SUPER CHEAP, EMERGENCY BUDGET MEALS // BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER FOR 3 DAYS FOR $5! 

Man, can we appreciate she ate on five dollars while she fed her family normal meals. That is really nice to help her viewers get ideas on a budget!

I thought this was very interesting and showed how spoiled we are. And to be thankful for what we have.

as someone who has had to utilize food banks before. when donating actual food please consider variety and ease of cooking. one of the bigger problems i have seen both being poor and being around poor people is that they don't know how to really cook or how to stretch food. they lack knowledge about nutrition and how to cook from scratch to lessen the cost and increase the nutrition. I wish it was still taught in schools. the dollar that you spend on a box of hamburger helper only has 5 oz of macaroni. you can spend the 6 dollars on 5 boxes or get 3 pounds (9×) of macaroni for less than 2 bucks. a pound of cheese for less than 4 and make 2x the meals for the same money and if they know how to cook can change it up in many ways. lack of knowledge is expensive....

I also feel like these recipes should be put into a book called ‘ eating below the line’ and given out to people whom use food stamps/ charities ect. Some people whom find them selves on or below the line would benefit from these types on recipes on paper.

When I was young, my dad owned a fruit and vegetable market. A lot we actually grew but we purchased some from the wholesale market. At the end of the day we would make care boxes and put them on the porches of families that needed help. We lived in a very small area, so knowing of people in need wasn't hard.

I appreciate you. And all of your work to post videos . I am a single mom of 3 living in Canada. When i first went through my divorce and started our new path I was lucky enough to get hired at Costco. I ate the free samples at work so my children (all under 2) could eat. I cannot express just how grateful I am towards your empathy and kindness. I am proud to say that 14 years later we are ok. And now in position to help others...and I will never forget the humbling and scary experience we were once in. God bless you and yours 💞🌻

I watch Frugel Fit Mom. She once did a challenge where she used the food that is regularly given in a food hamper from her local food pantry (she looked at the hamper and then bought the items herself) and showed what can be done with it (she also has a family of 5) and i would love to see your take on this challenge.

Thank you for doing this to raise awareness. I also serve at a local food pantry. I grew up poor and hungry and now I’m in a position to help others, which is a blessing to me!

Every year for the past 10 + years, a friend and I have done a SNAP challenge during the Lenten Season. We feed our families according to SNAP *USDA* guidelines. In my case, a retired couple, we are pegged around $475 (or so) for the 6 weeks. We must eat healthy, no loading up on CoCo Puffs and ramen. We must include quality proteins and try to be as nutrient-dense as possible. Whatever we go over/under at the end must donate at least $100 to the Food Bank * or food pantry of your choice*. Well, we are pretty competitive and have never gone over- we try to outdo each other with our cheap but healthy meals. This year our local food bank (Houston) has been sending out the mobile food pantry to our small town and through sheer will, a growing volunteer base and the Holy Spirit, we have serviced as many as 300- 400 families a week since January, approximately 20,000 pounds a month, I think. This week is our last week and the local HS will pick up the slack in the summer and we will start up again later in the fall. Food insecurity needs to be a top priority especially for the children.

As someone who's currently only working part time for minimum wage and struggling to find a new job, videos like this are life savers! Rice really is a great food for extending meals for cheap. That or ramen. I add eggs and frozen veggies to mine to make it a little healthier and a little more filling. Im blessed enough to have family that would offer me a meal in a heartbeat, (although my pride make me hesitate to say anything to them) but i know a lot of people dont even have that, so videos like this really are a gift to so many. Other foods you might want to consider if youre struggling: Beans Canned pork (not the best tasting thing but cheap and filling) Boxed mashed potatoes (i find my local dollar store has big boxes for about $1.25) And tuna is a big one too! (If you dont have mayo to mix in, seasoning and frying it makes a pretty good faux salmon patty)

Hey all, this pandemic has made us all frugal. prior to the pandemic I didn't realized how much food I wasted. Now I make enough food for each day, any leftovers food is used for breakfast or lunch. mac and cheese is not too bad with a cup of coffee...lol

Our church has a very active food pantry- we feed 75 families ( from the area, not just our church) per week. It operates purely on donations ( food and money) from our parish families. I feel very fortunate that we are able to donate on a regular basis.

I love this because I am on a fixed income where after everything is said and done I have around 200.00$ a month( sometimes less) for everything I need like food , gas , pills , etc etc , so this gives me awesome ideas !

There is a channel on you tube called struggle meals, and he has an amazing "packet drawer" that is a huge part of his strategy. 😃

Mayo is great for cakes and banana bread, too. I was super skeptical when i first read that. But mayo is basically just eggs and oil.

drain the whey off your cottage cheese for the milk.

