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    Home » Meal Planning

    This Week’s Dinners for $70 or Less (Bonus: Trader Joe’s Shopping Plan)

    Published: Mar 23, 2014 · Modified: Jan 26, 2021 by Jessica Fisher

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    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more details, please see our disclosure policy.

    Want to cook this week’s dinners for $70 or less? Check out this week’s meal plan.

    This Week's Dinners for $70 or Less - Chicken plan that can be shopped exclusively at Trader Joe's if you like.

    This post is going to be short and sweet. I’ve used all my brain cells creating this week’s meal plan document. Not only does the plan contain seven meals that will please kids and adults alike, but it also features a master prep list, a full-length peek at the week and how to mix and match ingredients, and a $70 price tag.

    An added bonus is that everything (except yeast) can be purchased at Trader Joe’s. We used that store with the healthier ingredient guarantee as the basis of this plan’s cost analysis. Prices may vary from state to state, but they are generally pretty similar. I also know that you can probably find ingredients for less at lots of other stores or if you shop sales, so I’m feeling pretty confident about the pricing here.

    Of course your mileage may vary. Be sure to read all. the. notes. I’ve included lots of little cheats to help you keep costs down as well as have an easy meal plan to work through during the week. The notes are where your cost and time savings will be explained. So read them! You can do a lot of the prep on one day and then simply assemble supper as the week progresses. At times, we veered from the recipe a tad in order to save you some coin.

    Keep tabs on leftovers — don’t let your teenage sons steal them — as they will be all used up by the end of the week in different recipes. Waste not, want not.

    This Week's Dinners for $70 or Less - Chicken plan that can be shopped exclusively at Trader Joe's if you like.

    The plan is formatted as a full-color pdf. If you don’t want to use the colored ink, be sure to change the setting in your print window. Alternatively, save a tree and save the pdf to your iBooks or other pdf library on your tablet or phone. Just be sure to take your device to the store with you.

    Recipes in the meal plan:

    • Pulled Chicken Sliders
    • Homemade Italian Rolls
    • Chicken, Bean, and Cheese Burritos
    • Lemon and Herb Rice Pilaf
    • Salsa Verde Chicken
    • Basic Vinaigrette
    • Tortellini Pasta Salad
    • Thursday Night Soup
    • Basic Pizza Dough
    • Last-Minute Pizza Sauce

    Check out the meal plan here:

    Like it? Be sure to join the Good Cheap Eats Club for more money-saving meal plans and access to our digital meal planning platform.

    « 5-Ingredient Pita Pizza
    Green Chile Burritos »
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Alexis

      June 27, 2018 at 9:41 am

      How do I print these meal plans?

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        June 27, 2018 at 12:22 pm

        You’ll receive the printable file after you submit your email address in the form in the post. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Theresa Swanson

      May 10, 2018 at 1:35 pm

      So I realize the last comment was in 2015 but this is amazing! Also want to let people know I did the shop at Winco (Washington state, sounds similar to Aldi) and my total was $50.26! I didn’t buy greens since we are starting to have enough in the garden, fruit (got $2 pinapples at Costco and had leftover apples from last week,) didn’t buy onions had them in pantry, didn’t need pinto beans, rice, or flour. From the pantry list I bought small bags of thyme and paprika in bulk. I went for 5 pounds chicken, I got 1.5 pounds dried tortellini, and 1 pound bag of shredded cheese. Excited to have a plan for the week!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        May 10, 2018 at 5:26 pm

        Yay! So glad that it’s working well for you! I love that.

        Reply
    3. stephanie

      September 22, 2015 at 6:39 pm

      Jessica, you are SUCH A HUGE BLESSING!! Thank you so much for all your hard work on these meal plans!!! I’m a single (working) Mom with two boys and it’s so important to 1-stay within budget 2-feed them as healthy as possible. You have helped me do both of those things. Again, thank you SO MUCH! Many blessings to you!

      Reply
    4. Mommaof2

      July 02, 2015 at 9:29 am

      Thank you SO MUCH for your awesome website, blog & menu plans! I did meal planning when I was single, but trying to make it work with a husband who throws a tantrum if a meal was not to his liking is near impossible (as well as different tastes) He considers things seasoned if they are buried under salt SO frustrating! We are trying this $70 meal plan this week and will be purchasing your 30-min meal book if this works as well!
      Thank you SO much to your family & you for offering your insights to those of us who have lost our way (so to speak)!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        July 02, 2015 at 11:44 am

        Thanks for your kind words. You can do it!

