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7-Day Meal Plan for One Person (Easy Cheap Meals)
Why is surviving so expensive?! I don’t know about you but I’m getting really pissed off by the price of groceries these days. And it’s getting more and more frustrating as the days go by.
That’s actually why I compiled this cheap meal plan for one. And I’m sharing it with you! This way we won’t have to eat instant ramen noodles and cardboard, just to be able to afford gas.
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Hey…let me get you in on a secret from now! You can actually eat quite well with this cheap weekly meal plan for 1. As a matter of fact, you can even get additional cheap meals for family members with this same 7-day food strategy.
It’s all up to you and how you choose to divide your portions. Simply tweak the quantities that you buy to satisfy your entire household, for the ones that don’t live alone.
These meals are super simple to prepare for those of you that are always on the go. They’re also heaven sent for those of us that are looking to save every penny possible, while trying to squeeze as much time as we can into our side hustle.
Not to mention: they are delicious, filling and comforting, whenever we want to wind down with a nice meal. Win…win…win!
The Ultimate Cheap Meal Plan for One: What’s Included?
With this 7-day meal plan for one person, you get:
1. Meal ideas for 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners.
2. Each meal comes with the listing of all the main ingredients.
3. The cost breakdown of each meal.
4. Pro tips to stretch your budget and minimize your grocery bill.
Points to Note for this Week of Cheap Meals
1. Prices are based on the current prices at my neighborhood Aldi.
2. Prices may vary slightly, based on your location.
3. Sales tax is not included in the prices listed.
4. Meals may be repeated, to utilize leftovers, in order to save money.
5. Actual detailed recipes are not included.
7. Only the main ingredients are included in the price breakdown.
• Items such as salt, pepper, oil, seasonings, condiments and other pantry basics are not included.
• We will assume that you already have these basic items available.
8. There are no super expensive, 5-star chef quality meals on this list.
9. These meals are simple but enjoyable!
10. Most of these meals require simple prep work.
11. Many of them are common household favorites.
12. Most persons may already have their unique way of preparing these meals. For the most part, you can just follow your own methods of preparation.
Cheap Weekly Meal Plan for 1: $25 Shopping List
Sliced Wheat Bread Loaf (2 loaves) – $1.39 x 2 = $2.78
Cereal (12 oz box) – $1.85
Eggs (1 doz) – $3.99
Milk (half gal) – $1.95
Chicken Leg Quarters (5lb pack) – $5.95
Ground Beef (1lb) – $4.79
Marinara Pasta Sauce (24oz jar) – $1.85
Pasta, your choice of cut (16 oz) – $1.09
Steamed and Frozen Vegetables (12 oz pack) – $1.05
TOTAL: $25.30
Cheap Breakfast Meals for One
1st Day: Toast and scrambled eggs
2nd Day: Cereal and milk
3rd Day: French toast
4th Day: Toast and scrambled eggs
5th Day: Cereal and milk
6th Day: French toast
7th Day: Bonus breakfast idea (see options below)
Bonus Cheap Meals for Breakfast
These bonus breakfast ideas are economical and easy to prepare. They just require some open mindedness and creativity with the ingredients that you have in your pantry.
You can choose any one of these as a replacement meal idea for any one day. Or more days if you have additional leftovers.
Garlic Bread
You should have some butter or margarine, along with some garlic, in your fridge or pantry. Spread a light bit of butter / margarine on a slice of bread, or two if you wish. Finely grate a bit of garlic onto it. Spread the garlic shavings around and into the butter / margarine on the bread. Toast and enjoy!
This garlic bread pairs well with, and adds some sophistication to the marinara pasta meal that we’d be preparing for lunch and dinner on some days.
Pizza Bites
On the days after you’ve prepared your marinara, minced beef pasta sauce, you can get adventurous and make yourself some pizza bites.
This was actually a breakfast and lunch meal that I loved to take to school as a kid. I’d eat one for breakfast and my mom would pack along a couple for me to have at school for lunch. I loved it!
Get a couple slices of bread and spread the meat / marinara sauce lightly over it. If you have some shredded cheese available, sprinkle a bit over it. A dash of parmesan cheese could work too.
