How to Eat for $20 a Week: Real Family Meals That Work

Living on $20 a week for food sounds impossible-until you actually try it. I’ve seen families in Wellington stretch this amount to feed four people for seven days, not with rice and beans every night, but with smart swaps, smart shopping, and zero waste. It’s not about starving. It’s about knowing what to buy, what to skip, and how to turn a single bag of oats or a whole chicken into three solid meals.

Start with what’s already in your pantry

Before you even step into the supermarket, empty your cupboards. Most households have hidden treasures: a half bag of rice, a can of tomatoes, a jar of peanut butter, dried lentils, or a bag of onions that’s been sitting there since last month. These aren’t leftovers-they’re your foundation. A $20 weekly budget doesn’t start at the store. It starts in your kitchen.

Let’s say you find:

• 2 cups of brown rice
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp of curry powder

That’s already a full meal: chickpea curry over rice. No new ingredients needed. That’s $5 saved before you even left the house.

Buy in bulk-but only the right things

Bulk bins aren’t just for health food stores. Most supermarkets in New Zealand have them, and they’re where you’ll find the best value. Skip pre-packaged stuff. Buy:

• Rice - $1.50 per kg. A 5kg bag lasts 3-4 weeks for a family of four.
• Dried lentils - $2.20 per kg. One cup uncooked = 3 servings. Packed with protein and fiber.
• Oats - $2.50 for 1kg. Make oatmeal for breakfast, or bake them into energy balls with banana and peanut butter.
• Whole wheat flour - $2.80 per kg. Use it for pancakes, flatbreads, or thickening stews.
• Onions - $1.50 per kg. They last for weeks, add flavor to everything, and cost pennies per serving.

These five items alone can cover 80% of your meals. No fancy brands. No organic labels. Just plain, good food.

Use one protein, stretch it three ways

Meat is expensive. But a $5 whole chicken? That’s your golden ticket.

Here’s how one chicken becomes three meals:

1. Day 1: Roast chicken - Roast it with onions, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt. Serve with boiled potatoes and steamed cabbage.
2. Day 3: Chicken soup - Boil the bones for 2 hours. Add leftover veggies, a handful of lentils, and a bay leaf. Strain. You now have broth. Add noodles or rice. Done.
3. Day 5: Chicken tacos - Shred the leftover meat. Warm corn tortillas. Top with shredded cabbage, a squeeze of lemon, and a dollop of yogurt instead of sour cream.

That’s three meals from $5. And the bones? You can freeze them for next week’s broth. No waste. No guilt.

Vegetables that last-and cost less than each

Don’t buy fancy salad mixes. They’re $6 for a punnet that wilts in two days. Instead, get:

• Cabbage - $1.20 per head. Lasts 3 weeks. Use in slaws, soups, stir-fries, or just boiled with butter.
• Kumara (sweet potato) - $1.80 per kg. Roast them, mash them, or slice and bake into chips.
• Carrots - $1.50 per kg. Eat raw, stew them, or blend into soups.
• Beans (canned, in brine) - $1.10 per can. Rinse them. Add to rice, soups, or scramble with eggs.

These four veggies cost under $5 total. They’ll cover your daily servings, add color, and give you nutrients without the price tag of imported greens.

Breakfasts that cost less than 20 cents each

Most families spend $3-$5 a day on breakfast: cereal, toast, juice, yogurt. That’s $21-$35 a week. You don’t need that.

Try this instead:

• Oatmeal with banana - 50g oats ($0.15) + 1 banana ($0.35) = $0.50 per serving. Fill you up for hours.
• Toast with peanut butter - 2 slices bread ($0.20) + 1 tbsp peanut butter ($0.15) = $0.35. Add a boiled egg for extra protein.
• Eggs - $4 for a dozen. Boil 3 for breakfast, use 2 in a stir-fry later. That’s $0.33 per egg.

That’s $1.50 max for breakfasts all week. No milk needed. No sugar. Just real food.

Plan meals around sales-and freeze what you don’t use

Check the weekly flyers. Every Tuesday, Countdown and New World have deals. You don’t need to buy everything. Just look for:

• Chicken thighs (cheaper than breasts)
• Large bags of frozen peas or corn ($1.50)
• Big tubs of plain yogurt ($3 for 1kg)
• Stale bread (sold at half price-perfect for breadcrumbs or bread pudding)

Buy 2 chickens when they’re $4 each. Freeze one. Use the other this week. Repeat next week. That’s $8 for two weeks of protein. No stress.

What NOT to buy

These are the traps that blow your budget:

• Pre-cut veggies - 3x the price of whole ones.
• Flavored yogurt - $4 for a small tub. Plain yogurt + honey = same taste, 1/3 the cost.
• Premade sauces - Tomato sauce? Buy canned tomatoes and crush them yourself.
• Snack packs - Chips, crackers, juice boxes. These aren’t food. They’re money leaks.
• Brand names - Store brands are identical. Same factory. Same ingredients. Different label.

Sample $20 week menu

Here’s what a real $20 week looks like:

• Monday - Oatmeal with banana, boiled egg
• Tuesday - Roast chicken, boiled kumara, steamed cabbage
• Wednesday - Lentil stew with onions and carrots
• Thursday - Rice with canned beans, sautéed cabbage
• Friday - Chicken soup (from bones), toast
• Saturday - Pancakes made from flour, egg, and water. Served with sliced apple
• Sunday - Fried eggs, leftover rice, steamed onion

Shopping list total: $19.85

• 5kg rice - $7.50
• 1kg lentils - $2.20
• 1kg oats - $2.50
• 2kg kumara - $3.60
• 1 cabbage - $1.20
• 1kg onions - $1.50
• 12 eggs - $4.00
• 1 can beans - $1.10
• 1kg flour - $2.80
• 1 banana - $0.35
• 1 tbsp peanut butter - $0.20

That’s it. No meat on Sunday? Fine. You had chicken earlier in the week. No dessert? You had banana and pancakes. No snacks? You didn’t need them.

Why this works

This isn’t about being frugal. It’s about being smart. You’re not giving up flavor-you’re relearning it. The best meals aren’t the ones with the most ingredients. They’re the ones with the most intention.

When you cook with bulk staples, you’re not just feeding your family. You’re teaching them that food doesn’t need to be fancy to be good. That a bowl of lentils with a spoonful of peanut butter can be comforting. That a chicken bone boiled into broth is worth more than a $6 soup packet.

And here’s the quiet win: you’ll start to notice how much you used to waste. Leftover rice? Turn it into fried rice. Stale bread? Make breadcrumbs. A wilting carrot? Chop it into soup.

Food doesn’t have to cost a lot to feed a family. It just has to be used well.