$1 Meal Plan: No that's not cheating.

It had been my hope to kick off the meal examples with more traditional fare, but our pricing research suffered a set back. So instead I present you with today's lunch.

Under that layer of cheese, the mushroom was stuffed with veggies, so it's healthier than it looks. I have no recipe to share, because I picked it up pre-made at the grocery store today in a two pack on Manager's Special for $1. My co-author ate the other one, but had I been solo, I could have saved it for tomorrow. So each stuffed mushroom was 50 cents.

The green tea was a gift from a kind reader. The milk was also purchased on Manager's Special, a half-gallon for $1.49. I believe there are 64 oz in a half gallon, which is a little over 2 cents per oz. I added approximately five ounces. So we'll round up to 12 cents.

I added a very small amount of sugar to the latte and used a little olive oil on the pan to heat the mushroom. I'll admit to not having properly measured the sugar/oil, but it was such a small amount, I'm comfortable saying it was only a few cents worth.

50 cent mushroom + 12 cent drink + 3 cents for oil/sugar = 65 cents

Even if we're more generous with the oil/sugar allowance and add TN sales tax, we're safely under $1 for the meal. I'm able to use my sibling's employee discount on store brands, which helps compensate for the sales tax.

As a challenge this might be considered cheating, it's my plan to present meals which at their "normal" price still cost under or near $1. But I didn't buy this for any challenge. It was just a cheap lunch and surprisingly filling.

I absolutely want to encourage you to use sales, coupons, discounts, freebies, and home grown supplements. The $1 Meal Plan can work without them but works much better with them.

It was a great day for Manager's Special. We got two large veggie/meat/cheese party trays for $1 each (normally about $15), Pomegranate juice for $2 (normally $8), and a Gallon of Chocolate Milk for $2.49 (Normally about $4). Taking advantage of sales and clearance items will help you stock the pantry and eat more variety.

Unlike Extreme Couponing, which hurts stores and often leads to waste, buying clearance items actually helps them. The store takes less of a loss, and they don't have to throw out as much food.

P.S. I'm now posting most of the interesting articles I find on my twitter account.  So friend KayIscah on Twitter if you'd like to get these updates.