As a matter of fact, any cheese that you have in your fridge would work! Even cheese slices can be chipped up and sprinkled over. If you don’t have cheese, just leave it out.
Place your pizza bites on a tray and bake in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and enjoy!
For you busy people on your way to work, just make a few of these and get on your way. You can nibble on one during your commute and eat the rest for lunch.
Variations of Breakfast Eggs
You can prepare your eggs in different ways based on what you know, or experiment with different preparation styles. Omelets, sunny side up, poached eggs, hard boiled, etc. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas.
Playing around with different spices and seasonings can also give a creative twist while sticking to your budget.
Cheap 7-Day Meal Plan: Lunches
1st Day: Oven baked chicken and vegetables
2nd Day: Pasta marinara
3rd Day: Grilled chicken sandwich
4th Day: Barbecue chicken and vegetables
5th Day: Pasta marinara with garlic bread or toast
6th Day: Chicken salad sandwich
7th Day: Leftovers or bonus lunch idea (See ideas below)
Bonus Cheap Meals for Lunch
Pasta Casserole
Add leftover cooked pasta, steamed or grilled chicken, salt, pepper, cheese and milk to a casserole dish. Mix together well and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Variations of Chicken Ideas
Get creative with your protein preparation. You can adjust your seasonings, sauces, marinades, batters or take on whatever modifications you want. Use your oven, grill, air fryer, stove top, camp fire…you name it! Stick to your budget and still enjoy your food, without getting bored.
You can try: deep fried chicken, grilled pepper chicken, oven barbecue chicken, sweet and sour chicken, Chinese styled fried chicken. Be adventurous and don’t overthink it!
Creative Ideas for the Minced Meat
You can use all of the minced meat in the marinara sauce if you wish. Or you can make meat balls by adding some bread crumbs, egg and flour. This would get your “protein” budget to stretch even further.
Cheap Dinners for a Week
1st Day: Pasta salad and oven baked chicken
2nd Day: Grilled chicken sandwich
3rd Day: Pasta marinara
4th Day: Barbecue chicken and pasta salad
5th Day: Chicken salad sandwich
6th Day: Pasta marinara with garlic bread or toast
7th Day: Leftovers or bonus lunch idea (See ideas below)
Bonus Cheap Meals for Dinner
Pasta Pie
Add the following to a small pie dish: some leftover pasta, a dash of milk, a beaten egg, some cheese (if available), a dash of salt, spices and seasonings that you like. Bake for 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Enjoy as a main meal or pair with a protein of your choice.
Don’t forget: leftover lunch equals an easy dinner!
Bonus Tips for a Cheap Meal Plan for One
1. Plan with your budget in mind
You decide how much you want to spend on food and build a meal plan around it.
You’ve just seen that that you can eat pretty good for $25 a week. You’d just have to spend an extra $5 to $10 ever so often to top up on pantry basics. That’s not a bad deal at all. Or you can choose if you want to spend a bit more or less.
The average American adult spends around $80 – $90 per week on groceries, with a moderate budget and $65 – $70 with a low cost budget. As far as households go, the average family spends around $475.25 monthly. That’s a lot of money spent!
On the flip side, that’s a lot of wiggle room to save money! You can decide how lean you want your food budget to be and plan accordingly.
Just using our $25 weekly cheap meal plan for one, compared against a $70 budget…that’s $45 a week in savings! Or $180 per month. We’re talking well over $2K over the course of a year. That’s some amazing savings!
2. Strategize your meal sequence
Plan your meals with the entire day and week in mind. Some breakfasts can double as lunch and some lunches can extend into dinner.
Leftovers from one day can roll over into the next to be a complete meal. Or they can be used as the base ingredient to create something totally different.
3. Meal prep on your free time
Meal prepping can save you a ton of time, effort and motivate you to save money. It would make cooking during the week extremely easy. By simplifying meal preparation, you’d be more likely to stick to your meal plans and budget.
You can have meat and vegies pre chopped, washed and packaged out in the fridge. Get this done during the weekends or whenever you have free time. By simplifying the process, you’d be more inclined to cook at home instead of grabbing takeout.
4. Utilize leftovers
Don’t waste food! That’s just throwing money away! Eat whatever leftovers you have in the fridge before cooking your first meal of the next 7 day cycle. Or plan to have all food eaten within 7 days of preparing it.
