Crunchy granola bars: 30 cents each

I debated whether to call this a splurge or not, since granola bars are technically a snack and not a meal. However, we’ve certainly used them as both before in the past, depending on how the week’s budget is shaping up, and I can say they do make a decent grab-and-go lunch when paired with some fruit, so I’m leaving them as is. When B. and I first moved in together he was quite fond of buying Nature Valley granola bars for lunch, but despite some serious comparison shopping, the cheapest we could find them—on sale, at Costco, anywhere—was 50 cents each. Obviously that could not do, so I set out to start making crunchy granola bars from scratch. Even though the Nature Valley ones come two to a package, they’re thinner and smaller than these bars, and markedly less filling. I’ve never felt sated for hours by the Nature Valley bars, but I have by these, which are loaded with fruit, nuts, wheat germ for protein, and mostly honey as a sweetener. Make up a batch and keep them in your fridge for emergencies (that way they stay crisp).

10-cent snack: gingered carrot pickles

Unsurprisingly, a budget of $35 a week does not leave a lot of room for snacks. If lunches and breakfasts have to be under 50 cents, then snacks—if we have them at all—have to be under 10 cents. This pretty much limits us to things like tomatoes, apples, and peas from the yard; air-popped popcorn; toast with homemade jam; free food at work…you get the idea. We already buy carrots in bulk to make carrot-and-daikon slaw for these, which one or both of us eat almost every day, but snacking on plain, raw carrots tends to get real boring, real fast. These are wonderfully sweet, zingy, and different, and when when properly canned will last almost a year. (We just keep an open jar in the fridge.)