Suggestion: budget in a long term item each week to build a pantry. Examples per week; flour, sugar, oil/lard, ketchup/mayo/mustard, dry or shelf stable milk, soy sauce, salad dressing, a bag of pasta or box of Mac cheese, can of tomato, jar of pasta, large can of veggies or beans, a spice, pickles/peppers… you’ll have more meal options overall. And building slowly won’t break the budget. 😊

I was having a conversation with my siblings last night about how hard it was for us growing up poor with a Mom who really didn't know how to cook, and I said how I wished content like this was around back. I hype up your content anytime I get the chance because you truly are changing lives, Rebecca! Especially now when times are so tough for so many!

I wonder if anyone else has mentioned this. Watching Struggle Meals made me realize that all condiments thrown into take-out/fast food bags have value. We had to live in a hotel for two weeks, and even with figuring out how to cook and eat as inexpensively as possible, there were just those times when we ordered takeout. During a major snowstorm, Cracker Barrel was the only place within reasonable walking distance. I am trying to remember what we ordered, but when I looked into the bag, I found packets of honey, various seasonings, Duke's mayo, mustard - etc. I kept them as I didn't want to waste them. They, and other packets that we have, or friends who are far more 'fast food' than us, have made up a seasoning box. It is invaluable when I need just a little of something. I feel good that the little packets aren't in the trash.

The toasted oatmeal packet idea is genius!!

The content itself is clear and useful, but you go above & beyond for your audiences making the effort of delivering it both as a long form week and in smaller chunks of a couple days each. Don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone else do that.

I know it's only a few cents but for some reason, if you get the taco seasoning in the Hispanic aisle, it's only 42c for the exact same GV packet. Don't know why 😂

The amount of research and mental load that you put into these videos is INSANE. I would love to see a $50 budget meal plan for Aldi, as it's the only store really close to me. Thank you for what you do!!

Well done Rebecca! I know this compilation of the entire week 2 in this series for the benefit of your viewers was a lot of work. Kudos to you!

I appreciate how you show how to incorporate fresh produce on budget. You keep inspiring me to get creative with what I can afford.

For those that have a Grocery Outlet available often they have spices available and currently I have a full range of organic spices that were $1.99/ jar and the bottles are beautiful which is important because my kitchen is tiny with all open shelving. I just rearranged my kitchen this week as I’m unemployed for the next two months waiting for next job. My budget is very tight but I found a ton of neglected items in my pantry so am getting creative 😊

Great information! I’m learning how to cut down on food waste because I am sick of throwing away food that has gone bad because I forgot about it. 😢 I’ve struggled with meal planning forever and I really want to get better at it. Thank you! ❤

I went from cooking for 5 down to 2 so I hope my food spending goes way down!!! I’m loving these videos!!!!❤

You are the most kindest, warm hearted, caring and considerate soul! And it is just so appreciated by so many. I know i can speak for others when i say this, you really are so incredibly smart and talented and helpful in so many ways! You are a beautiful person. Thank you for all the hard work you put into all these videos!

As I was teaching my niece about budget produce buying: When items like bell peppers and cabbage are sold by weight, look for the *lightest* ones. When buying by item ( e.g., 3 for 1.99) then you can go for the big ones.

I love the intro - it's so educational. Not everyone thinks through menu planning or money budgeting. Thank you for highlighting how to do both!

A similar version of the black bean salsa can be made using the same 1 can on black beans, 1 can of corn, 1 can of Ro-tel, and maybe some frozen seasoned veggies onions/peppers or minced garlic. If you prefer to skip the prep or need to because of arthritis or other disability (I have chronic migraines, so simpler is better sometimes), this way results in less time on your feet but still A LOT of flavor! You can also add it to ground meat prepared with taco seasoning to bulk it out. Numerous ways to eat it on chips, in tortillas, as a taco bowl, etc. Thanks for the inspiration, Rebecca! 🙏💜

Love your videos and your creativity. My only recommendation would be to buy the Great Value spices for $1.22 each when you can. Buy a garlic powder, an onion powder and a smoked paprika. This comes out so much cheaper overall and will spice darn near anything.

Our Food Lion (we're in Maryland) has 18 egg packs for $2.24 now!

Omg😮 I tried your homemade hashbrowns and they were a hit!!!!!!

I wanted to make a recommendation from Australia! If you can you should try devilled sausages, you already have the base ingredients with sausages, tomatoes and onions but this recipe uses an apple as well. It’s delish served with mashed potatoes or rice with veggies.

