How to Make a Healthy, Balanced Breakfast For $1 a Day

Are you on a budget, but still want to eat good food for breakfast?  While in college, I had to come up with creative ways to keep full and have discovered some great breakfast foods that won’t break the bank.  Eating a cheap breakfast will not only save you money, but can be healthy and fun, too.

The Target: Beating McDonald’s $3 Breakfast!

Going to McDonald’s or your typical fast food restaurant for breakfast will set you back at least $3.  So let’s try and keep our cost well below that to see if we can make a better breakfast than them.   $3 at Mickey D’s will get you hash-browns, a sausage and egg wrap, and a cup of orange juice. 

Here’s how you can beat that price and get a week of great breakfasts for $1 a day!

Your Grocery List For the Week:

Potatoes

Working on that $3 mark, the cheapest breakfast item you can buy is potatoes.  You can get a 10 pound bag at some places for $2-4.  10 pounds of potatoes will last you 20 meals if you eat ½ pound each time.  More than likely, you will eat about a 1/4 of potatoes or less for one serving at breakfast.

So, think about how many servings of hash-browns or fries is takes at McDonalds to use up 10 pounds of potatoes?  A lot!  At $1 per serving, they are making a lot of money from their potatoes!

 
Oatmeal, Eggs and Fruit

The next cheap breakfast item is oatmeal.  $4 per large container which can serve 30 meals.  Other good choices are whole wheat toast ($1-$2) with 12 slices a loaf; eggs ($1-$2) per dozen; and fruit.  Bananas and apples are usually the cheapest fruit you can buy. 

Milk

A gallon of milk will run you $2.50 if you shop wisely at Walmart or your local grocery store.  Skip the over-priced health food stores for cheaper, no-frills milk.

The Result: Your Daily $1 Breakfast!

So, together, if you bought everything above including a few loaves of bread and a few dozen eggs, you would spend $22 and be able to eat at least 24 meals with extra food left over!  That’s about $1 per breakfast per day, and this is what you could eat each time.
 
1 boiled egg
1 egg over medium
Oatmeal with sliced bananas
3-4 McDonald’s sized hash-browns
Toast
½ apple
 
For very low cost, you can buy a variety of breakfast items that taste good and are healthy.  Try and avoid packaged breakfast items as they will most likely cost more and be less healthy.  Avoid pop tarts, sugary cereals, packages meats (sausage, bacon), packaged pancakes and waffles, and candies/chocolates.
 
If you like pancakes for breakfast, try and make them from scratch. They will be much cheaper and taste a lot better. 

Your Shopping List of Cheap Breakfast Items

1. Bananas

2. Yogurt

3. Sliced Whole Wheat Bread

4. Pancakes/Waffles (Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Milk, Baking Powder)

5. Oatmeal

6. Cottage Cheese

7. French Toast (Sugar, Eggs, Milk, Bread)

8. Milk

9. Eggs

10. Potatoes