You may think that Toast and Easy Mac can be passed off as an acceptable dinner, and I’m not saying they can’t be, but what if I told you that there is a trick to eating well AND keeping your budget together at university?
Maintaining good eating habits at Uni can be hard, between the studying and partying it can be difficult to find time to look after your diet. Whether it be because you never learnt to cook, can’t find the time or you’re simply just pinching pennies there is a way to keep it together.
After a long day of classes, sport, or being cooped up inside studying, having a proper dinner ready-to-go can be just the thing you need. Although more often than not, takeaway food is the first place you turn.
Other than the fact that takeaway food is not all that great for your health, it’s also a great way to drain your wallet, and we don’t want to be unhealthy and borderline broke, right?
The key to becoming a student culinary master (or maybe just an acceptable cook) is learning a few simple recipes, home favourites that mum can teach you or your best friend learnt years ago in a cooking class at high school.
Once you’ve had a think about what your signature dish can be, it’s time to think about the budget.
If you have housemates and dormies then pooling together for weekly shopping can be useful, it means your cooking won’t go to waste, you can get a roster going to share the duties around, it helps you to bond and it gets a bit of variety into the menu!
No housemates? No problem. This means that you get the kitchen to yourself, and the choice of menu, it does however mean that you’re taking on all the cost, but this is fine just keep smart when you’re shopping, package up anything you don’t need straight away and freeze it, and make leftovers your friend.
So how can you control your spending habits when it comes to food?
– Make a list: this is really important because in the absence of lists lots of unneeded things make their way into the trolley.
– Look for discounts: the key to spending less and getting more is looking for discounts and buying the cheaper version of things that you’re willing to compromise on.
– Shop Weekly: going to the shop every time you plan on cooking something only increases your chances of impulse buying more unneeded junk
With these basic tips you can start expanding your menu and who knows, maybe even your friend circle if you throw a dinner party or two.
While it might be a challenge to manage your priorities at Uni, with a little smart shopping and some quick recipes under your belt you won’t have to settle for bland and unexciting food.
