I’m a frugal nerd and every week I entertain myself by making detailed plans for a $20 weekly grocery budget for a family of four:

$20 total, not per person.
4 adults.
Lots of meat.
Lots of fresh vegetables.

My usual method is to spend only $15 a week, holding $5 back to save towards bulk purchases, pantry stock-up, and super sales.

I’m starting this challenge as though I have zero food in the house—no salt, no spices, no oil, no flour, etc. My pet peeve is any self-proclaimed budget recipe that adds ingredients from the pantry that are not counted in the cost of the recipe. Olive oil is one ingredient I see a lot of “budget” recipes forget to count in the total. I don’t know about you, but my grocery store isn’t giving out free bottles of olive oil. I also had to pay for all of my flour, salt, pepper, and spices.

I’ll add pantry items in as fast as I can using only my $20 weekly grocery budget, mostly by spending $15 on this week’s ingredients and holding back the last $5 that I’ll keep to roll into the next week’s budget.

I bet you do in fact have a ton of pantry staples and spices, and loads of food in your fridge and freezer— I do too. I’ll only use the items from my $20 weekly family grocery list for recipes and menu plans here on my weekly $20 family grocery budget lists so you can see how it is possible to feed your family well on a very tiny budget of $20 a week for four people in a medium-high cost of living area (Phoenix). I might even do a few lists for Southern California grocery stores, because I always see “well I’m from California so your budget plan is crap” comments on frugal recipes. I bet it isn’t true (I’m from Southern California and still buy groceries there regularly) but if it is true, then see what you can do with $30 a week.

This is not a one-off $20 grocery haul—each week’s $20 family grocery budget list and menu plan rolls into the next. I hope to post the $20 weekly family grocery budget for at least three months, to show how cheap it can be to feed your family well, and even stock a pantry at the same time, for very little money.

All of the $20 weekly family grocery budget shopping lists will be full of nutritious and filling foods, including, most importantly, meat and fresh vegetables.

The grocery stores I shop at in the Phoenix area:

Winco (If I had to shop at only one grocery store, it would be Winco.)
Safeway/Albertson’s
Fry’s
Food City
Sam’s Club
Walmart (There are very few grocery items that are cheaper at Walmart than at Winco, so I rarely shop there.)
I will never shop at Aldi. I actively hate Aldi: Aldi’s food quality is garbage and its prices are high.

Basic Rules of the $20 Family Grocery Budget Plan:

I’ll use only the prices that are available to everyone using store sales and coupons; I won’t count clearance finds or personalized coupons.
The recipes I post to use up the ingredients on the grocery list will feed at least four adults well, with an emphasis on meat-based protein and fresh produce.
I try to avoid known GMOs, soy, and high fructose corn syrup.
You won’t find any junk food or prepared snacks on my weekly grocery lists unless the grocery store is practically giving them away.
I’ll include breakfast because people seem to like to eat three meals a day, but breakfasts will be very simple.
No drinks will be included, not even coffee.
The weekly menu plan will include breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 7 days. Based on the rolling weekly menu plan, I’ll add in snacks (fresh fruit and vegetables or homemade baked goods) when possible. Once the pantry gets built up a bit to include sugar, baking powder, etc., I’ll include the occasional dessert and sweet baked treat.
The $20 weekly family grocery budget is based on Wednesday-Tuesday prices each week, since grocery store sales start on Wednesday and end on Tuesday. The $20 weekly family grocery budget list and menu will be posted on Thursdays.
I do buy some items that are non-negotiable for my family that you can substitute for a cheaper item. For example, I refuse to buy canola/corn/vegetable oil, so I buy the least expensive olive oil and avocado oil that I believe is real (Winco olive oil for a small size that I can add into the pantry quickly, and Chosen avocado oil in bulk size, which I’ll be saving some pantry money towards each week). Olive oil and avocado oil cost about three times the amount per ounce of junky oil, but if you don’t mind it, you’ll have that much more to spend within your $20 a week family grocery budget.
I’ll list the best deals from Safeway/Albertson’s, Fry’s, and Food City in Phoenix each week (again, just the whole and wholesome foods, not chips, cokes, etc.) so you’ll have additional options to swap for anything you don’t like on the $20 family grocery budget list.

Week 1: June 3-9, 2006 Phoenix area grocery store best sales for Safeway/Albertson’s, Fry’s, and Food City (starred items are on the $20 weekly family grocery budget list):

Safeway/Albertson’s

*Pork sirloin chops, bone-in: $1.27/lb. Value pack; limit 2 packages

Cantaloupe whole $2 ea

Frozen vegetables 32 oz $2.50 each when you buy 4

Pickup order only (minimum $30): Free Signature Select ground beef patties (choose the Angus beef for 21.32 oz size; the other varieties are only 16 oz).

Friday only: 500 points with $50 purchase (must download digital coupon on Friday)

Fry’s

*Chicken, Foster Farms, whole chicken, drumsticks, or thighs $0.99/lb

Cheese, Kroger 32 oz $4.99 digital coupon, limit 5

Pasta, Barilla $0.99 digital coupon, limit 5

Friday only: 4x Fuel Points (must download digital coupon)

Food City

Fri/Sat/Sun only:

T-bone steak, value pack $5.99/lb
Watermelon $0.25/lb (12 lb watermelon = $3)

*Green cabbage $0.50/lb

*Cantaloupe $0.33/lb (average cantaloupe weighs 3 lbs)

Beef birria meat, boneless $5.99/lb

*Potatoes, 10 lb $1.49 digital coupon, limit 4.

Thursday only:

Corn, sweet corn $0.25 ea
Pork country ribs, bone-in $0.99/lb
*Onion, brown onion $0.33/lb, limit 6 lbs.
*Pineapple $0.33/lb (average pineapple weighs 3 lbs)
Beef shank, bone-in $3.99/lb

Broccoli $1.29/lb

*Lemons $1.19/lb (about 5 small lemons per lb = $0.24 ea)

Rice, Blue Ribbon 5lbs $3.98 ($0.80/lb)

It’s slim pickings on Phoenix grocery deals this week, so much of the $20 weekly family grocery budget will be spent at Winco. The $20 weekly family grocery budget list and menu plan will post tomorrow (6/4/26) for Substack paid subscribers. Subscribe to All Day Mom by Carissa Houston here:

I get 6% cashback on groceries with my American Express Blue Cash Preferred card. I can even get 6% cashback at Winco even though Winco doesn’t take credit cards: buy a small Winco gift card in store, then reload it online with your Amex Blue Cash Preferred to earn 6% cash back on your gift card reloads. Use my Amex link here to get up to $300 cash back bonus with my referral on the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card when you spend $3,000 in 6 months. NOTE: Use your cell phone for this link so you will see the $300 cash back bonus. On desktop, it might only offer you $250!