Between the ages of 3 & 10 I must have eaten at least one peanut butter & jelly sandwich everyday. It was the staple lunch that 95% of my classmates had in their lunchbox. Although I was a picky eater, my Mom knew I would never turn down the classic PB&J. Which probably saved her a ton of money, because PB&Js are crazy cheap.
Mom Knew I would never turn down the classic PB&J
How much does each sandwich cost?
How cheap is a peanut butter & jelly sandwich? Let’s calculate. Thankfully, there’s only 3 ingredients here.
- Wonder bread 20 oz – $2.39
- Jif Creamy Peanut butter 16 oz – $2.29
- Welch’s Grape Jelly 32 oz – $2.09
In total you’ll need $6.77 + tax, which comes out to $7.37 if you live in California. If you break that down into each individual sandwich, it comes out to about $0.73 per PB&J sandwich. This assumes that you’re a bit of a daredevil and will eat the ends of the loaf of bread. Of course there’s ways to bring this total cost even lower by choosing ‘off-brands’ like Market Pantry, which is a Target-owned brand that typically prices it’s products at a lower cost. Either way, it’s fairly inexpensive and you could save a lot of money even if you’re splurging on name brand food items.
What would happen if I started eating PB&Js?
One of my biggest struggles is wanting to eat out instead of eating at home. It’s the easy way out for mindless food picking. After a long and hard days work, who wants to eat in? Amirite? But what would happen if I started eating PB&Js everyday? In general the average fast food meal costs $5-$7, and the average home cooked meal costs $1.50. So compared to the $0.73 PB&J cost, there’s really no contest. Eating PB&Js are the best way to get your save hustle on.
Save Hustle Challenge
I want to challenge you to save a TON of money by eating PB&Js for 30 days straight. The rule is that you have to eat at least one PB&J a day in replace of lunch or dinner. Feel free to eat it more than once, but the idea is that you won’t be eating a $7 fast food meal. I’m positive that after those 30 days of save hustlin’, you’ll look at your bank account and thank me and my Mom 🙂
Save Your Money, You Might Need It 