Save money and time with our easy tasty and cheap meal plans, delivered weekly!

Do you want a home-cooked meal every night that your family will LOVE?
Want to spend less time stressing about meals & more time enjoying them?
How about all this and cut your food budget each month?

Does this sound familiar?

You just parked the car after rushing around picking up your kids from all the places they need to be. As you turn off the car, the radio cuts out and for one brief moment it is quiet.

For just one second, you rest your head against your headrest so you can take a breath. Your eyes sting a little as you close them for the briefest of breaks. You feel the seat against your back, almost hugging you as if to tell you – “It'll be OK, you can do this.”

You can even hear the tick tick of the engine as it cools off.

As soon as your moment comes, it is gone… a voice in the back murmurs – “I'm hungry…”

You un-clip your seat belt, put on that resolve you wear so proudly, and prepare for the nightly ritual known as dinner.

For a hot second you consider ordering pizza or some kind of takeout, just tonight, because things have been so hectic. It will hurt the food or grocery budget but today's been crazy enough.

But, as you start unloading the car of your little occupants, mentally preparing yourself for a battle, you realize that tonight is different.

Instead of having to order out or rush to prepare something on even the busiest of days, you planned ahead and used one of our time-saving slow cooker recipes to have dinner ready when you got home.

You were able to save money and time and have a delicious home-cooked meal ready at home – all because of careful planning.

Hi, I'm Erin Chase and I'm known as the $5 Dinner Mom because I can't make a dinner that costs more than $5.

The above is more than a nice little story, it's feels like an excerpt from my memoir!

As a busy home chef in charge of feeding my four boys and hungry husband, I know exactly what you feel when it comes to feeding your family on a budget. And I too feel like they never, ever, no never, stop eating.

I was constantly stressed out about what to make for dinner.

And it was costing us a fortune!

I wanted us to all sit down for quality family time in front of a home-cooked meal that we would enjoy. But after a day of rushing between schools for pick-up, taking the boys to various soccer (or baseball or football or basketball) practices, and then rushing home to decide what to make for dinner… I couldn't actually enjoy dinner.

I was thinking about tomorrow's dinner. Tomorrow's schedule. And the day after.

I wasn't getting ahead.

What I needed was a plan.

A plan that offered delicious affordable meals but also the opportunity for me to get ahead. I desperately needed that sense of peace and feeling that I was one step ahead of myself each day.

So I created it – The $5 Meal Plan.

What Is the $5 Meal Plan?

A weekly meal plan and grocery shopping list that includes your week's meals and what you need to buy at the grocery store. The meal plan tells you what and how to make each meal, while the shopping list makes your trip to the store as fast and easy as possible.

I've published three cookbooks, sold nearly 150,000 copies, and cooked and studied hundreds of thousands of recipes – I bring all of that experience each week to the $5 Meal Plan. I know what you need and want, because it's what I need and want.

How does it help me save money?

It feels like the monthly budget just disappears each month in the grocery store (four boys doesn't help!).

I quickly learned the secret to saving money on meals was smart and creative meal planning.

Each meal will cost under $5 to prepare, oftentimes much less, and that's because we take advantage of our experience in preparing each plan.

The recipes are budget friendly, as well as seasonal produce friendly, so you get the freshest and most delicious meals. I promise not to send a meal that calls for sweet potatoes in the dead of summer. 🙂

The thing I love most about $5 Meal Plan, aside from meals only costing $5, is the use of easy to find, real ingredients. I like knowing that Erin's recipes will involve cooking from scratch with basic ingredients and not a bunch of pre-made, processed ingredients.

— Stephanie of Nampa, ID

How does it help me get ahead?

Each weekly menu includes at least one one slow cooker recipe and one freezer friendly recipe. And all of the recipes have been kid tested by my crew of boys.

The slow cooker recipe let's you prepare everything ahead of time – so that dinner will be ready to eat the moment you walk into the door after a busy day.

The freezer friendly recipe let's you get ahead – make double the portions (or more) and freeze it for a meal you can enjoy weeks later with no fuss.

The breakfast recipe is there to save your sanity after a rough night or just offers an alternative ‘brinner' idea for a busy weeknight.

Give yourself a day (or two or three) off without sacrificing a home-cooked meal and precious family time.

How does it help you save time?

The average family spends at least an hour or two a week on meal planning, oftentimes on Sunday night.

We all need some down time.

Sunday nights are for relaxing, not surfing the internet and scouring cookbooks for recipes.

It's time to fire up Netflix or curl up with a good book, not using your precious down time to build a shopping list.

Why not use that time to spend with your spouse? Or just wind down? Or collapse into bed in an effort to recharge for the coming week? (is there any better feeling than stretching your legs after you've just crawled into bed? Ummmm no)

Let me do the hard work for you.

Let me do the heavy lifting and you make the little course corrections you know will make it a hit with your family.

Can I see a Sample Meal Plan?

Yes, of course!

(Right click and choose “Save Link As…”)

If you and your family would enjoy the meals you see in the sample menu plan, or you've been a fan of the meals on $5 Dinners, then you're going to like the meals in $5 Meal Plan.

Can I Try $5 Meal Plan for Free?

Yes!

If you want to see first hand what you get when you join $5 Meal Plan, try a no risk 14-day free trial.

You get every benefit of being a member without having to pay a penny.

We are limiting the number of free trials so act quickly.

$5 Meal Plan is wonderful! Where else can you find great recipes, coupons, store deals, and anything else you need to lead a frugal, delicious food-filled life? The recipes are frugal yet everything I have ever tried has tasted great and, most importantly, my family likes them. $5 Dinners is great!

— Michelle of Wilmington, DE

$5 Meal Plan has helped me change from super frazzled to Super Mom in the kitchen! Erin's family friendly, frugal meals are full of healthy, wholesome ingredients and easy to follow directions. The detailed shopping list makes grocery shopping a breeze. I'm so happy to have an expert do the planning for me so I can enjoy cooking again.

— Andrea of Louisville, KY