Trying to cut back on your grocery spending? Today I have another grocery list and meal plan for you – and this one is two weeks of groceries for $150 or less!
Note: This article was originally written in March of 2020. Prices have risen since that time and the grocery list has been updated to include the prices as of January 2026, bringing the total to $150 instead of the original $100.
How often do you buy groceries? I’m pretty used to getting mine once a week. However, I’ve found that whenever I think ahead and grocery shop for two weeks at once I pretty much always save money.
It’s always important to me to make a meal plan ahead of time because it helps me to save money when I grocery shop and it keeps us from eating out.
Today I’m sharing another two week grocery list and meal plan. I originally made this simple two week meal plan for my family back in 2020 when we had three little kids, so while it was technically for a family of five they had pretty small appetites at the time so I’d call this a meal plan for four.
Prefer to shop one week at a time? Check out my previous grocery posts here: $50 Week One // $50 Week Two // $50 Week Three (low-carb) // $50 Week Four (no oven) // $60 Week One // $60 Week Two // $65 Meal Plan // $75 Meal Plan
My Two-Week Budget Family Meal Plan
As I’ve mentioned in past posts, to simplify my meal planning I mainly plan for dinners and just keep some basic items on hand for breakfasts and lunches.
The dinners included in this meal plan are great for any time of year – spring, summer, fall, or winter!
For lots more meal plan inspiration and grocery lists check out this post here or visit my YouTube channel!
Breakfast:
cereal, eggs, oatmeal (regular or baked)
Lunch:
lunch meat & cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, leftovers, pb & j (not on my grocery list, just something we typically have on hand)
Snacks:
apples, oranges, pretzels, crackers, homemade granola bars or energy bites
Week 1 Dinners
- Fajitas, chips & salsa
- Meatloaf, baked potatoes, green beans
- Grilled chicken salad bowls
- Taco Quiche, tortilla chips, carrots
- Ground Beef Fried Rice
- Chicken Noodle Soup, bread/crackers
- Leftovers
Week 2 Dinners
- Mexican Chicken Rollups, salad
- BBQ chicken sandwiches, potato wedges, carrots
- Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, bread, green beans
- Fajitas (again), chips and salsa
- Chicken Noodle Soup (again), bread/crackers
- Pizza Pasta Salad
- Leftovers
If you’re looking for more meal ideas, enter your email below to subscribe to my weekly emails where I always share my family’s meal plan for the week!
My 2-Week Grocery List
When I make my grocery list I find it helpful to think in categories such as veggies, fruits, meat, dairy/other refrigerated things, and “center-of-the-store”.
The prices below are all from ALDI.
**Please note that the prices below were updated in January 2026, bringing the total price to about $150, higher than the $100 total when this blog post was originally published in 2020.
Veggies
Romaine Lettuce – $3.75
Tomatoes – $0.78
Grape tomatoes – $2.19
Baby carrots – $1.45
Celery – $1.35
Bell peppers – $2.19
Onions – $2.55
Frozen mixed veggies (1) $1.05
Frozen green beans (2) $5.50
Fruit
Apples (2 – 3 lb bags) – $6.58
Oranges (1 bag) – $3.95
Meat
Chicken breasts – $12.45
Whole chicken (5 lbs) – $7.62 (My Aldi no longer carries larger 5 lb. chickens so this price is from Walmart)
Ground Beef (5 lbs) – $18.45
Package of pepperoni – $2.99
Lunch meat – $4.95
Dairy / other refrigerated stuff
Milk (3 gallons) – $8.97
Eggs (3 cartons) – $6.57
Sour cream (16 oz.) – $2.05
Mozzarella cheese (8 oz. block) – $2.19
Shredded cheddar cheese – $4.19
Sliced cheese – $1.99
“Center of the store”
Bread (2 loaves) – $2.98
Hamburger buns – $1.65
Tortillas (20 pack) – $3.59
Cereal (4 boxes) – $9.20
Oats – $4.35
Egg noodles – $1.65
Tortilla chips – $2.09
Pretzels – $2.19
Crackers – $2.75
Potatoes (5 lbs) – $4.09
Box of rotini pasta – $1.09
Whole wheat spaghetti – $1.65
Jar of spaghetti sauce – $1.85
Tomato sauce (8 oz.) – $0.55
Salsa – $1.99
Rice – $2.95
Canned soup – $0.75
Total = $149.13
Meat is one of the most expensive grocery items. You’ll notice that I kept things cheap by choosing a lot of chicken for these two weeks. I also got a better price on ground beef by purchasing the 73/27 variety. I don’t love the fattiness of it (you’re getting a bit less meat for sure) but it’s fine for the recipes I’m using it for and I always make sure to drain the ground beef well after cooking it so that we’re not eating all that grease.