        Reply
    5. Jess

      January 10, 2015 at 3:19 pm

      I have to say that I was skeptical about this plan being under $70 with the amount of food/dinners that this plan makes. However, I decided to try it because this menu sounded irresistible (even to the picky eater in my household). Surprisingly when I shopped for the ingredients at the local jewel (a mainstream supermarket here in IL) my total came to about $52 dollars! I did have some modifications to the shopping list since I already had carrots, rice and flour. I also switched out the fruit sides with Brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes (a preference thing). I have to give kudos to this for not only being under the target price but also creating a plan that has dinners build upon each other through using leftover ingredients (something I love but is hard to find). I look forward to more of these!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        January 10, 2015 at 3:33 pm

        Yay! I love hearing that it worked so well. Kudos to YOU for trying it even when you doubts. I hope to have at least a dozen more available over the course of the year.

        Reply
    6. Tammy

      October 03, 2014 at 10:56 am

      Thank you so much for posting this. I am a veteran weekly meal planner who has totally lost it the last year or so. I have been struggling to get dinner on the table and have been spending way too much on food. This plan saved my sanity this week. Can’t wait to try the others. I am not sure if my info is very helpful because I already had a lot of the stuff and I live in the very expensive bay area. I went to TJs today and spent $27 plus I already had 4 pounds of organic chicken breasts from Costco that cost $25 alone. So relieved that I have a plan. Thanks again!

      Reply
    7. Kort G.

      September 09, 2014 at 10:42 pm

      This all girl trio (three generations) thanks you! This plan worked for us even though we have two seperate homes. Note: unlike most family plans, we actually felt that we gained the coveted “eating healthy” bonus too. Bless you.

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        September 10, 2014 at 10:29 pm

        Yay! Glad to hear it!

        Reply
    8. Kristy Meyer

      July 27, 2014 at 2:23 pm

      Hi Jessica,
      Just wanted to drop a note to say that even with nearly doubling all the ingredients on this meal plan (my family of 5 eats like a family of 8 courtesy of 2 teenaged boys and a hubby that answers to the name Hercules) I still only spent $98. You are a rock star! I can’t wait to pull this all together this week and then sit back and enjoy the compliments 🙂 Thanks for everything you do to make everyone else’s life a bit easier. we appreciate you!
      Blessings,
      Kristy ~AKA~ Mama to the Man Crew

      Reply
      • Kristy Meyer

        August 01, 2014 at 2:49 pm

        Oh Jessica, you wonderful woman you! All of Man Crew are raving about this week’s meals. I’ve have several requests for adding a particular recipe to our regular meal rotation. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are a blessing!
        Blessings,
        Kristy ~AKA~ Mama to the Man Crew

        Reply
        • Jessica Fisher

          August 06, 2014 at 9:39 am

          Yay! I love hearing these kinds of updates. Thank you!

    9. Amanda

      June 16, 2014 at 3:35 pm

      I am working our way through this meal plan this week – what a hit it has been! I am sure these meal plans are not easy to develop but it is so appreciated. I am in such a rut with planning dinners so this has been quite helpful to have it so spelled out for me. My husband is thrilled to see dinner appearing on the table again. Tonight was the salsa verde chicken. Thanks so much!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        June 16, 2014 at 4:17 pm

        Isn’t that yummy?! My people gobble that chicken down. I’m so glad the plan is working well for you! Yay! Thanks for letting me know.

        Reply
    10. Brandi

      May 14, 2014 at 6:28 pm

      We are in the middle of this meal plan this week. I love it!! So far very thing has been a hit! We had the burritos last night and I put half in the freezer before we heated them. I was able to freeze half of the salsa verde chicken too, which is so delicious! Thank you so much, I love this plan and the whole idea of having all the planning work done is great! I have been following you at goodcheapeats for a long time and I just love all your recipes and ideas.

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        May 14, 2014 at 10:20 pm

        Thanks for the feedback! I’m so glad it’s working for you. Yay!

        Reply
    11. Erica

      April 19, 2014 at 6:32 pm

      Did the meal plan this week and loved it! Feed 4 adults and 2 kids all these meals for 120.00. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        April 19, 2014 at 6:56 pm

        Yay! So glad it was a success for you.

        Reply
    12. Lonelle Minesinger

      April 02, 2014 at 8:54 am

      Love the dinner plans, but sadly neither of my kids like tomatoes/spaghetti sauce so that makes it harder. But I love the ones without!!

      Reply
      • Jessica Fisher

        April 05, 2014 at 6:40 pm

        Can you sub the tomato sauce with pesto? That might work across the board if you like pesto.

        Reply
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