Great shopping tips Rebecca! So many people don’t know, or haven’t been taught, how to shop economically. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. ❤

Honored to be first! Loving this series so much. It’s helping me. Your recipes are 🔥🔥🔥

Yum! I'm going to try the strata with sausage gravy on top! I just found you recently and love your useful videos! Thank you so much.

I have had a budget of roughly 54 dollars (50 euros)/week for all my four adult years. Videos like these confirm my thinking that with that kind of money you can even afford some nice things like coffee and creamer like you did! My main favourite thing to afford is apples! ( When I was younger teen we had to split that amount or like ten dollars more between three people, so having that much money on just myself feels luxurious) Extreme poverty definely traumatized me and now I make sure I have as much food as possible, as cheap as possible and NEVER run out of toilet paper 😅 Thank you so much for these videos and educating people , I got kinda rambling but I just find these kind of topics super important!

Thanks for including non-chicken meals! I have been trying to branch out. It's sometimes hard since chicken is just so much cheaper and these were great ideas

Your knowledge, experience, and willingness to help all of us is irreplaceable, Rebecca! You RAWK, Sister!!!

I have a larger family but my grandparents are always looking for ways to stretch their budget and cook for 2. I'm going to send this to them! Thank you for all that you do!!

Pair that red beans & rice with Jiffy cornbread, and it's so good! I make my own Jiffy mix with Splenda, but we always eat red beans & rice with cornbread. It is quite possibly a North Louisiana thing.

Thanks for the week of suggestions. They're very helpful. 😊

Rebecca has lots of cooking tips and food knowledge. It’s a great primer for new cooks.

God your intro is fantastic! I appreciate you explaining how you rolled over ingredients from previous meals. In addition I wholeheartedly believe there’s an opportunity to explain flavor profiles to new cooks. This will empower them to be creative and know that certain key ingredients can be used in multiple Italian dishes for example. Great job Rebecca 😊

Our family always makes this version of "Tuna Casserole". Mix together in a large bowl: 1 can of tuna (don't drain). 1 bag of potato chips (crush chips by squeezing the bag), 1 diced small onion or 1-2 TBSP of dried, minced onion, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 can full of milk and 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 to 1 tsp. black pepper. Place into a baking dish (sprayed to coat or use shortening or butter/margarine to coat the pan so casserole doesn't stick). Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, until top browns a bit and a crust forms. Let cool slightly before serving...and enjoy!

As always, great ideas. We have to utilize what’s on hand or we don’t really get the most out of our $$s spent. Love how you compare items at the store(fresh tomatoes versus canned). YES we to be open to making changes to the menu once we get in the store and see supplies/sales. Good info. Thanks

i am not a fan of leftovers, so i have to learn (relearn) how to think about it. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I love your channel. It’s so practical. You give great advice, and you pay attention to getting some veggies in there, although eating healthy veggies on a budget is really hard because they’re so expensive.

Frozen peas and carrots are so versatile. I put them in everything from stuffed meatloaf to pot pie to pasta salad

Rebecca, your ability to teach and your creativity for meal planning is in a class by itself. I bought the first week's meal plan and this one as well. I have already noticed a big difference in my food budget. The shepherds pie from this week was awesome and I am finding lots of uses for the black bean salsa from last week. Thank you.

You are awesome! I will make some of these, it will be nice to have something different. Those hash browns looked amazing. Love it. Thank ya sweetie. Hugs, Rebekah

Great video

I just found your channel and I can’t stop binge watching! Thank you for this content, life is so expensive these days

Thank you for showing the shopping part, your thought process, and all the tips for shopping and choosing your groceries and including the prices.

Love your videos!! such good practical info that is so helpful for us on a budget. THANK YOU! Your videos are awesome!

I’m absolutely loving this. You make it look so easy Queen. I love you and your videos 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

Girl your videos just keep getting better! So proud of you and how far you’ve came ❤ Keep em coming!

i learned so much from this and your week 1 video! thank you for making such realistic and thoughtful meal plans!

Saw someone post on Twitter about this video and it’s just too good to be true 😍

I would love to see this series continue, even if only sporadically. It's realistic, inexpensive, and easy, and it's aimed at smaller households. Thank you!

I love the look of your hash browns. Will definitely make them in the cooler weather! Thank you for the video!

Thank you always great ideas!

I am pretty new to your channel but wow I love it!! It’s so helpful. I’m on a strict food stamp budget and this helps so much!! I am family of 3 but the portions you are perfect for us!! Thank you so much for doing videos like this. Also keep the dollar tree dinners name it’s great!!

