My budgeting is getting confused because people have been buying me food. Last night my friend Aaron treated a few of us to a nice dinner and beers at 21st Ammendment (a brewpub) in SF. It was great, and my part of the tip was equal to my whole day's food budget.
So, to balance that out, I've been extra-frugal. One of my favorite frugal breakfasts is oatmeal. When I lived in South Dakota I bought a 25lb bag of rolled oats (aka old fashioned oat) and ate oatmeal about four days a week. I really don't know why people buy "instant" oatmeal -- the regular kind only takes 3 minutes to cook, tastes better, is probably more nutritous, and costs less.
These days I use whole "steel cut" oats. They take longer to cook (30 minutes), but I like the texture and the extra nuttiness. One way to speed up the cooking is to put them and the water in the pan at night - the oats will soak up some water and cook in 15-20 minutes. The other way to save time is to cook four servings, eat one, and put the rest in the fridge. You can microwave the other servings in 2 minutes, and it tastes just as good (maybe even better). It turns into a semisoft lump in the fridge, so just cut off the ammount you want and nuke it.
Part of the fun of oatmeal is what you add in. I've put my favorites at the end of the recipe. Plain, the oatmeal will cost about $0.35 to $0.75/serving. With the extras, you should still come out under a buck.
Recipe
Oatmeal
1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
Salt the water, and bring to a boil. Add the oats while stirring (to keep them from clumping into a blob). Turn the heat down a bit at a time, and stir every couple of minutes. As the oats cook, they get thicker. As they get thicker, you may need to lower the heat to prevent them from boiling over. If they get too thick, add a tablespoon of water (as needed).
When its done to your liking, add in:
butter or peanut butter (it really needs some fat to balance the carbs)
jam, raisins, dried cherries, or chopped fresh fruit
yogurt, milk, buttermilk (these make it creamy)
chopped walnuts
sugar (especially brown sugar), honey or maple syrup
