Total Cost for Breakfast: $1.25

Now then, I started off my frugal day with a slice of .16 oat bran bread with a .15 slather of pure peanut butter. On the side I had one 1/2 cup of defrosted frozen strawberries (.25 from $1.69 package) in one 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (.31 from $2.50 quart). I drank 1 cup of organic milk for .37 (from a $2.99 half gallon).

Total Cost for Lunch: $1.46

For lunch I had a citrus salad made from a grapefruit (.20, bought on sale for 5/$1), a navel orange (.33), and 1/4 cup organic arugula (.50). I also had 1 pan-fried egg (.20) with a negligible sprinkle of sea salt and some baked potato wedges (.10 for 1/2 pound) with ketchup (.08). I had water with lunch.

Total Cost for Snack: $0.47

For snack I had 1 cup (after popping) air-popped popcorn (.15), with a little olive oil (.32) and sea salt.

Total Cost for Dinner: $1.67

Dinner was a delicious Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry, but I warn you that it is a rather untraditional recipe. It includes 2 cups brown rice (.90), 3 chicken tenders (.90), 2 potatoes (.15), 1 red bell pepper (.69), coconut milk (.99), pineapple chunks (.79), 1 tablespoon yellow curry paste (.08) and broccoli (.70). Total cost of all these ingredients is $5.20, but it makes 4-5 servings. At 4 servings it is $1.30 per serving. This will be lunch or dinner for a few more days. I had 1 cup of organic milk with dinner (.37).

If you would like to make Asian food for cheap, I suggest buying ingredients at an Asian grocer. The yellow curry past only cost me $2.29 for 14 ounces and the coconut milk was .99 for 14 ounces. The vegetables were not organic, but I picked those up from a discount produce stand. I could have added more meat, but it’s expensive and I don’t always need to eat that much of it. This recipe is very flexible and forgiving, you can find a variant of it here. Keep in mind that to make it more inexpensive I change a few of the ingredients than what is listed in the recipe.

To read more about the Hunger Challenge, visit the United Way Hunger Challenge website. (Hunger Challenge Week was actually 2 weeks ago in Seattle, but shhhhh)

Total Cost for the Day: $4.85

I surprised myself that I spent so little, but I also found a lot of these things on great sales, like the grapefruit being 5/$1 or buying frozen fruit instead of fresh. Planning your meals around produce that is in season is one of the best ways to eat on a $7 per day budget. Incorporating cheap proteins, like eggs and peanut butter, and buying in bulk will also cut costs.

One last tip, learn to cook a few fast and healthy meals that use fresh ingredients (like curry). Then you will be more willing to cook a fresh meal (benefiting your health and budget) than choosing convenience food.

P.S. That weird looking long, dark object in the photo of the curry is a green bean. In the picture it looks a little like something inedible…

Post previously published by me (Carrie) here on Foodista.com.

Now I menu plan every week and I spend a tenth of our income on food. When my husband was working full time (he’s now working on a masters program) that same amount would have been 6% of our income. The average in the U.S. is hard to pinpoint, as of 2005 (US Labor Statistics) the average was 13% but other sources say it’s more like 15-20%. Yikes.

My secret? I do 4 things, each becomes easier with diligence and planning.

1. Menu plan

Let’s be honest, those of us who menu plan do not always stick to the plan. You can’t plan for everything. But you can be prepared. Buy only grocery items you need for the meals planned that week, and have a few standbys for company or for a night you want something quick to eat.

Key: Only go grocery shopping once per week. More trips equals more impulse buys.

2. Keep to the list

This is the hardest part. I stray from my list a lot. It’s difficult, all those products that you want to try calling to you from the shelf, “Carrie! Please buy us! Carrie!”

The solution? Allow yourself a certain amount to spend on impulse buys. Maybe there is something on special that you buy a lot and you didn’t know it was on sale, or maybe you just really want to try those Russian blue potatoes. Go ahead, just stick to your impulse budget so you don’t go overboard.

