When I was in college, then later as a struggling new father and husband, we learned to eat very inexpensively. There were weeks when I could get by on under $10 with Ramen noodles (the Dollar Store often had them at $0.10 a package), cheap fresh veggies (a cucumber was practically a full meal for less than a quarter), and generic packages of processed meat.
It’s a lot harder to do that today with inflation and growing food scarcity, but here’s the thing. If the crap hits the fan in any of an assortment of highly possible ways, many of us will be stuck trying to feed our families without the resources to do so very well.
Eating insufficient amounts of food can harm us physically. But even those who have stored away emergency food or are living lifestyles that allows them to produce their own may find themselves with a different challenge. There can be psychological repercussions from major dietary changes. You or members of your family may find eating beans and rice every day drives you a little bonkers.
I am hopeful that the current trajectory of the nation and the world can be reversed, but I’m not going to sit around and assume it will all end well. Knowing this, we are currently practicing “lean weeks” in which we live off the survival food we have rather than ordering out or getting fresh food from the grocery store.
I discussed this a bit on today’s podcast. I referenced this article by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper:
Rock-Bottom Meal Plan for Those Weeks When Money Is Tight
Things are tough in America and they’re likely to get tougher. Many of us are forced to reallocate our money from one necessity to another and often, the thing that suffers first is our diets. If times are tight, you might find this article helpful.
It’s a meal plan created from recipes and strategies in my new paperback, What to Eat When You’re Broke. We released this in PDF format recently and readers loved it. We got so many requests to put it in hard copy format that we couldn’t say no! So, it’s available on Amazon now as a paperback.
The recipes in this article are all included in the book, which I’m selling just above cost. I hope you enjoy it, and please, give us a review on Amazon to help more people to see it when they’re searching for a way to feed their family during difficult times.
Flat Broke Meal Plan
This meal plan is per person per week. Multiply it by the number of people in your family. I’ve tried to make it as varied as possible, and there are a few things included that are not the cheapest on the market. They’ve been added for nutrient value.
Obviously, if there are allergies or foods that your family won’t eat, feel free to substitute.
I shouldn’t need to say this, but it’s impossible to write one meal plan that will work for every single reader. If you are vegan, gluten-free, diabetic, suffer from food allergies, eat keto, or strictly follow a particular nutritional lifestyle, this may not work for you.
With that being said, let’s look at our menu! Stars * indicate that the full recipe is available in the book and you might also have your own recipes for these items.
Breakfast
- Day 1: Oatmeal with brown sugar and banana
- Day 2: Cornbread* with butter and jam
- Day 3: Leftover cornbread, sliced and heated with a butter and brown sugar drizzle
- Day 4: Peanut butter and crackers, apple
- Day 5: Rice cooked with milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon
- Day 6: Biscuits and gravy*
- Day 7: Scrambled eggs and toast OR homemade pancakes with fruit
Lunch
- Day 1: PB&J, apple
- Day 2: Pasta salad with tuna* (or canned chicken)
- Day 3: Bean burrito
- Day 4: Tomato soup* and crackers
- Day 5: Cold peanut butter noodles with shredded cabbage*
- Day 6: Tortilla pizzas*
- Day 7: Leftovers
Dinner
- Day 1: Beef and vegetable soup* with frybread*
- Day 2: Baked beans with mac and cheese (canned and boxed easy meal for busy days)
- Day 3: Fried Gnocchi* with canned marinara sauce
- Day 4: Crockpot white chicken chili*
- Day 5: Pasta with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese (add ground meat if it’s in the budget)
- Day 6: Homemade pizza*
- Day 7: Ham (slice an inexpensive canned ham or picnic ham and use the leftover for split pea soup), scalloped potatoes*, Christmas beans*
Six quick tips
Here are some ideas to make the meals more filling if this menu leaves you feeling hungry.
- Just add bread – whether it’s toast from grocery-store sliced bread, fresh homemade bread, frybread, or cornbread, adding some bread for sopping up sauces and broth makes meals feel more satisfying.
- Add more carbs – rice or pasta makes everything go a bit further.
- Add beans for more protein. When you’re making soup or chili, add one more can of beans to the pot.
- Baked potatoes make everything better. Looking for a cheap, filling, and tasty side? You can’t beat a baked potato. Top it with butter, sour cream or plain yogurt, and chopped green onion. Eating the skin adds fiber and other nutrients to your diet.
- Add cheap fruit. Bananas and bagged apples tend to be the least expensive fruit. Add one serving per meal to make it more filling and finish off on a sweeter note.
- Focus most of your money on one meal per day. If you fill up on less expensive items for breakfast and lunch, you can swing a better and more filling dinner.
This menu assumes that you probably have the basics in your kitchen, such as seasonings, spices, sugar, and cooking oil. In fact, you probably have much more than that. When I’ve reverted to this menu I am generally able to get very minimal groceries because I have plenty of canned goods and dry goods in my pantry. This just provides me with a great way to use them!
Don’t miss out on the paperback!
Help us make it to the top of the charts on Amazon by grabbing your copy this weekend! Your purchase means so much to me!
As well, please do me a favor and leave a quick review if you feel I’ve earned five stars. Doing this ensures that people searching for a book like this are able to find mine and it makes an enormous difference in sales.
I really believe that this book can help you (or someone you know who needs it) to get through hard times. In it, I share many of the strategies that allowed me to keep my children fed when I was a flat-broke single mama. Those times were difficult indeed, but my girls actually look back on that food and consider it their comfort food today.
