As both the cost of living and inflation continues to rise, it's getting harder and harder to live on a student budget. Because of this, many students are doing all they can to be cash-savvy, by saving as much as possible, wherever possible. In this blog, we look at some top tips for saving money on your regular student shopping.
1. Make a Plan
Many people enjoy spontaneous shopping to get the ingredients for a meal, but this often leads to spending more than you would if you had made a plan. Instead, try making a plan each week for what you're going to eat, and what you need to buy. This way, you can prepare several meals throughout the week which use the same ingredients, or you could food prep by making a big batch of something early in the week, and reheating the leftovers.
Making a plan for your meals and reusing ingredients means you can purchase bigger packs, which are often cheaper relative to the weight. You will also avoid wasting food, as anything that is left can be used in future meals. Don't forget to make use of your freezer for any leftovers as well!
2. Choose Your Shop Well
It's important to pick the right shop to get the best prices. Student favourites (due to having great prices) include Asda, Lidl and Tesco. If you're particularly well prepared, you can shop around for the best price of each ingredient, and make a separate shopping list for each supermarket, allowing you to get the best deals.
If you don't have an affordable supermarket near you, it may be worth having a long walk to do your shopping, or you may even find that the cost of public transport is covered by going to the cheaper shop. Don't miss out on any special benefits of shopping at your chosen supermarket; Tesco's Clubcard and Nectar cards can get you discounts in the future, or other special bonuses.
3. Pick the Best Time
The time you go shopping may sound irrelevant, but it can give you some serious discounts. Visiting the supermarket when it's near to closing means you can buy some discounted food that they need to shift. While these may be close to their sell-by-date, if you're going to be making a big batch of something later that night, or freezing the item, it'll end up being much cheaper. Make sure to always check the bargain box at your supermarket!
4. Batch Cook
As previously touched upon, cooking a large batch of food will be much cheaper than cooking individual meals. You can do this by yourself and freeze the extra portions, or cook together with housemates, to feed all of you in one cooking session. Remember that you'll save on ingredients due to the economy of scale, but also on energy as you'll be using the oven less. It can also be an enjoyable social experience to have each person cook on separate nights.
5. Spice it Up
If your meals end up tasting bland, you're going to want to spend more on pre-cooked meals or takeout. Investing in spices means you can make your meals much tastier, which means you'll be more likely to want to cook yourself. Even when cooking something basic, some basic herbs and spices can give it a much-needed kick, making it enjoyable. Garlic, chilli, basil, thyme, rosemary and cinnamon are all great things to have available in your cupboard.
6. Don't Worry About Quality
It's easy to think that spending more on your ingredients when you cook will make the meal that much better. While this isn't incorrect, you don't need all your ingredients to be of the highest quality, and by using the previous tip, you can make basic ingredients taste great. By doing this, you'll be saving yourself a lot of money.
Looking for Student Accommodation? Unihousing Can Help!
Unihousing is a student accommodation provider near the University of Birmingham, operating since 1984. All of our accommodation in Selly Oak is owned by us, so we can respond quickly to any requests using our qualified team of tradesmen. Our property office is located on Bristol Road, only a short walk away from all of our accommodation. This means we can deal directly with our tenants.
Unhousing was selected as the Number 1 Student Letting Agent in Birmingham by the UK's biggest fresher community, Unifresher.
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