Being a student often means navigating the challenging terrain of budgeting. However, it’s incredibly important that we remain healthy, which means not compromising on nutritious meals that keep our bodies fuelled.
Here are a few budget friendly food tips:
The power of meal-planning
Weekly meal planning can help us stick to our budgets instead of shopping every day and probably spending far more than we should. A weekly meal planner allows us to choose one day of the week to shop instead and only buy the groceries we’ll need.
(An extra tip to this, is to only go shopping after you’ve already eaten to prevent any hungry impulse purchases!)
Stock up on non-perishable foods
It’s a lot cheaper and a lot easier to buy non-perishable foods such as canned vegetables and fruits, pastas, rice, beans, canned fish and so much more.
Non-perishables give us the freedom of changing our minds if there’s a recipe we don’t feel like making (even though we’ve already bought the ingredients), non-perishables can sit in the kitchen until we do want it! It prevents us from wasting money on food we don’t want or need that end up going off in the fridge.
One-pot meals
For the days where we have a tight schedule and don’t have the time to think about meals, or simply don’t feel like washing up afterwards, one-pot meals can be a lifesaver. It simplifies our cooking routine as every ingredient is thrown into the same pot, minimizing mess and depending on the recipe, we can make a quick meal with minimal ingredients and fantastic flavour.
Some ideas for one-pot meals are chicken and feta pasta, chickpea chorizo and spinach soup, curried cod, sweet potato and lentil dhal, and curries.
Homemade frozen meals
Setting aside the time to prepare our meals for the week and freezing them for when we’ll need them saves so much time. Reheating frozen meals takes away the exhausting effort of having to cook daily but still provides a healthy, hearty, and warm meal for when we get home.
Some ideas for frozen meals could range from burritos, stir-fry, lasagne, zucchini casserole, and chicken potpie.
Breakfast
Breakfast has been quoted dozens of times as the most important meal of the day, although it can be tricky trying to rush in the morning and cook some food, it is incredibly worthwhile to keep our minds buzzing and our bodies awake. You can take out the stress of cooking in the morning by making overnight oats.
These can include whatever fruit you’d like with some yoghurt and oats, leaving them in the fridge overnight to enjoy in the morning. They can also be prepped for a few days in advance, allowing even more free time in the mornings.
Protein
Protein is incredibly important part of our diets, whether it’s mentally keeping us energetic or physically building our muscles. However, it can be expensive trying to buy store-made protein shakes and powders.
Some more affordable ways to gain protein from our diets would include eggs, legumes, poultry, dairy products, and seafood.
Stay hydrated
Drinking loads of water is incredibly beneficial to our health and is always free to get on campus by simply bringing a water bottle and using the water fountains. It’s important to remember to stay hydrated to keep our brains focused during our lectures.
Making your own ‘green smoothies’ can also be incredibly beneficial to gaining that extra health boost throughout the day to increase our iron and vitamin K (essential for red blood cell production, healthy bones and boosting immunities). I would recommend investing in a one-time buy of a blender, instead of spending money every day to buy ready-made smoothies.
Why not try coconut water, spinach, chia seeds and avocado? Another great option is banana, almond milk, mango and pineapples.
Farmer’s market finds
When buying a bit of food for the day or upcoming week, heading off to a local farmer’s market or smaller independent place can sometimes be cheaper and of higher quality than the usual packed stores. Most of the markets in Worcester are in the city centre every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I’d recommend window-shopping at a few different stores before buying straight away, just to make sure you’re getting the best deal!
Takeouts
Getting food to go is delicious and easy, it’s also usually the go-to-option when planning a hangout with friends. However, it doesn’t have to break the budget every time. Go to a few different places and read their menus, figure out which restaurants are the best suited for you and try not to eat out more than needed.
Or you could try to make your own version of your favourite take-out food with some friends and split the cost of the ingredients!
Thank you so much for reading this blog and I hope some of these tips will be helpful to your meal-preps and budget planning!