Girl all your videos is going to help me when it's going to be just my husband and I... I love your recipes as well and these meals are freezer friendly

This is awesome. I enjoyed going shopping with you and hearing you explain the differences in prices from one week to another. You are doing a great job with this $50 week challenge. You are giving all of us such wonderful ideas. Thank you again 🙂

I've been using the same techniques as shown here, and it helps greatly. Most weeks I'm shopping just for fill in items and not a whole big shopping trip. Having multi use ingredients is definitely a money saver

Excellent haul & terrific recipes! You are such a blessing. Love your videos. These recipes sre great for cold weather as well. You are just really on top of your game. Your content is 100% usable and completely adaptable for individual situations like diets allergies budgets foid desserts! Keep going strong! Thank you!

You put so much thought and work into these videos. I’m thoroughly impressed. 👏👏👏🤩🤩💛💛💛 the way you do a daily or every couple of days during the week and then this recap is just 🍾👍 thank you for the ideas. We have multiple food allergies and I would love to have a budget like this lol. But the way you describe your thoughts on this was very helpful.

Thanks Rebecca for the Recap of a Great video. Your always a Pleasure to watch and see and enjoy. And I truly appreciate you thanks. 🌹🌹🌹💟💟💟

I think you need to budget for a few garlic heads. All that food would taste so much better with garlic. A few quarters will give you a ton of extra flavor.

This is not the type of food I eat, but I enjoy your videos so much. Your voice is almost meditative. And I enjoy the budgeting aspect. Thank you!

Dollar queen dinners, thank you for all that you do. You’re so real.

Rebecca, I enjoy all your recipes, shopping trips and savings! Thank you again! 😊

I made the unstuffed peppers and had it for lunch 3 times this week. Not only was it delicious but it kept in the fridge and reheated so well. Thank you so much for recipes that are actually achievable for a home cook.

Golly Gee! I wish I had your handwriting its pretty. This was a super helpful video. Could you please post more like this? I just tossed two grocery bags chuck full of food that no longer could be eaten. Its not the best for me tossing out food like that. Im trying to work on a better system so Im helping myself and not hurting myself. Also the two bags came from both the freezer and fridge. I just need a better system. Keep up the great work and Grats in 100K its amazing seeing you grow!

Nicely done 👏 I must have missed you mentioning the meal plans in your Etsy shop before. I've been writing down some of your recipes to try. Having them in printed format will be so much easier. Im going to start a cookbook with your recipes. Thanks so much 😁

Can I kindly make one suggestion? I've bought the items and now I have to scroll the video for tge recipes. Could you possibly separate them in chapters so we can find them? Also, Aldi brownies are the best box brownies I've found. Thank you so much for you content. I'm new to your channel and am loving it!

Rebecca, Thank you for all your hard work. Love your recipes. Youre awesome!

Just found the 1st vid, such great info. You should keep doing these with the economy being what it is. I think your channel name is great!

Loving this style video!! ❤️💯🥰

I just started making red beans and Rice with that brand it is absolutely amazing. Probably one of my new favorite meals.❤

Good suggestions, even for an experienced home cook. I tend to over by and over complicate unless I really focus and I like these videos that remind me how to focus. There is a super nutritious delicious meal that I like it’s called Addis. It’s basically a lentil soup. Hearty and delicious with costa spices (I get it here in Arabia easily, but I’ve had it in good Mexican restaurants before and it tastes about the same with cumin and onions and whatever else is good in there to you) I love it because you could add rice if you want to or meat or extra vegetables/ squash. . . It is super healthy and super delicious. And all of your cooking today reminded me that I need to make that. And some no knead bread for dinner tomorrow night and broccoli. There I have a whole menu planned out that’s even vegan until I put the butter on the bread and broccoli. :) Dry beans are easier and cheaper for me to get here and cream of anything. Soups are super expensive and convenience food factor is zip zero none. Unless I want to pay $15 for 8 ounces of process American cheese. 😂. Even I do not like cheese that much. The biggest actual problem for me cooking here is the price of good cheese, because I am still not accustomed to the local stuff. I’m working on it though. Living out of the country without any Aldi‘s or Walmarts or the kinds of sales that I understand is a challenge but kind of fun. My goal going forward is to spend a lot less in February than I have so far in January. I am mostly feeding one person, except for about four meals a week. I have no excuse to spend too much other than cheese. I spent too much on cheese. Not process cheese but still too expensive. Literally I pay a fortune for Safeway select because that’s the imported brand that I actually recognize and it’s pretty good. I would not spend more in America for tillamook. Interestingly, the last time I found a name Brown cheese from America here it was cheaper than the Safeway select. One good thing here I can get all kinds of is oatmeal and rice and beans. Vegetables are often very well priced. Meat, not so much. Western style bread is not very good. So I make my own. Pita bread is a great deal though! Not worth making it when is the equivalent of $.35-$.40 for a bag of them freshly made at the grocery store and literally hot off the oven stone. I think I haven’t really good to hear it. I just need to appreciate it better!!

