Woman Says She Has $15 to Feed Her Family of 5 at Walmart. Then Walks Out With a Full Dinner and 10 Cents to Spare
In this economy, people will often have to pinch every penny to fill their grocery carts. Michelle (@shelbers95) had to stick with a tight $15 budget for her family of five. Although it seemed impossible, Michelle went to Walmart and tried to shop for her family anyway.
“I have fifteen dollars to my name—I have to feed my family of five for dinner, and we have absolutely no food in the house,” she told TikTok. Even Michelle was unsure of what she’d be grabbing at Walmart with such a tight budget, but she also wanted something “super easy” to make. But is it really possible to get anything out of Walmart below $20 other than frozen fries and nuggets?
Michelle went to the frozen food section. There were a bunch of ready-to-cook items on display, but even then, some frozen food could easily cost $15 a pack. She had to be strategic and go for the packages with ample quantity.
For $3.87 each, Michelle got two Banquet brand meatloaf slices with homestyle gravy. She also took a Totino’s Party Pizza pack for $2.00. With so much left, Michelle went to the bread aisle and got twelve pieces of butter rolls for $2.86. She also grabbed a four-cheese mashed potato pack for $1.45.
When Michelle reached the checkout counter, her bill totaled $14.90. She stuck to her budget and still had ten cents to spare.
Social media reacts to Michelle’s Walmart grocery haul
Social media users started giving advice about Michelle’s next grocery haul. Many commenters said that Michelle could’ve done more with her $15 budget.
One commenter suggested Michelle buy a bag of potatoes, a bag of rice, cans or bags of beans, and some ground beef. They believe that she could maximize her money by purchasing items from scratch and making homecooked meals for her family instead. Initially, Michelle said that she wanted something easy to prepare—hence, the frozen food. But with the right tutorials, even food from scratch wouldn’t be a daunting cooking experience.
Another commenter said that Michelle could buy pasta in the future and have a lot of leftovers from it. Soup is also easy to prepare but filling for those in a pinch. Some pasta would have as few as four ingredients, like traditional aglio olio with spaghetti, chili flakes, garlic, and olive oil as its core ingredients. Even non-canned mushroom soup would usually have just six base ingredients—portobello mushrooms, butter, garlic, onions, cream, and vegetable broth. But although the ingredients are cheap and accessible, it will take more time to prepare than a ten-minute microwave dinner.
But someone else suggested that Michelle watch Chef Moe. The content creator is known for making budget-conscious, yet delicious meals on TikTok. He’s gone viral for his budget-friendly recipes, including a family-size New York pizza dough and more. The TikTok chef also does grocery shopping hauls under a strict budget for families.
As Chef Moe puts it, “Just because the ingredients are cheap doesn’t mean it has to taste cheap.”
Because of the budgeting that Michelle had to do, many commenters were sympathetic and were eager to give advice. Some, however, pointed out the growing wealth disparity in the United States. They commented, “Elon Musk is a trillionaire, by the way.”
Nevertheless, many others praised Michelle for her efforts to feed her family. Times are tough, but she made her budget fit.
(featured images: shelbers95)
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