Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Getting up early can be worth it. Most of these aren't free, but they're cheap.

1. The Muffin at Common Grounds: Buy a $2 cup of fair trade coffee, get a giant muffin for free (blueberry, banana-nut, chocolate).

2. The Free Sample at Krispy Kreme: Walk in, start drooling, and they'll give you a free, fresh, hot donut. It's polite to buy at least one, but there's no rule saying you have to.

3. The Special at Stella's: A small piece of quiche and your choice of about a bagillion other things like a muffin, coffee cake, a biscuit, a bagel, cheese grits. Actually, I think you can swap out the quiche for something else as well. It comes with organic coffee and everything is made from local products, all for just $5. They also have a giant, delicious pile of biscuits and gravy which sells for $2.

4. The Special at Magee's: I just had this for the first time yesterday. Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, a bagel of your choice (at least 4 or 5 kinds to pick from), and enough cream cheese to take home and eat later (the cream cheese comes in different flavors as well). Less than $4.

This is just the beginning.