University survival guide: Food

I know that one of the most common perceptions of students is that they live on cheap noodles and beans on toast, and for many that's quite true, however university is also the place where you'll find some excellent examples of eating well on a tiny budget. In this post I'll go through some of the things I've learned over the last few years and share a few links which have helped me along the way.

1. My biggest tip would be to buy in bulk where possible. Although it's more expensive up front, you'll save a lot of money on future shopping trips and the cost per unit will be cheaper (always check the price per kg on products to make sure you're getting the best deal, as items that are on offer aren't always the best value for money). Things like pasta, rice, canned food, teabags, and toilet paper are the first things that spring to mind. You could also buy meat in bulk and freeze what you don't need straight away, but be careful about expiry dates because certain meats (e.g. bacon) won't last as long as others.

2. In a similar vein to buying in bulk, you could try cooking in bulk. Things like spaghetti bolognese and chilli con carne are really cheap to make even in larger quantities, so it makes sense to make a few batches at a time and freeze them for another day.

3. Visit your local markets. Fruit in particular is so much cheaper than buying it in a shop, but also goes off more quickly (in my experience).

4. Pick your supermarket wisely. I have a discount card for Tesco so I usually shop there, especially if I need to do a big shop, but I've started going to Lidl throughout the week to stock up on bits and bobs and find that it's generally a lot cheaper. Always check out the reduced to clear aisle if you shop in-store but please don't hover and wait for the staff to put more items on the shelves, as it isn't fair to other customers if you get them all! If you're like me and get distracted by having so much choice on display in-store then I'd recommend shopping online. I can write a list of what I need and only get those things if I do it that way, whereas if I go to an actual shop there's a 70% chance that I'll leave with a bar of chocolate and some ice cream. If you do shop online you could try mySupermarket, which compares several shops online to figure out where you'd be better off getting your groceries.

5. You can make meals go further by adding beans, lentils, and more veggies, which are all really cheap. Even if you're not looking to save a few pennies you could still add pulses as they're packed with all sorts of good stuff!

Here are a few meals which are pretty common midweek staples for us:

•  Spaghetti bolognese
• Chilli con carne
• Pasta bake
• Stir fry
• Curry (can be as simple as mixing a jar of sauce over chicken and serving with rice)
• Lasagne

Some other places to find recipes online:

• Student Recipes
• Student Eats
• Jamie Oliver
• BBC Good Food
• Love Food Hate Waste
• Good to Know
• Pinterest

Happy cooking!