3. Keep a price list

This is the real fun one. I have an Excel spreadsheet (ah Excel, how I love thee) with columns for product, brand, weight/count/volume, price, price per serving, store, and whether it was on sale or not. It sounds complicated and like it’s too much work, but it’s really not once you have it set up. It takes 5 minutes to input a receipt. And it only takes 5-10 minutes to scan the sheet for to estimate the cost of a product, figure meal price per serving, compare prices between stores, or to see if something is at a good price. It works for me. Just play around with it and see what it can do for you, it doesn’t need to be precise or perfect, and I think it could shave at least 15% off of any bill. I swear I’m not a geek! I do don’t watch Star Trek and Dr. Who in my spare time. You can download a sample Excel sheet by clicking the link below.

Sample Grocery Worksheet

4. Buy primarily only sale items with or without coupons

You don’t need to cut coupons, just buy what’s on sale. Buy two or three chickens when they’re .79/lb. and throw them in the freezer. This alone will cut costs. Check store ads too. They’re in the Sunday paper and usually at the front of the store or at the help desk. You don’t have to cut coupons out of those, you can just show them to the cashier and they’ll scan them. This could easily save you a $10 per trip depending on variables.

In addition to these I visit the Rising Sun Farms vegetable/fruit stand (on 15th and 65th north of the U-District) once per week. This is a great place for those of you in Seattle. It’s not all organic, but sometimes it is. I come out of there with enough fruit and veggies for 2 people for one week and it costs on average between $10-15. I get several bursting bags for that price. It’s cash/check only, let me know if you go!

Tune in tomorrow for a great post on exciting cheap meals, I can feed myself for less than $5/day! And that includes a yummy curry recipe for only $1.30 per serving.

Photo by Bruce Turner.

Try some of these ideas and see what works for you, finding an effective and beneficial morning routine is the best way to start the day!

1. Get up earlier! Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Even 20 minutes earlier leads to a more leisurely morning. In fact, take advantage of the recent Daylight Savings fall back and go to bed an hour earlier so you’ll wake up an hour earlier. That’s the clock your body will still be on for a couple weeks anyway.

2. Lay your clothes out the night before. I sometimes think of two outfits when weather might be an issue.

3. Write a list. Write down everything you need to take with you and put it where you’ll see it in the morning, or tape it to the door. Or the bathroom mirror. I hate running through everything in my head in the morning, I just know I’ll forget something important.

4. Make your lunch the night before. I grew up doing this for school and mom always did it for my dad’s lunch so I continue this practice now. But to make sure to bring it everyday it might need to stay on the morning to-bring list…

5. Eat breakfast. And lack of time is no excuse. Get one of those portable salad containers and put granola in it, and yogurt in the dressing compartment (or vice versa depending on your preference). Or bake some homemade granola bars! You can find a recipe for that below. Be sure to play with it, recipes like that really are flexible.

6. Set out your cereal bowl with the dry cereal in it or oatmeal, or get a timed coffee maker that will start right before you get up. Who doesn’t want to wake up to fresh coffee already made? If you make a hot breakfast put all the ingredients (eggs, cheese, meat) on the top shelf of the fridge already prepared (cut, sliced) to use.

7. Get a shower radio. Music in the shower is a relaxing way to wake up and shake the slumber. Or buy a touchscreen mirror. Or this one. Or even this one. As you can see I think these touchscreen mirrors are really cool.

8. Clean the kitchen the night before. No one likes waking up, flipping the kitchen switch, and have their heart drop at the sight of dishes in the sink (you get a “sinking” feeling looking at that don’t you?) and a banana peel on the counter.

9. Leave 5 minutes earlier than normal. It gives a greater peace of mind that you’ll get to work or school on time even though you’re hitting every red light and a train crossing.

10. Make your bed. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and it really doesn’t take that much time at all. And a room looks so much cleaner and warmer with a made up bed. This is a good habit if you don’t already do it.

Have any other tips to have a peaceful morning? We could all use some help! And to the existing morning people, how do you do it?

Have a good morning everybody!