I have food enough for my family and not much to share right now.  My fridge is large and it's full maybe 1/3.  I stretch everything so it can last until Friday, I have 5 boys to feed. 

On Sat. DH wanted to invite the neighbors and I refused.  It would have been nice but I didn;t think we had enough for the Dad and 5 kids.  All we ate was a hamburguer and fruit. 

Tonight DH invited a family of 7 because the mom just had a baby.  DH is trying to be nice but ......I don;t have enough ingredients for 14 people and make something decent.  (Plus I told him I would be gone until 5:30, plans made before his invitation).  He will have to be encharge and unless he buys something at the store I don;t know what he will serve.  His account was in the negative yesterday and I don;t have any funds for a dinner.

I feel that I'm selfish by not sharing but just now I can't.

We will see what happens tonight.  I'm saddened about our situation but there is nothing I can do right now.

Carmina

 Carmina, can you feed them something simple and cheap? Beans, stew made mostly from leftovers, something like that? 

Would it be possible to SEND a pan/pot of something to the family with the new baby? You wouldn't be necessarily providing for all 14 people, but still sending a little something to let them know that you are thinking of them.

Following the thought of sending food to them, homemade bread is inexpensive & very well received.

Carmina, I don't feel that you're being rude or selfish.  It sounds like you are already struggling to feed your own family and now there's the added stress of providing dinner for an extra 7 people.  Since your DH invited them and since you will not be home to help, I would allow you DH to take over.  Perhaps he sees something that you don't see (as in the fishes and loaves story).  I don't know much about your family to remember if this an instance where perhaps your DH is in denial about your financial situation.  Are you both on the same boat regarding money and food and whatnot?  Please don't stress.  Allow your DH to handle it and just enjoy the meal and the fellowship with neighbors.  If there's not enough (and I truly hope that there is), then you DH will handle it.  He must have a plan if he invited them.

Carmina, Could you make a large pot of spaghetti and garlic bread?  I know most kids like that and if you have the meat the rest would not be very expensive.

It's too late for tonight, but next time maybe just have folks for dessert and tea/coffee, whatever.  Much cheaper than the entire meal and still plenty of time to visit without breaking the bank...Liz

Sounds like you might want to get hubby involved in the budget.  Keep a running total of what you have spent for groceries on the refrigerator door.  Brainstorm as a family a goal...no cc debt, vacation, amusement park weekend, camping trip, etc.  Make a list of ways to reach this goal.  If you don't have a budget, round up about 3 months worth of bills and average them out.  stretcher.com and frugalliving.about.com have many suggestions on making up a budget.

Black Bean Chili and cornbread - 24 oz cans of tomatoes are $1 at Dollar Tree, bags of black beans are about $1.29 at walmart

 Easy Black Bean Chili (Serves 8-12)
4 14 oz cans of tomatoes
2 16 oz cans of tomato sauce
1 16 oz bag of dried black beans
2 onions
2 green peppers
4 cloves garlic
2 T. chili powder

Pick thru beans for rocks.  Soak overnite in water.  Drain and rinse.  Cover with water in stock pot and boil for 30 minutes and drain.  Chop onions, peppers and garlic.  Spray a crockpot down with pam.  Put all ingredients in crockpot and cook for 8 hours on low. 

Use 2 cornbread mixes.

Years ago when Mom was on a really tight budget we had unexpected supper guests. Mom served plain spaghetti with plain (no meat) sauce , homemade French bread with garlic, and a salad. I can't remember if we had a dessert or not. Mom was saving hr $$$ for meat to feed my half-brother when he came home from school. He was at a military academy boarding school.

I don't think that you're being selfish.

 Another suggestion is chili dogs.  Make a really thin chili sauce or coney sauce and cook up some hot dogs.  That's a reasonably inexpensive meal and a little of the chili sauce goes a long way.

 We invited neighbors over one time just before Christmas and had that meal.  It went over well and we all had a blast.  We ate, sat around talking and playing the Guitar Hero game they brought over, and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. 

I've had a hard time resigning myself to the fact that most people don't care what you serve them or what your house looks like if you're friends.  They are simply there for the fellowship.  At one time, I wouldn't have been caught dead inviting someone over for a dinner as simple as hot dogs.