$5 Family Meals | FIVE Quick & Easy Cheap Dinner Recipes Made EASY!

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$5 MEALS | QUICK & EASY CHEAP DINNER RECIPES | CHEAP MEALS MADE EASY! Welcome back to my channel, Frugal Fit Mom.

Today we have seven tasty meals that cost under 5 dollars each! These are fast, easy, and most importantly, KID APPROVED.

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00:00 $5 family meals
00:50 Pasta with veggies
2:20 Cookie Bars
8:30 Ranch Chicken
10:00 Pancakes & Bacon
13:35 Chili
17:35 Curry
18:20 Muffins

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#frugalliving #cheapfood #frugalfitmom

[elementarystemwithms.crosm]

A friend told me that when she and her siblings were getting old enough for college, her family bought a home in a college town for the kids and made them all attend the same college. They lived in the home and were considered local residents, so they didn't have to live on campus or have a meal plan. After all five kids graduated, the family put the home back on the market and sold it for more than they paid for it. 5 kids, no room and board, earned money renting rooms to a few of their friends along the way, and a profit at the end for flipping the house. This is how rich people live.

[connievassilev]

We homeschooled our son. He started dual enrollment at the local community college. He completed his first two years of college by the time he graduated high school. He started at the four-year college as a junior. Was still able to live at home during the whole time. It was amazing. And he loved knowing he wasn't "wasting time" finishing high school when he really wanted to pursue college. Also, being homeschooled, he always just assumed that I was "giving" him his straight A's through school. When he graduated from high school and community college at the same time carrying a 4, 0 in both places, he knew I wasn't giving him good grades. He earned every one of them

[a.edwards]

I homeschooled my son. Did you know many of the subjects high schoolers take in one school year are the same as a 1 semester college course? (Algebra, English, History, ect). My son, upon finishing a course subject for high school, would go to the local college test center and take a CLEP or DSST exam and get college credit. He tested out of 1.5 years of college while in high school. The cost is super cheap too. Currently (Mar 2024) it costs $121.50 at the local college to take the exams for a 3 credit hour exam (a handful of exams can earn more credit hours btw - i.e.: English lit & American lit). He then attended the local college to complete all his prerequisites for the university he wanted to transfer too. We saved a ton of money for his degrees. After he finished his BA he went on and got a masters.

[karenchandler]

My daughter had her Associates degree before she graduated from High School. She got full tuition for the other 2. She worked part time and lived at home. Very proud mama!

[carrieprivette]

For high school seniors: ask them what type of lifestyle they want, not just what they want to be. Do they want to spend 80hrs weeks in an office, do they want flexibility to start a family, do they want the possibility of remote work, do they want to stay local- limiting the available job fields? Etc. So many people say I want to be *this* but the standard lifestyle of that position is so abhorrent to them that they burn out. Or back themselves into a corner where they have to sacrifice personal lives on the altar of work forever. So ask your kids how they want to live, not just what they want to do. And prepare them for the likelihood of them wanting to shift priorities in their mid twenties or for a family.

[Amysweightlossjourney]

My daughter also did the dual enrollment and graduated her senior year with a full year of college under her belt. She then was awarded a full four years scholarship to the university of Michigan. She graduated up with a double major because of her high school dual enrollment. She had to be very dedicated to her studies, which she was anyway. It was a full load because she held a job as well, but it paid off. I was, and still am, so very thankful for a child who was self driven and education minded. I never had to remind her to get things done because she came home and homework was first thing. That carried through to college when she was away from home, and still does in her career today. Her hard work has paid off.

One of the biggest things for her, and her friends, was to have the emotional support from the adults in their lives. That made a lot of difference on the days when she felt like it was absolutely too much and needed encouragement. We always need to be their biggest fans, and cheerleaders. Our kids are the most important investment we can make. I know from watching your videos that you have that same dynamic with your kids, they know they can count on you. ❤

[elizabethn.]

You could totally do a college kid meals video with mini fridge, microwave & toaster. I asked, mine said micro scrambled eggs & brown & serve sausage, pizza bagles, & cheese salami crackers & apple sauce were go-to's, along with lean cuisines, and pb & j & lunchmeat roll ups.

[lenettasmith-murray]

Im doing a 30 day pantry/freezer challenge. Theres only me in my house, but i still think its a great idea 😊

[greg]

One of my favorites is a sheet pan dinner. I'll cut a russet potato into chunks and toss in a bowl with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. That goes in the middle of the foil lined pan. Then I toss half a bag of frozen broccoli in the residue from the potatoes and put it on one side. Then I add some Greek yogurt and Dijon mustard to the bowl, add chunks of chicken and mix. I'll place the chicken on the other side of the pan, then spoon the leftover yogurt/mustard over the broccoli. The whole thing goes into a 350 oven for 30 minutes, and comes out delicious.