Here’s a break-down of how the meat is divided up for the two weeks of meals:
Chicken breasts – The package I buy typically has 6 breasts. That will be plenty for salad with chicken one night and two nights of fajitas.
Whole chicken – I’ll cook this and shred it and it should give me 6-7 cups. I’ll use 2 cups for the chicken noodle soup (I’ll also make the broth for the soup from the chicken carcass), 2 cups along with some BBQ sauce from the fridge for BBQ sandwiches, and about 2 1/2 cups for Mexican Chicken Rollups.
Ground Beef – 1 1/2 lbs for meatloaf, 1/2 lb. for spaghetti meat sauce, 1 lb. for taco quiche, 1 lb. for ground beef fried rice, 1 lb. left over for another week (woohoo!)
So what do you think? Would this meal plan on a $150 bi-weekly grocery budget work for your family? Let me know in the comments!
I also highly recommend this ebook from Crystal Paine at MoneySavingMom.com. It shares 25 simple and effective ways to cut your grocery bill and I found it very helpful. I’m an affiliate for Crystal’s products because they are always well done and worth what she charges (which I can’t say for a lot of ebooks and courses out there!)
Thank you for these ideas! I always need meal plans, and the grocery lists are very helpful!
Oh yay I’m so glad it was helpful!!
I love the idea for shopping for two weeks of groceries at once. I’ve been menu planning for just a short time now and it is working, better meals, no what’s for dinner tonight, and etc. Sure wish the 2 stores in my small rural KY town had your great prices though. Example: your milk was under $6 for 3 gallons. If I bought 3 gallons it would be a little over $9. Thank you for the recipes you used and the grocery list. I just might use some of these when planning my next week of meals!
Do you ever do recipes and how to cook these things?
Love the recipes, and I will be trying some of these ideas out. Thank you for sharing.
I think you need to note that you must have used pantry staples or something to stretch through this particular week. I made a spreadsheet with the grocery list you shared and it comes out to 55,369 calories. That’s 3,954 calories per day. An adult male typically needs minimum 2,200 calories a day. An adult female typically needs minimum 1,600 calories a day. A 2 year old child typically needs minimum 1,000 calories per day. Adding that up, 4 people would need 5,800 calories a day. On the minimum end, your meal list is short by almost 2,000 calories a day.
I hope I wasn’t too rude. I am trying to get under $100 for a week, and this list definitely makes that manageable. I just feel like your claim in the headline is a bit misleading.
Hi Mark! No worries, I appreciate your comment. I know that this grocery list and pricing was accurate for my family when I wrote it in 2020. I took a quick look and maybe part of the problem is that I wasn’t specific about all the amounts on my grocery list – I see that I didn’t list how many lbs of chicken I purchased or how many ounces of lunch meat for example so maybe that’s one of the issues as far as calories go!
I will say that now 2 years later prices have most definitely risen at my local grocery stores so I know I would no longer be able to purchase everything for the same price, plus I have four kids now, ha! I haven’t deleted the post though as I feel it can still be helpful, even with different prices.
Is there any way you can list the recipes s I can see how many servings because I have a family of 5? I would need it soon as possible, please.
Thank you,
Hi Shenai! Each of the recipes is linked in this post, so if you click on each one it will take you to the original recipe with the ingredients, amount it serves, etc. Hope that helps!
Please can you update you list and prices for 2024 I know you cant do this now at leaset not in california