5. Get creative with what you have in your pantry
If you have rice, cook rice as your side dish. Or season up some potatoes and toss it in a pan if you’re looking for another side option. If you have pasta, prepare that. Don’t go buying something else before using what you have first!
Spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, penne…they’re all gonna do the same thing when paired with a pasta sauce! It doesn’t matter when you’re trying to save money! Cook whichever one you have or buy the cheapest.
Get creative and think basic! This might sound contradictory but you know exactly what I mean!
6. Don’t overthink spices and seasonings
As long as you have salt and pepper, you’re good. Your meal will be perfectly fine without any special spices. Add some cayenne pepper or chili powder if you like an extra zing…only if you have that on hand.
Just don’t insist on blindly following a recipe that needs you to buy extra seasonings. I can guarantee that you’d quicker notice the difference in your wallet…not your taste buds!
7. Shop online
Consumerism is a science and retailers strategize on getting you to spend more. Shopping online saves you from the temptations of instore shopping.
How many times have you gone to the grocery and picked up way more than you were planning to? That’s how they get you! Pretty packaging, falsely advertised “deals”, item positioning in store. They’re trying to trick you to buy more that you planned.
Avoid in-person shopping, while taking advantage of resources such as Aldi Online Shopping and Walmart+ as much as possible!
8. Limit your shopping trips
Have designated weekly shopping trips and stick to it. Even if you slip up during these times and pick up one or two extra items, it won’t hurt you that much.
On the other hand, if this becomes a more common occurrence…you might as well just start giving your money away!
9. Look out for bargains
If you’re getting a good deal on chicken this week, cook chicken! The same for beef or any other protein that you like. Apply similar thinking to sides, bread, vegetables and any other meal ideas that you may come across.
Exercise some degree of flexibility in your meal plan, as long as you’d be making use of a good deal and ultimately saving money! Be sure to substitute ingredients if you have dietary restrictions or if you’re simply just trying to stretch your dollar.
This is also where buying in bulk may come in as a viable option. If it makes sense, go for it!
10. Use coupons and other promotions
This is fairly self explanatory. Coupons and online deals are a great option to help you to save!
Save with coupons, discount codes, or do your online essential shopping with cash back reward sites such as Rakuten. Make the best of your budget by earning money back, while you shop online!
Frequently Asked Questions for Cheap Meals
FAQ: What is the cheapest meal for one person?
The cheapest meal for one person is a meal made from items that you already have in your pantry or refrigerator! Whatever it may be! Shop your home first and try to figure out a meal based solely or mainly from those ingredients.
Get creative and try to piece together an easy pasta pie, or some seasoned potatoes, a basic pizza, a bologna sandwich, some eggs and toast, soup or even some stir fried rice. It’s easy!
When all else fails or if cooking just isn’t your thing…there’s always instant ramen noodles.
FAQ: How to meal plan when you’re single?
The first step is to figure out how you’re going to consume any food that you already have. Cooked food in the fridge needs to be eaten as leftovers, or used as a base ingredient to create something new.
For example, plain steamed brown or white rice can be turned into a delicious vegetable fried rice or egg fried rice. Plain pasta can be made into pasta salad. Proteins can be paired with other sides or sauces added to them to elevate the flavors.
If you need to do additional grocery shopping, it needs to be done as minimally as possible, utilizing items that you already have. After this is done, you can plan to prepare additional budget friendly meals.
Related Posts to Cheap Meal Plan for One
The Ultimate $50 Weekly Meal Budget
The Best 7-Day Meal Plan for a Family of 4
27 Cheap Dinners for $1 Per Person
Final Thoughts on The Cheap Weekly Meal Plan for 1
Preparing budget friendly meals couldn’t be easier! The plan that we laid out is a great starting point and you can either choose to stick with this or modify as the weeks go by. As you get creative or come across various deals, you can alter your plans accordingly.
Just do not over think it. Start with ingredients or food that you have and work your way out from there. Your meals are sure to be delicious and you’d save a fortune!
Do you have any other cheap meal ideas for one? How do you go about planning and executing your weekly meals on a budget? Share with us in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
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