Let me just be clear up-front that I’m not a huge fan of instant oatmeal; oatmeal is easy to cook, and if you really want to know, I prefer steel-cut to rolled oats. That said, there are certainly times and places where the ease of little packets is welcomed. (See also: helpless teenagers.) Right now it looks like Amazon has nearly all of their Quaker Oatmeal packets marked down, and so for example, this 4-pack of 12-serving Original Flavor boxes is just $7.46 delivered if you buy via Subscribe & Save and have Amazon Mom for that additional 20% discount. That’s just about $.16/serving, which is hard to beat.

If you prefer the flavored kinds, those are on sale, too, but the Original is definitely the best deal (with the fewest additives). (These are good for food pantry donations, too, not just lazy kids or emergency in-your-desk-drawer breakfasts!)