wk 1. 5$ worth of any meat on sale, 5$for flour and yeast, 5$ for any fresh veggies/fruit on sale, 5$ for onsale/cheapest pnut butter and butter, cheapest eggs on sale (use the eggs to cook with, not for hard boiled or eating everyday)
wk 2. 5$ any meat on sale, 5$ worth of noodles on sale, 5$ for 5 1$ store brand spices: onion pd, garlic pd, italian spice mix, cinnamon, any other I liked. (I would think everyone has salt and pepper)
wk 3. 5$ any meat on sale, 5$ any canned veggies on sale (we currently have a store selling peas, corn, tomatoes, grn beans for .50C a can), 5$ cheapest process cheese on sale, 5$ sugar on sale, if any money left here cheapest tea bags on sale.
wk 4. 5$ canned or dried beans (canned black beans can be crushed w/ a fork and mixed in by half with ground meat to make burgers, meatloaf, or meatballs - any leftover veggie can be added here if ground down or added to a pot of soup) / lentils/barley on sale, 5$ canned tuna/salmon on sale, 5$ coffee on sale (only if you can't live w/o it - I cant!), 5$ for as much boullion I could get on sale chicken, beef, ham, vegetable bases)
you should also work in some breakfast cereal like slow cook oatmeal, some dried fruits, some concentrated on sale store brand juices, store brand cream soups, basic all purpose vitamins. make a list of everything and then break it down with store flyers, if you shop and see something you have for next week to buy, on close out now buy it instead, switch out, be flexible.
all processed food (except for the cheese) is off the list! milk is only necessary for small kids and babies, buy vitamin D, in the long run its cheaper -
go to the library or online and find some basic cookbooks, if you dont know how to cook then learn - it actually is cheaper when you have a stocked cupboard (with the basics for spices, flours , sugars etc) to cook at home. Find a cookbook that says meals in 5 or 4 ingredients or less. you re not going for gourmet here, you want to eat the cheapest most nutritious you can on 20$ a week.
Find out how many calories you actually need to live and cut back on the food, never waste a mouthful and dont throw away leftovers. If you do it properly you shouldnt have leftovers.
Living like this isn't a game, there are so many people having to live day to day now lie this - a lot of them never had to before and are a bit shell shocked by it all. sharet