Most of the recipes require little in the way of hands-on time, because, in addition to being broke, I was also working full time, then chauffeuring my daughters to various places after I got off work. I had a household to manage alone, laundry to do, and other requirements on my time so spending hours in the kitchen simply wasn’t an option. If you have more time, you can cut even more money off these recipes by making each component from scratch.
Here’s the table of contents. I tried to make the book a lot of fun!
- Introduction
- Frugalicious Philosophies
- Flat Broke Grocery Shopping
- Basic Batches
- Ultimate Frugal Formulas
- Cheap Eats
- Pantry Raid
- What a Crock
- Food with a Future
- Love Your Leftovers
- Seasonal Savings
- Lazy ala Daisy
- About the Author
I hope you enjoy What to Eat When You’re Broke! Thank you so very much for your support.
What about you?
What do you eat when money is tight? Share your tastiest and most frugal meal ideas in the comments!
Why Bullion Beats Numismatics and Collectible for Your Safe or IRA
Precious metals continue to attract Americans seeking reliable ways to protect their wealth amid inflation, geopolitical risks, and stock market swings. Whether stored in a home safe or held inside a self-directed IRA, physical gold and silver deliver tangible value that paper or digital assets often lack. Yet investors must choose carefully between bullion—pure bars and coins valued mainly for their metal content—and numismatics or collectibles, where rarity, history, and collector demand heavily influence pricing.
Advisor Bullion serves as a dependable source for straightforward, high-quality bullion. The company specializes in physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, emphasizing transparent pricing and products that deliver maximum metal content for every dollar spent. This approach makes it ideal for both personal holdings and retirement accounts.
Bullion consists of refined precious metals in standard forms like one-ounce coins (American Gold Eagles, Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs) or bars. Their value tracks closely to the current spot price of the metal. A typical gold bullion coin trades near the live gold spot price plus a small premium. This structure keeps costs clear and predictable.
Numismatic coins and collectibles add substantial value from factors such as age, rarity, minting errors, or historical significance. A pre-1933 U.S. gold coin or graded proof piece can carry premiums of 30%, 50%, or even 200% above melt value. While this appeals to hobbyists, it creates complexity. Pricing depends on subjective grading, collector trends, and auction results instead of daily spot prices.
For investors focused on wealth preservation and retirement security rather than building a collection, bullion often delivers better results.
Lower Costs and Better Liquidity for Home Storage
When keeping metals in a home safe or private vault, liquidity and efficiency count. Bullion offers clear benefits:
- You acquire more actual gold or silver per dollar invested. Numismatics divert a large share of your money into rarity premiums and massive sales commission, reducing your metal exposure.
- Selling bullion involves tight bid-ask spreads, so you recover nearly full spot value with minimal fees. Collectibles require finding the right buyer and may sell at a discount if demand for that specific item weakens.
- Bullion prices remain transparent and update with global spot markets. You can track gold near current levels or silver accordingly and know exactly where your holdings stand. Numismatic values are priced by the Gold IRA companies with hefty margins applied.
- Standardized coins and bars store efficiently and divide easily for partial sales. Rare coins often need protective slabs and controlled conditions, adding hassle and expense.
- Bullion enjoys worldwide acceptance. A 1-oz Gold Maple Leaf or Silver Eagle sells quickly to dealers anywhere. Niche numismatic pieces may appeal only to limited buyers, slowing liquidation when speed matters.
In times when quick access to value becomes important, bullion’s simplicity stands out.
Stronger Fit for Precious Metals IRAs
Precious metals IRAs continue gaining traction as investors diversify retirement portfolios beyond stocks and bonds. IRS rules permit certain bullion products in self-directed IRAs if they meet purity standards (.995 fine for gold, .999 for silver) and are held by an approved custodian. Eligible items include American Gold and Silver Eagles plus many generic bars and rounds from recognized mints.
Numismatic and most collectible coins generally face heavy scrutiny from custodians due to valuation disputes and elevated markups. These higher premiums mean less actual metal ends up working inside the account.
Bullion avoids these issues. Its value links directly to verifiable spot prices, which simplifies reporting and lowers the risk of regulatory challenges. More of your IRA contribution purchases real metal instead of dealer profits or speculative upside. Over time, owning additional ounces that appreciate with the metal itself can create meaningful outperformance compared with high-premium alternatives that deliver fewer ounces.
Regulatory guidance from the CFTC and state securities offices repeatedly cautions against aggressive sales of expensive numismatics or “semi-numismatic” coins for IRAs. For retirement planning, transparent bullion from established providers reduces risk and aligns better with long-term goals.
How to Get Started with Bullion
Begin by clarifying your goals. Are you protecting savings in a safe, or moving part of a retirement account into a precious metals IRA? Focus on the number of ounces you can acquire at current prices rather than chasing marked-up collectibles.
Diversify sensibly: use gold for core preservation and silver for its blend of industrial and monetary qualities. Mix coins for easier divisibility with bars for lower per-ounce costs on larger buys. Arrange secure storage—whether at home with proper insurance or through professional facilities.
As economic uncertainties linger and faith in conventional assets erodes, bullion continues proving its worth as a dependable store of value. Its direct approach avoids the hype that sometimes surrounds collectible markets and keeps the focus on the metal itself.
For investors prepared to strengthen their portfolios, Advisor Bullion supplies the expertise and selection needed to acquire high-quality bullion efficiently. Whether building personal holdings or integrating metals into an IRA, their emphasis on transparent, investment-grade products helps secure more ounces today that support greater financial security tomorrow. In a complicated financial landscape, bullion’s clarity and reliability make it the smarter foundation for protecting what matters most.