Frugal Living Helps for College Students

April 14, 2025

A Frugal Breakfast for Final Exams!

It is April and before you know it, final exams will be here! It is the part of the semester when time becomes less available and that can effect what and when you eat and sleep.  So how can we “save” time like we save money and still be at our best for our exams?

One area we can look at is breakfast!  Do you tend to sleep in because you stayed up late studying?  Are you giving up eating breakfast so you can get a few more minutes of sleep?  Are you not going to breakfast so you can review your notes one last time?  Are the two minutes it takes to make instant oatmeal, just two minutes too long?  We have a suggestion to help!

Eating breakfast can actually help you take your exams.  Eating breakfast can boost your energy level which can keep you from falling asleep during an exam. Face planting and snoring can be quite embarrassing! It can also help you to concentrate and help you to remember what you studied for the exam.  Those are just the short term benefits!

From a frugal standpoint, we know that eggs in your dorm room can be expensive. Cold boxed cereals can also be expensive when you divide it out by serving size.  A cup of cornflakes may not be enough to fill you up, especially if you are an athlete.  Instant oatmeal that is prepackaged is nice, but can be expensive and can also be small in terms of portion size.  That instant oatmeal can also take two more minutes than what you have.

We have a suggestion!  Old-fashioned oats are more of a whole grain - they are less processed than instant oatmeal.  This means that it takes longer for the food to break down in your body and you will stay full longer.  This is important.  You do not want your stomach to be growling loud enough that it disturbs everyone in the class trying to take the test!  Cooking them in the microwave, however, can take too much of the precious time. 

Try overnight oats! To make overnight oats, you combine an equal amount of milk and oats, add a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of honey or syrup, and any add-ins that you like such as raisins, fresh fruit, or peanut butter.  Put it in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning, it is grab and go!  You can eat it while you are walking to class.  Just be sure to take your dishes with you when you leave the classroom!

Is this financially frugal?  You bet!  Milk and fruit are probably equal in cost for any kind of oats.  So, let’s compare the price of the oats to the price of other available pre-package oat meals.

As you can see, you can eat a larger serving of Old-fashioned oats, add other extras, and still spend less on the same amount of oats in any of the other forms.

Need a recipe?  Some overnight oats recipes have a lot of ingredients which means more time and more money. If you want to Google for your own recipe, watch out for those extra ingredients. Here are the links to two recipes with minimal ingredients.  Enjoy!

Two Ingredients: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/two-ingredient-overnight-oats-recipe-8694570

Four Ingredients: https://kristineskitchenblog.com/favorite-easy-overnight-oats-recipe/