When desperate times call for desperate measures

I know from personal experience that I have found myself in a financial bind where I had very little money to spend on groceries let alone other items. It was a scary time for me and difficult. Thank the Lord it has been a while since I have found myself in this place, but I wish I had been more of sound mind to think about how to shop smartly. I have created a shopping list for a week that would work for a family of 4 for 3 meals. Please note, I am not a nutritionist, and this is not meant to follow long term.

All items I will be listing I priced out at from my local Aldi's. This list also assumes that you have a few staples on hand such as: flour, milk, sugar, salt, pepper, ketchup, barbecue sauce and pancake syrup. This will be right at under $50.00.

Shopping List: 1 whole chicken frozen or fresh $5.25, 5 lbs. of potatoes $2.99, 42 oz. oatmeal $2.75, lb. carrots .99 cents, lb. celery .99 cents, 1 bag of frozen fruit $3.85, lbs honey crisp apples $3.85, 1 box of pasta (your choice) .99 cents, 1 lbs. onions $2.09, 1 bag of whole kernel popcorn $1.29, 1 dozen eggs $1.19, 1 can tomato paste .49 cents, 1 box margarine .89 cents, cooking oil $2.39, burrito shells $1.49, 1 bag of dried beans (your choice) $1.75, 16 oz. block Mozzarella $3.85, 1 loaf of bread .89 cents, and yeast .99 cents.

Meals to make out of this:

Whole chicken will make 3 meals. Meals to make include: chicken soup, chicken enchiladas, chicken salad (if you do not have mayo, you can also make some with your eggs), and barbeque chicken sandwiches.

I would make chicken sandwiches first. Chicken enchiladas second and then the soup for the third meal. For the chicken soup obviously use the bones to boil and make the broth. Use an onion, carrots and celery and then some of your pasta. Of course you can alter any of these to make your own creations.

Other items you can make: bean burritos, baked potatoes, grilled cheese and homemade cheese pizza.

For breakfast you could make: pancakes, oatmeal, eggs and toast, or even french toast.

For snaking you could have: carrots and celery sticks, popcorn, fruit (I included a frozen bag of fruit so it would keep for later in the week), or you could make oatmeal cookies (if you happen to have some basics on hand).

For lunch you could have leftovers or any other of the item menus from your dinners. There should be plenty of leftovers for lunch.

I reiterate, this is basically an emergency budgeting situation. You could always pair it down further if you really had to. Make sure you are taking a good vitamin as well. I hope this helps you feel that this will be alright and you will make it through this.

Please share your thoughts and advice when it comes to extreme budgeting with your recipes and shopping.