you have.

Even if you aren't on a really tight budget where this is needed.
Challenge yourself to do it - you never knows when you might just have to budget.

Some of the recipes mentioned: (I don't write oven heat as this can be different depending on your oven. Keep checking what you're doing until you are confident with a temperature for a certain recipe)

Popovers
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Flour
2 Eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Preheat your oven. Grease a muffin tin. Beat all the ingredients with a whisk or beater until they are

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