Skip to content
Mums on a BudgetAustralia

Meal plan · family of four

Seven dinners, one overlapping shop

Built around this week’s protein specials. $71.20 for dinners only — about $2.54 a serve. Breakfasts and lunchboxes are a separate column.

Week total

$71.20

Red lentil curry soup

Monday

Red lentil curry soup

$7.80 · serves 4 · 35 min

An Aldi pot that costs less than a drive-thru coffee run and feeds everyone, with leftovers for lunch.

  1. Sweat onion, carrot and celery in oil until soft.
  2. Stir in curry powder, then lentils, a tin of tomatoes and 1 L stock.
  3. Simmer 20 minutes. Blitz half if the kids prefer it smooth.
  4. Serve with toast. Freeze two portions if it’s too much tonight.
Sheet-pan chicken & potatoes

Tuesday

Sheet-pan chicken & potatoes

$13.40 · serves 4 · 45 min

One tray, almost no dishes. Pull leftover meat for Thursday wraps.

  1. Heat oven to 220°C. Toss thighs and chopped potatoes with oil, salt, paprika.
  2. Roast 35–40 minutes until the skin is crisp and potatoes are gold.
  3. Add frozen veg to the pan for the last 12 minutes.
  4. Save two thighs for Thursday. That’s the whole trick.
Baked pasta with hidden veg

Wednesday

Baked pasta with hidden veg

$10.40 · serves 4 · 40 min

Grated zucchini and carrot disappear into the sauce. Nobody has to know.

  1. Boil 500 g pasta. Meanwhile, cook onion, grated zucchini and carrot.
  2. Add a tin of tomatoes and a splash of milk. Simmer 8 minutes.
  3. Toss with pasta, half the cheese, bake 15 minutes with the rest on top.
  4. A green salad if you’ve got it. If not, frozen peas on the side.
Leftover chicken stir-fry

Thursday

Leftover chicken stir-fry

$6.40 · serves 4 · 20 min

Tuesday’s chicken, a bag of frozen veg, rice. The mid-week save.

  1. Cook 2 cups rice (or reheat Monday’s leftover rice).
  2. Stir-fry frozen veg in a hot pan with garlic and a splash of soy.
  3. Shred leftover chicken through at the end so it doesn’t dry out.
  4. Taste, add a squeeze of tomato sauce + soy if you have no oyster sauce.
Beef & bean chilli

Friday

Beef & bean chilli

$12.60 · serves 6 · 50 min

Makes six serves on purpose — Saturday’s baked potatoes are already handled.

  1. Brown 500 g mince with onion. Drain if you need to.
  2. Add two tins of beans, tomatoes, chilli powder, a pinch of cocoa if you have it.
  3. Simmer 30 minutes. Longer is nicer, but 30 works on a Friday.
  4. Serve over rice. Cool and fridge two cups for Saturday.
Chilli baked potato bar

Saturday

Chilli baked potato bar

$6.90 · serves 4 · 15 min active

The kids assemble their own. You get the night off cooking, mostly.

  1. Bake potatoes at 200°C for 50 minutes, or microwave 8 minutes if the day’s been a lot.
  2. Reheat Friday’s chilli.
  3. Put out cheese, spring onion, yoghurt instead of sour cream.
  4. Whatever’s left of the chilli freezes for a future Monday.
Slow-cooker pulled pork rolls

Sunday

Slow-cooker pulled pork rolls

$13.70 · serves 6 · 10 min + slow cook

Pork shoulder on special. Tonight’s dinner, Monday’s sandwiches, a freeze-bag for later.

  1. Rub a 1.5 kg pork shoulder with salt, paprika, a spoon of brown sugar.
  2. Slow-cooker on low 8 hours with a splash of stock and an onion.
  3. Shred, mix with a little BBQ sauce or tomato sauce + vinegar.
  4. Pile on toasted rolls with coleslaw. Freeze a third.