Thank you so much for this vid! I am a food pantry volunteer and client, and very passionate about hunger relief. You did a good job. I get a fairly steady supply of beans, lentils, oats, pasta ( I buy my own sauce on sale with coupons as our sauces are awful), rice and tomato products at my client choice food pantry, A pound of dry beans ( equal to about 5 cans for a fraction of the price) with added 🥕, celery and onion will yield 10 meals, same with lentils. I make homemade rolls to eat with when I have flour and yeast. I can stretch this out by adding rice, potatoes and/ or veggies when I can get them. I can make a variety of meals with these items. A large canister of oats is breakfast for a month, oatmeal bread or roll, crust, flour, muffins and cookies! It's a bonus that I actually love these foods. As a long time volunteer, I have secured healthier foods by finding patrons to donate specific items outside our usual donations. We are a small shop and my boss has been resistant to make any changes to food list. I'm happy to say we now have 4-5 varieties of beans, canned and dry, 2 kinds of lentils, whole grain pasta, oats ( old fashioned and quick), and tomatoes (crushed, diced, paste and stewed) all the time now! Next on my wish list: coffee, tea, spices, broth, boullion and baking supplies. I encourage everyone to donate and ask that you think about donation choices. When you are hungry, you need protein, complex carbs and fiber. Not junk and empty calories. My pantry would prefer cash donations. I prefer healthy food donations. I've listened to clients when they have requested certain items. And I give out lots of can openers! I hope to write up simple recipes for the clients. My dream job is having my own food pantry, overflowing with healthy produce and staples. I think you could have had more variety if you could have bought bulk bin items. Pasta one night, lentils one night, a potato, beans one night $1 maybe bulk or even get 2 cans of beans. 2 dinners with veg, 2 breakfasts, beans cornbread, a handful of oats with a banana or the pineapple, 1 onion carmelized then blended with a can of black beans makes fantastic soup for 2 vegan lunches with cornbread. Try it, it's also dessert! Tastes just like chocolate mousse! It freezes beautifully too. I am going to think more about this. It's a great challenge. I'll see how much maximum nutrition I can get and how many ways. Kindness matters. I appreciate yours, as well as your parents.

Anyone dependent on food pantries: A simple recipe card(s) placed in the pantry boxes using the current items. Also, teach a class on how to use store ads/coupons to stretch snap benefits.

I am a frugal shopper. $5. isn't alot to buy food on for 1 for 3 days but can be done. You did a God Job with your $5. I keep a variety of Dry Beans, Rice Corn Meal, Oatmeal, Grits, Canned Meats, Fruit and Veggies. I participate in the BOGO offers and 10 for $10. I also shop at Dollar Tree aswell as the bigger stores. Thank You

Love this & your channel. I struggle with spending way too much on groceries in order to eat healthy. I am really trying to stick to a budget (I absolutely know I could save hundreds a month), cook plenty of food to fill up my teenagers, be healthy for my husband whose cholesterol gets high if he doesn’t eat right, feed myself with gluten allergies and 10 lbs to lose. Whew! But your channel addresses all those goals!! It’s the only channel I’ve found that does so. Please keep doing what you’re doing, showing real meals that are good for WW. I love seeing you actually cook them and how you use leftovers- super helpful. I like Jordan Page’s approach but yours is even more practical and includes the health aspect. You should have 100k followers at least! Also, I’m in Tulsa. Yay!

I’m am glad you are doing this, lots of families are struggling to feed their families

My parish has a freezer program for those who need meals. I try to cook for it as often as I can. I figure if I can afford choices, I want the clients to have choices. We service lots of people every week and more when time are tough. What I love is that our parish embraces this big time as a ministry.

These videos remind me of the times I lived with food insecurity and didn’t have these resources or knowledge. Thanks for a shot of gratitude!

I applaud you! It breaks my heart that our country deals with food insecurity. Very eye opening 👍

This is very educational cause people don't realize that hunger is a big problem in this country and not just in other countries . Thank u for doing this video .

Life changes very suddenly. We can work hard, plan, save and think we have done everything to prepare and then suddenly a curve ball comes out of nowhere. Having videos like you create is very helpful. God bless you and your parents. Thank you for what you all do to help others

Love that you give the complete picture with the whole meal plan. It’s so helpful to have suggestions on how to put the ingredients together. It’s hard to feed one for cheap and not be wasteful

This was a really neat idea! I would be interested for you to make a video where you allow yourself $10 for three days of meals but incorporate some lean meat and more fresh produce. I can easily spend $10 on just one meal for myself so I think a budget of $5 for 3 days would be very challenging!