You are doing fabulous, ty for sharing.

Since you are at Walmart (i haven't transitioned to dollar tree yet): owing to the whole self checkout flap and other issues i do pickups or deliveries (i am a W+ member). On the one hand not seeing what's available kind of stifles the imagination of what to prepare, but for me it takes away the temptation to indulge in impulse buying. 😊....I really appreciate your channel 👍🏼

Thank you for your ideas and giving people inspiration. I’m starting to be mindful of spending. And time. I now freeze leftovers (primarily soups) for future quick lunches/dinners. I figured whoever can make grilled cheese or any type of sandwich or basic salad to go with it. I’m tired of wasting.

Thank you and happy Wednesday 🤩

I like how your doing summary video but also day 1 and 2....3 and 4 etc.

These videos are a life saver ❤

I love these videos! Thank you

Great video, as usual! Thank you 😊

Such important work you're doing, thank you so much. I moved back to America after seven years in Japan. I made the mistake of getting a bigger apartment because I thought my husband's visa (he's Japanese) wouldn't take very long, but it could be up to a year. Now I'm struggling to pay for an apartment that takes up half my paycheck. I've had to resort to $50 a week for groceries, but I keep going over budget. Videos like yours are SO helpful!!

When us kids spent the night at my grandparent's house (on my mom's side), we always got a snack before bed. We usually got those things with the toys in them. I'm blanking on the name.

Since Walmart is my go to for groceries. I love this series!

I love this new series!❤

Great job! Always helpful!

Thank you for the hints and tips. It’s a huge help and a great way to help tighten the belt during tight budget times ❤

So well done ! I love your idea for making granola... omg you are so smart ! 😊❄☃🌞💗✝

You should make a website with grocery lists and recipes for your meal plans!!!!

Many recipes I can whip up with items in my stocked pantry. I have dried vegies and fruit if fresh too costly. I really like your videos. If viewers are interested you've created great meals in a bag using dried vegies. Thanks😊

I've watched so many of your videos & I LOVE them!!❤🥰🙏🏻 pleasseeee tell me where I can get that knife you use.. the one with the orange handle... I NEED ONE!!😁🔪😋🍽🫶🏼💐🩷 i thought I'd already seen this video???☺️

I absolutely love your content ❤

I have found that during all holidays, regardless of which one, certain foods are put on sale during that time, during Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter.... potatoes & vegetables go on sale, as well as large meats...turkey, ham and certain roasts and lamb..... during Valentines, St Patrick's day , Halloween...these are the " sweet ' holidays and lots more desserts and chocolates go on sale , I stock up on these sale items then and use at later dates...... with the bigger holidays, canned goods and soups go on sale as well, it's good to always look at the sales flyers too, as sometimes you can find some really good savings during the week, I like to check them out between a few different stores and use those on my shopping list. Thank you for sharing all your ideas, and food, you are appreciated!! ❤

I love that you're making these available on Etsy for folks! It looks like they're being appreciated there too. Thank you for these ideas. I am going to be playing around with a hamburger soup/scalloped potatoes shepherd's pie variant tomorrow that was inspired by your channel.

The Dollar tree cheese balls are wonderful. Great for filling in the gaps!

As always, excellent ideas, tips and suggestions,,, ✔️

Great ideas! And to save on electricity you could bake some of the meals together. The ravioli would probably taste better the next day.

I love your channel!!!

You are a master alchemist with tremendous power and taste.

Love this video 😊

That is a good idea to set aside what you need for another meal in a container. I can't tell you how many times I've reached for said item only to have it not be there due to lunch packing, etc. Especially red peppers.

I love your. Channel thanks for the great ideas

Hi Rebecca. Love your videos. Thanks for the info ❤❤😊

I like making a turkey Shepard pie I use carrots,peas, onions ground turkey with oregano, basil parsley, salt pepper than top with mashed cauliflower optional cheese on top