Feeding a house with two adults, one young adult, and three always-hungry teens can feel like running a small restaurant. Between after-school snacks, late-night “I’m starving” raids, and second (and third) helpings at dinner, groceries disappear fast. I have gotten tired of getting frustrated over the food vanishing.
Over time, we’ve learned that staying on budget isn’t about extreme couponing or never eating fun food, it’s about planning, rotating, and using what we already have, especially our hunting meat.
Here’s exactly how we make it work.
1. We Plan Around What We Already Have (Especially Wild Game)
If you have hunting meat in the freezer, that’s your biggest grocery asset.
Instead of meal planning first and shopping second, we:
- Check the freezer
- Pull out 3–5 packages of meat for the week
- Build meals around that
Easy Ways We Use Up Hunting Meat
Whether it’s venison, moose, elk, or wild turkey:
- Taco meat – Stretch ground meat with beans or lentils.
- Spaghetti & meat sauce – Add grated carrots or zucchini to bulk it up.
- Chili – Big batch, multiple meals.
- Shepherd’s pie – Mix ground meat with frozen veggies.
- Meatballs – Freeze extras for quick lunches.
- Breakfast hash – Dice with potatoes and onions.
- Stir fry – Thin sliced meat + frozen veggie mix.
- Venison burgers – Add a little pork or egg for moisture.
- Wild game soup – Use bones for broth if possible.
- Slow Cooker Venison Sandwiches (this recipe is amazing)
Money saver tip:
Every time we cook ground meat, we double the recipe. Half goes to the freezer for a future night when we’re tired and tempted to order takeout.
2. We Make Snacks Filling — Not Fancy
Teens don’t need Pinterest snacks. They need protein + carbs so they stop eating every 20 minutes.
Here’s our giant, budget-friendly snack list.
HUGE LIST OF AFFORDABLE SNACKS
Protein-Based Snacks (Keep Them Full Longer)
- Hard boiled eggs
- Egg salad on crackers
- Peanut butter on toast
- Peanut butter & banana sandwiches
- Tuna sandwiches
- Tuna + crackers
- Homemade trail mix (buy bulk oats, cereal, peanuts)
- Yogurt (big tubs, not individual cups)
- Cottage cheese
- Cheese blocks (cut your own cubes)
- Grilled cheese
- Quesadillas
- Bean dip + tortilla chips
- Hummus + carrots
- Leftover taco meat in wraps
- Meat & cheese roll ups
- Homemade protein muffins
- Oatmeal with peanut butter
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Popcorn with nutritional yeast
- Rice cakes with nut butter
- Baked chickpeas
Cheap Carb Snacks (Bulk Friendly)
We bought a chest freezer for the balcony to start buying breads and carbs when they go on sale and it has been a huge game changer.
- Toast
- English muffins
- Bagels (store brand)
- Oatmeal packets (or bulk oats)
- Pancakes (freeze extras)
- Waffles (homemade)
- Rice
- Buttered noodles
- Baked potatoes
- Homemade fries
- Popcorn kernels (WAY cheaper than microwave bags)
- Crackers (store brand)
- Tortilla chips
- Tortillas
- Banana bread
- Homemade muffins
- Cornbread
- Rice pudding
Fruit & Veg (Affordable Options)
- Bananas (always)
- Apples (buy big bags)
- Oranges
- Carrots
- Celery + peanut butter
- Frozen berries (for smoothies)
- Cabbage (cheap & versatile)
- Potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Onions
- Homemade applesauce
- Frozen veggie bags
- Cucumbers (in season)
Budget-Friendly Drinks for Big Families
Drinks can quietly destroy your grocery budget.
We keep it simple:
- Water (main drink)
- Homemade iced tea
- Homemade lemonade
- Diluted juice
- Milk (bought on sale)
- Hot chocolate (bulk mix)
- Smoothies (use frozen fruit)
- Homemade milkshakes
- Coffee at home only
- Bulk drink crystals (for variety)
Big rule in our house:
No individual juice boxes or bottled drinks unless it’s a special occasion.
Our Biggest Grocery Money-Saving Habits
1. We Shop Once Per Week
Fewer trips = fewer impulse buys.
2. We Buy Store Brand
There is rarely a noticeable difference — but the savings add up fast. I am picky with brand name foods but for the kids I will even take cheap stuff and put it in brand name containers because they think they can taste the difference.
3. We Cook Big
If we’re making chili, soup, pasta, taco meat — we double it.
Future-you will be grateful.
4. We Have “Leftover Night”
Once a week, sometimes more, we:
- Pull everything out
- Reheat it buffet-style
- Clean out the fridge
Nothing wasted.
5. We Use “Stretchers”
These make meat go further:
- Beans
- Lentils
- Rice
- Oats
- Grated vegetables
- Potatoes
You can stretch 1 lb of ground meat into dinner for 6 people easily.
How We Actually Use Up Our Hunting Meat
This was a big learning curve for us.
Instead of saving the “good stuff” for special occasions:
- We schedule wild game into weekly rotation.
- We label packages clearly.
- We put older meat at the top.
- We aim for 2–3 wild game meals per week close to hunting season.
If you don’t plan it, you won’t use it.
And nothing hurts more than finding freezer-burned meat you worked hard to harvest.
Our Realistic Mindset
We’re not perfect.
Some weeks we go over.
Some weeks we’re amazing.
Some weeks the teens eat everything in sight.
But here’s what keeps us grounded:
- We focus on full bellies, not fancy meals.
- We eat what we have.
- We cook more than we order.
- We keep snacks simple and filling.
- We use the freezer like a savings account.
Feeding a big family doesn’t have to mean financial stress — it just takes rhythm, rotation, and realistic expectations.
And honestly?
There’s something really satisfying about feeding six hungry humans well without blowing the budget.