Here's a menu that I came across and altered to my family's preferences. Original is thanks to the HillbillyHousewife site! Occasionally I'll buy cereal but if I do it'll be generic brand or if a good sale is going on only then will I buy the name brand cereals - with coupons of course! Most of the time it's just easier and cheaper to buy the Malt-o-Meal bags of cereal or the generic boxes at Sav-a-Lot. As for high milk prices, I've been buying the big box of powdered milk at Wal-Mart for $10 & some change and when the milk is made up and refrigerated overnight the kids can't tell the difference and have said it tastes good to them so I'll say that's a keeper on my pantry list! There's usually more chicken on my menu list but our freezer is going out so I didn't buy any chicken this last time other than the precooked chicken nuggets.
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snacks |
| Monday | French Toast; Bacon; Syrup; Tea | Turkey or bologna sandwiches; potato wedges; grapes; Kool-aid or water | Beef Pasta (SAL brand is good!); Mashed Potatoes; Green Beans; Biscuits or brown & serve rolls; Iced Tea, Kool-aid or water | Apple slices w/peanut butter; water or milk |
| Tuesday | Oatmeal; Toast, Butter & Jelly; Orange Juice | Macaroni & Cheese; Carrot Sticks; ranch dip; Choc. Milk | Burritos and/or tacos; Home fries; Iced Tea, Kool-aid or water | Muffins (blueberry, strawberry, or banana nut); Milk or water |
| Wednesday | Cereal, orange juice or water | Jiffy cornbread muffins, Butter; tuna mac (mayo w/o cheese); Milk | Spaghetti; Corn, Garlic Toast; Iced Tea, Kool-aid, milk, or water | PB&J Tortilla rolls;milk, tea or water |
| Thursday | Grits; Toast, Butter & Jelly; Orange Juice | PB&J Sandwiches; Carrot Sticks; ranch dip; Milk | Vegetable Beef Soup, Cornmeal Muffins; Crackers; Iced Tea, Kool-aid, or water | Cinnamon Toast; Milk, tea or water |
| Friday | Oatmeal; Toast, Butter & Jelly; Syrup; Tea | Chicken Noodle Soup; crackers; Milk | Hot Dogs and/or hamburgers (or chicken filet sandwiches) Homefries; Carrots; Iced Tea, Kool-aid, milk, or water | Peanut butter cookies (SAL mix); sliced apples; milk, tea, or water |
| Saturday | Biscuits & Gravy; Scrambled eggs; Butter & Jelly; Tea | Tuna sandwiches; chips; Apple Slices; Milk | Cheeseburger Mac; Green Beans; Biscuits or brown & serve rolls; Iced Tea | Baggie of dry cereal; Milk, Tea, or water |
| Sunday | Cereal, milk, water | Tomato Soup; crackers; Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; water | Chili w/cheese; Corn Bread/Crackers; or Chili-cheese fritos; Homefries; Kool-aid, milk, or water | Vanilla wafers w/peanut butter in middle; Milk, tea, or water |
Notes: Burritos: The Azteca refrigerated brand @ Wmart tastes like Taco Bell. Fill with gr. Beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese OR hotdog sauce (chili sauce) and shredded cheese like their chili cheese burritos. If you boil your ground beef instead of frying it, it'll be super soft and fine for the tacos & burritos just like Taco Bell. It looks rather gross but the outcome is great plus you get rid of the fat! Put menu servings of the cooked meat into freezer bags or containers and you're set for the next meal.
Shredded cheese: So far, the best deal I can find on this is Wmart but I hear Sam's is better. Shredded & block cheese can be frozen. Don't freeze the sliced kind for sandwiches though. And for the sliced cheese we buy the 72 slices in a box for around $8 to last a month or so.
Burgers: The frozen box of Great Value burgers @ Wmart have 32 100% all beef patties & is $11.48.
Cheeseburger mac can be any kind of “hamburger helper” mix OR you can buy the boxes of elbow mac noodles @ SAL for .49 & a jar of cheese sauce. Dried minced onion & garlic salt make this taste much better. (Don't forget salt & pepper!)
Vegetable beef soup: Here's my “recipe”.. For a family of six -
3 cans tomato soup + 2 cans of water
1 (or 2 depending on how much yours like veggies I guess!) cans mixed veggies
A few peeled, cubed & already boiled potatoes
½ to 1 lb. Browned gr. Beef (again, depending on how much yours prefer meat)
Salt & pepper to taste
½ teaspoon chili powder (trust me, hubby prefers 1 tsp or more!)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
a few shakes of dried minced onion
After browning meat & boiling potatoes, simmer all in pot on medium-low for about 15-20 minutes.
Tuna mac: Boil ½ – 1 whole box of SAL/Wmart? Elbow noodles. Drain & sprinkle with salt. Chop & add some sweet or dill pickles. You can also chop up an apple to put in it (red apples taste best in it – small chunks). Mix in about 2 tablespoons of mayo depending on how much noodles you cook and a can of tuna (or 2 depending on how much you're making). We like chopped boiled eggs in ours. Chill before serving.
Potato wedges: We buy the 50lb. Bag of baking potatoes at SAL for $10.99 for the month. You must keep them in a cool and dry place. Many things can be done with a tater! For the wedges, I cut them in half and keep doing so until I get the size I want. Bigger wedges are considered 'tater logs' and take a little longer to fry. They seem to taste better as bite size. After slicing the potatoes up, put a handful (skins on) in a bowl mixture of cornstarch, white cornmeal, flour, seasoning salt, regular salt, pepper, chili powder (a shake or two), garlic powder or salt, onion salt, and a shake of cumin (if you don't have cumin, use ½ tsp. Of taco seasoning). Shake the bowl around until each wedge is covered and then drop in a pot of hot oil & fry until almost golden. Drain on paper towel & sprinkle with salt as soon as it comes out of the oil (or so says Emeril ha!). To make them have a crunchy skin (kind of like the KFC chicken), soak them in hot water before adding to the bowl mixture and sprinkle some water on them before adding them to another round of shaking in the bowl (ice cream buckets work well for this!)
You can also bake these in the oven but unless you dribble olive oil on them they will be dry and taste weird.
There's a shopping list and 'daily prep list' on this page: http://hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm
I altered the menu just a little for my family but have not added all the prices for items not on her list.
One of the best ways to reduce your food bills is to cut back on packaged and processed foods and substitute in more fresh and healthier foods. Packaged and processed foods typically contain more sugar and sodium. They're also quite a bit more expensive. Here's a list of 17 healthy foods that can be had for less than a dollar per serving. I've included the prices from my local supermarket in Portland, Oregon. Actual prices can vary quite a bit based on geography and growing season. 
