Tips For The Hungry Student

We’ve all been there. You get home from class, it’s late and you’re hungry and tired. The last thing you want to do is make a home cooked meal. So what do you do? Reach for a box of Kraft Dinner. Although this may satisfy your hunger and requires little time to make, how good is that neon yellow, powdered cheese for you in the long run? Probably not the best.

So now the question is; how do you get a healthy meal for a limited amount of money and in a limited amount of time/effort? It seems too good to be true but I promise you it is attainable… it just requires a bit of planning.

Steps To Follow

Monday: Find a cheap grocer

During your commute to school, morning coffee, or at some point when you have 10 minutes of downtime, scout out a cheap grocery store in your neighbourhood. In Toronto No Frills and Food Basics are usually safe bets. If there is no cheap grocery store in your neighbourhood, most grocery stores will be happy to price match deals found in flyers or online.

Tuesday: Browse grocery store flyers

See what’s on sale! Most stores advertise deals online, so there is no need to sift through piles of paper flyers.

Wednesday: Make a list

Before going shopping, make a list of food that you need. Take into consideration the sales that are currently going on at the various stores and try to base your list on these items. First think of staples that you know you need/use everyday such as bread, butter, milk, etc. Staples usually cover breakfast and lunch, but dinner can take a bit more planning. For meal ideas, browse a recipe site such as simplyrecipes.com.

To figure out what to make for dinner, think of foods that go well together in a meal:

1) Choose a meat option like fish, chicken, beef, and pork. These can be expensive so if there is a sale on meat, buy a larger amount and freeze it. Try some meat alternatives (things that give you protein, but aren’t meat) such as beans, chickpeas or tofu. Meat alternatives can be cheaper than meat if money is tight.

2) Then think of fresh vegetables (lettuce, broccoli, peas, carrots) and starches (rice, pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes) that go well with the meat. Vegetables can be found cheap at farmer’s markets. Certain markets will even provide discounts on produce bought near closing time, as sellers want to get rid of as much food as possible.

3) Write everything down on a list

Thursday: Go shopping

This is the simplest part. You have a list of food to buy, now follow it.

Friday: Take a break

Saturday/Sunday: Make meals for the week – THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP

Use these days to make a few large quantities of meals that you can freeze or keep in the fridge throughout the week. It helps to buy a bunch of Tupperware and separate portions you can easily take with you to school for lunch. On campus longer? Take two containers. Yes you may need to buy a backpack (I know, how uncool).

Why is this the most important step? Because making one larger meal may take you 10-15 minutes longer to make, but it will save you 30 minutes everyday throughout the week. That’s 30 minutes x 5 days = 150 minutes, or 2.5 hours! Not only will it save you time, but it will save you money because you won’t be spending money to eat out. And best of all it will help your health! Restaurant food is packed with calories, sodium and fat.

So there you have it! How to eat well on a budget.