Being at university can be very expensive, and stretching student loans, or the income from a part time job can be tough. Some parts of your outgoings are fixed, like your rent, but one place people can often save some pennies is their food budget. Check out our thrifty tips below.
Learn to cook
Ready meals and fast food can be expensive. If you don’t have many cooking skills, ask your parents or a friend who is a good cook to teach you a few simple recipes and you’ll be eating healthier, saving money and learning a valuable new skill.
Spice it up
Spice up otherwise bland food with herbs and spices. For a small initial cost, they can last you all term and you can share with housemates.
Be smart with recipes
You don’t need to fork out for fancy recipe books to improve your repertoire. There are hundreds of free resources out there for recipes, you can also find step by step video instructions for a bunch of recipes on sites like Youtube. If you’re really set on a book, try your local library.
Plan ahead for less wasted food
It’s cheaper to buy in bulk, but it’s a wasted saving if half of it goes in the bin after sitting in the fridge for a month going bad. Plan what meals you’re going to have, and only buy what you’re going to use. You can cook in bulk and freeze some if you manage to get a good deal on something. You could even consider having a leftovers day each week; eat whatever needs eating, even if it’s a bit of a strange combination!
Eat at home
Have a meal in rather than going out. Making an event of a meal in with friends instead of forking out for a restaurant can make a memorable night. Try a theme centred around the food, such as Mexican, Italian or Chinese. You could even have it based around a film, and turn your evening into a meal and movie night. Take turns to host the meal so it’s not the same person doing all the work (and paying for it!) each time.
Photo by Elli O. on Unsplash