[suzanneseaberg]

Yes, the cost of meal plans at college is exorbitant. But most make it a requirement to be on a meal plan freshman year. It’s more like eating at a restaurant every meal. The school has to pay for all the food options and pay for all the workers to prepare and serve the food is included. Saved SO much money when they move off-campus and have a kitchen.

[jamiemartin]

I live in Georgia and they call that dual enrollment and it’s free! All my kids took advantage of it and what a blessing it was. I highly recommend it!

[earlglassco]

Quick note, there's a CLEP program where ANYONE can take college classes (think free ones available online), pay $100 for the proctor when they take the test, and if they get a passing score, they just got 3 college credits. Colleges usually give a list of CLEP credits they will accept on their websites. There's a book (don't let the title throw you) called Homeschooling High School for College Credit that describes the process. Our oldest is in 10th grade (homeschool), and that's what we're hoping to use to get her some college credits under her belt. (If your child/student doesn't get a high enough score, there is ZERO GPA penalty, and they can re-take the test when they're ready.) BTW, this is Harriet, not my hubby, LOL.

[nmg]

When I make chili, I do half ground beef and half lentils to stretch the ground beef.

One of our go-to cheap meals is "bean tacos" - I make homemade refried beans with dry beans (half a bag makes 8 cups of refried beans) and then I just warm up tortillas on the stove, add some cheese and beans and get it all warm + hot sauce. It's not the healthiest but it's super cheap and with plenty of leftovers that can also be used for other meals.

[Hereforthecomments]

I store nuts in the freezer. They last much longer.

[brentbraten]

Years ago, when I was working in the local hospital’s Physical Therapy department there were just two of us and I was the Occupational Therapist. For strokes we had a bag of marbles and a collection of nuts and bolts. I know it sounds silly (and boring) but pick each marble up individually and move them from one pile to the other. Two cereal bowls might be useful here. The nuts and bolts are pretty much self explanatory. Put the nuts on the bolts and then take them off.

Beyond this you might want to take up crochet and piano. Another thing is squeezing a nurf ball for bas flexibility and strength.

If your occupational therapist has a finger table so much the better. We had one but seldom used it because out here in the country recovery was (and probably still is) centered around helping people relearn practical tasks.

Two other exercises you might want to work with are lacing and tying shoes and twirling a chopstick between your fingers.

I know it’s a lot of work and it seems boring and tedious but when you can do everything you used to do I think you will agree that putting in the work is actually worth it.

In case you are wondering, the reason I was the “occupational therapist” was because I had a little accident back in 1970 that left me all but completely paralyzed on the lef-hand side of my body. I say “all but” because I was able to get most of it back, excluding the functional use of my left hand and I did not want any of our patients to have to deal with the kinds of frustration I had/have been dealing with since that accident.

Also please keep in mind that being that I live in a relatively rural environment most of our exercises were centered around things people could do at home after they left the hospital.

Take care.

[melaniesmalling]

Dual credit makes so much more sense to me than AP courses for credit! AP courses here are needlessly tough (tougher than 300 level college classes unless you’re at an Ivy League maybe!) and can tank GPA. Dual credits get the same thing accomplished in a more realistic way without making school have to be the only focus of life for high school kids. And yes, super affordable here…our state (maybe it’s our district?) covers 2 courses free! No reason not to if your kid might be headed to college.

[katharinedodson]

When I was at BYU the meal plan was 1500 a semester. When I moved off campus the next year I literally fed myself for 100 bucks/mo. When I got engaged I make my finances lunches and he came to my house for dinner and I fed the both of us for 50 bucks a week/200 a month. So cheap compared to today.

[Saras_place]

My college kid spends maybe $100 a month 😂 he has mom who helps and friends and local church does free lunch on Tuesday and Thursday he volunteered at.

[suziebuckingham]

My daughter did the college credit in high school thing. She went to the state college. She entered as a Sophomore, so it also helped the acceptance situation as she was considered a transfer student instead of a Freshman. So also saved on food plan, as we didn’t have the “required” freshman food plan rules, and didn’t have to live on campus.

[alexuni]

About the college food thing, I would say its your hint to make a series of affordable and nutritious meals using only a tiny airfryer, a tiny rice cooker (that doubles down as a slow cooker) and maybe a kettle :D
So you can combine little sales - once a week clearance grocery or whatever - with cooking for one (which you've definitely done before) plus using no stove or oven :D