5 Ways to Eat Cheaply but Healthily at Uni

Bargain Hunt Bananas

Hovering around the reduced section of Tesco Express is a sure way to grab some bargains. All you have to do is wander down for your evening beer and snacks, and work out what time the staff start to slash the prices. (It’s usually around 7pm.)

But be prepared to be pushy, you might just have to lean in and grab that 20p bag of spinach before the lady eyeing it over your shoulder gets there first. The reduced section in any supermarket brings out survival of the fittest mode in everyone, even those with a full stomach and an Asda online shop due to arrive at 8pm.

Time to Bulk Up

Cooking meals in bulk and freezing them is a wise and overused top tip, but it is so for a reason.

It saves a ton of money and gets all the work done in one go. The one thing to bear in mind, which can be tricky when you’re not used to cooking for yourself, is that you have to make something nice.

Don’t use this as an opportunity to make an experimental soup that you won’t want to eat once, never mind five times.

Vegetables are Cheaper than Meat

Vegetarians save some serious cash at uni. For example, 1KG of chicken breasts cost £5.95 from Asda. 1KG of sweet potatoes cost 95p. That’s the fiver entry into the club sorted.

Think Inside the Lunchbox

Pack in the canteen and pack your bag instead. Buying your lunch on campus every day will cost your purse and your health.

If you find it too much hard work then try taking basic snacks like fruit, carrot sticks and hummus, to replace the crisps and chocolate you might grab between lectures.

And buy yourself a flask in exchange for your daily Starbucks.

Ditch the Campus Shops

Newsagents on campus and near halls of residence are notoriously pricey, taking advantage of the fact that bigger shops are often further away, and students aren’t exactly known for being prone to a spontaneous twenty-minute walk.

But try to remember that if you rely on a local campus shop, you might be paying the price for convenience.

Kaya is a University of Nottingham of Graduate, who writes a personal food blog. Find her on LinkedIn. 

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