Great job bringing awareness to a very real problem in our country. Thanks for your hard work on this video.

I love that you are putting awareness out there. We have a love box in town and I put stuff in it to help people out. You would be surprised just how much a couple of can goods means to someone who is struggling.

Every time I watch videos like this I realize how complicated and full of variety my meals are. I have been lucky to not have to truly struggle to put food on the table, but watching challenges like this makes me want to get creative with what I have and almost makes me wish I DID have to struggle so I could appreciate what luxuries I have more. it is a luxury to be able to go to the store once a week and buy whatever I want for my family, and it really shows how spoiled a lot of us are. Love from WI!!

Thank you so much for these types of videos! I especially love the breakdown of points and nutrition.

OK girlfriend, you are now the official queen 👑 of frugal meals. Well done.

You should have added a pack or two of honey. Honey corn bread is really good. Also a side note outside of a budget meal adding bell peppers and onions with a little cayenne pepper to corn bread is REALLY good.

This was amazing. Thank you for bringing awareness to food insecurities. I am on the board or our local food pantry and it is ashame how many people still don't have food in this country.

Thank you for including the calorie counts. It's a lot more work for you, I'm sure. I enjoy watching budget meal videos on YT because it inspires me to get creative and crunch my budget down but I worry that people aren't eating enough calories on some of the videos I see. This series is also very helpful for me because I am only feeding one person.

I have been binge watching your meal challenges and love them! I think with everything going on around the world and people not having as much money right now these type of videos are really helping alot of people! And giving them some good advice on saving and making money go further.

I thank you for donating to the food pantries .

Thank you immensely for sharing this!! Love being able to save and stretch on the budget as much as possible!!

Thank you so much for your video. It was eye opening and humbling.

Love this !!

This was Awesome! Extremely appreciate your concern for your fellow people and their possible unfortunate situations. Alot of people don't know about food pantries or how to access them locally. Also some people don't want to ask for that type of help, when they really could benefit from it. At some point in life we've all been in a time of need. Whether it's food insecurities, reliable transportation, mental health help or possibly a combination of all of these. Also appreciate your willingness to actually do this challenge as a woman, not to mention a fellow mom of multiplies! Thanks for sharing, in every way that you do! 😁

I had no idea that only 12 states charge taxes on food. I live in ga and it's 6% tax on food and 7% on everything else.

Thank you for such a thoughtful post. ❤️

Great ideas!

Great informative video. We all take for granted the simple luxury of walking into the kitchen and eating whatever we want. Your challenge put that into perspective. I think you put a lot of effort and thought into trying to make the challenge well balanced.

thank you so much with these videos. TThis is how I have to live these days and your helping me so so much.

I love how you are bringing awareness to food insecurity! Though my family may not struggle with it, it shows me that with all the food we have in our house, sometimes we get bored and just go buy more groceries. But we can do so much more with what we already have! Thank you for the inspiration!

Re-watching ALL of these challenges that I can find. Yes, coffee is a must! Thank you so much for sharing, you have some great ideas.☺️ Lisa

Coffee is a must!

Very thought provoking video! We do forget how blessed we truly are sometimes! Happy Memorial Day! 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸

Portland Oregon we have a thing here in neighborhoods called free Fridges/ shelves we have people bring meals and various foods to help people who can’t get food

You did such a fabulous job! I used to be a stay at home mom and we lived on one small income and I had to be really creative with our food budget. (Absolutely worth it to stay home while my kids were little!) I love watching these challenge videos to help the families I work with in my job now. Most have the same ideas but yours was really different. I can tell you put a lot of thought into it!

Yes, thank you! This was way more helpful than others. Love these!

Love these ideas!!!

Very thoughtful.

Really love your channel, this is my 2nd vlog in a row and I love how down to Earth you are! Subscribed

thank you for bringing awareness to food insecurity. Liked and subscribed. Great vid, keep it up!

Yes

I love videos like this! Especially with food prices getting so crazy

I love the coffee rationalization 🤣

I do really enjoy your content. Thank you for such great ideas.

Only because I don't have a door to hang the shoe organizer, but I keep the condiments in jars on the counter the same way. Picked it up from my current so back in the day. Always ask for them when I order out. Use them when needed at work or home.

You did a great job!

Thanks for sharing this, particularly your insights. I had to cut my only extreme budget challenge after 4days due to extreme boredom and frustration. It is not easy and food shortage breaks your soul

Great idea thank you.

Great message

That was great and we are so blessed we always have an ample pantry full of options. In the KC metro we have Harvesters that feeds the hungry. Thanks for your time! 🙋🏼‍♀️🙏🏼👏❤️☕️🇺🇸

On the fried rice, I use some beef broth (no oil or butter) to the pan then add the already cooked rice. It keeps it moist and boosts the flavor. It’s very tasty.

My 'packet drawer' is absolutely essential! Good call.

Thank you for the video.

Thanks for so much help I'm alone now and need ideas. You make it appear so easy and inexpensive

Love your videos thanks ❤️ 😊

Great video as usual Mindy!

Enjoyed watching you again. I’m home from the hospital and slowly recuperating

More please. Your ideas are really creative and I know it’s helping a ton of people who are finding themselves food insecure for the first time in their lives. Just me, but I would have scrambled up my breakfast eggs with your leftover brown rice (looks like you had 1/3 bag left uncooked) and scrounged your packet trove for hot sauce. Eggs and rice with salsa is one of my favorite breakfasts and so filling.

Fed is better than starved! You have ways done a pretty decent job with what you do mindy!!! Love your stuff! Gives me great ideas on how to stretch my pantry! In ways I never thought!

Turns out...it is a long term thing. Thank you!

It is now mid-January, 2022... it is so interesting (and a little eye opening) to compare the prices of the foods Mindy selected with current prices in my area. ie: that $.27 pasta is now $.41 in my local stores here in Central Florida...but then EVERYTHING has gone up! Still an interesting and useful video...lots of good ideas and suggestions. TFS

Enjoyed this video! Thanks!

I used to make Tuna Suprise with rice a roni, tuna and canned green beans. About 2,50 and lasts thru 3-4 meals for one. Also I'd use cheapo corn flakes and dry milk from the pantry. Add bananas. Hard boiled eggs are a quick easy lunch with a toast slice

So correct Debra thanks for your videos thanks 😊

I chuckled at your shoe organizer with all of the condiment packets in them, because I usually just throw them away. I will start saving them and using my shoe organizer for those condiments. When you started off the video, I was thinking in my mind how you're going to use all of those for three days, three meals a day! Love your creativity and seeing what you're going to make! So enjoying your content :) You're inspiring me to do some vlogging of my own WW journey :)

So sad but we must realize that this is real for many families. My husband also volunteers 1-2 times week at community Center. . We are grateful to be in a position to help others in need with donated clothes.!!

We Never run out of coffee or tea around here! 😅 I would skip a meal first

I was saying to the screen “Mindy, put the ketchup packet on the eggs!” I have a 3 egg spinach onion omelette with ketchup every morning. My roommate thinks ketchup on eggs (let alone ketchup on a veggie omelette) is crazy but we grew up having ketchup on scrambled eggs and hot sauce on boiled eggs😄

I really enjoyed this!

Ty so much for this video.

I really appreciate that you do these sorts of videos. Have you ever thought about putting together a cookbook/pamphlet that details your journey? You could possibly sell it and use the funds raised to further support your local foodbank.

Here mid Oct 2022. I've been watching your latest videos about inflation/inflation and its interesting to see how bad prices have changed from this video to now. I am so grateful you have this channel amd stay active with the rising costs and still showing us how to be frugal and eat well on a budget. Thank you for all your hard work to help us all out in current times ❤️

Good ideas. A little tip could use a small plain yogurt for your milk for the cornbread mix.

your corn muffins would be great with the honey packages in your shoe organizer. For the future if you go through any drive-throughs or when picking up or dining in keep an eye out for take home Jelly & Jam packs, butter & margarine. Sesame seed oil is great on Chinese food like Fried Rice

18 months ago I started storing rice and different beans and lentils. It's the go to in every corner of that world. Lentils and rice are actually exactly paired nutritionally to be a complete nutrition. I found a RU-vid video on the chemistry of it.

I think it really shows how better off so many people are and how much they don't realize it. You noticed some of it and I always really appreciate your videos and how kind you are and aware you are/become of your situation. You are one of the few that is actually helpful to me and doesn't make me feel bad or piss me off. I'm sitting over here, feeding myself and my fiance for a month on $60. A lot of people who do these challenges are still taking so many liberties when they make their little rules for it. Like no. My fiance and I eat once-count it, once- a day. And it's not a big meal. I feel bad if I try to go to a food pantry because I know there are people who don't always eat once a day that could use it more than I could. Food insecurity is a major problem and thank you thank you thank you for bringing awareness to it and trying to help in so many ways!!!

You are a good person. God bless you 🙏♥️

If youre on blue or purple plan you can make the cornbread with the mix and 1 can of creamed corn ♥️

Thank for this inspiring video

I save those ketsup packages too. We have ketsup, mustard, hot sauce etc..... Always good for lunch boxes.

This was amazing

Very interesting video. I think it would be nice to have home ec back in the classrooms and classes at the food pantry on preparation and how to plan meals. Just my humble opinion.