After losing the safety net of home-cooked meals, going for your first student food shop isn’t as easy as you’d think. How can you buy the food you love while staying healthy and not spending a fortune? No-one wants to be left surviving on a diet of pot noodles and beans on toast, so check out our tips for your cheap student shopping list!
Food shopping saving tips:
- Check the clearance section
- Get the non-branded stuff
- Go on a weekly food shop to avoid multiple trips
- Buy in bulk and share with housemates
- Try not to shop when you’re hungry!
- Make the most of student discounts
Check the clearance section
When you’re a student, the clearance aisle is your very best friend. You can pick up some surprisingly good things at silly prices – sometimes as low as 19p. Often you’ll find these items on sale because of a minor defect, but this usually won’t be anything major. Just be sure to check the expiry dates – a lot of clearance items are on their last day of use!
Get the non-branded stuff
It might be tempting to go all out and snag big brands like Kelloggs, Nutella and Tropicana. But in most cases, you’ll find that the non-brand alternatives are just as good at half the price! Treat yourself now and then, but buying all-brand everything can really add up in the long run!
Go on a weekly food shop to avoid multiple trips
Get into the habit of going on weekly food shops. As well as giving you everything you need in one go, it’ll save you the cost of paying for multiple journeys if you don’t have a supermarket nearby!
Buy in bulk and share with housemates
Do you have some housemates that you can rely on? If so, why not buy in bulk so you can go halves on all of your grocery essentials? Stock up on things that you know will last you a while (like pasta, rice and frozen goods) and divide the costs to save your cash. If you are sharing groceries, you can even take turns cooking for each other to save time!
Try not to shop when you’re hungry
You know the saying ‘your eyes are bigger than your belly’? This is especially true when it comes to your weekly shop. Walk into a supermarket hungry and you’ll end up buying much more than you need. You might think you need that mega pack of snacks at the moment, but do you really? Probably not.
Make the most of student discounts
Look out for food related student discounts – Save the Student and NUS Extra are some of the best places to start! Saving 30p here and there might not seem like a lot, but this can add up to a lot of savings over the course of a uni term. Most supermarkets also offer loyalty cards which might make a lot of sense if you are someone who shops regularly!
Want to save even more money towards your weekly shop? With Every Student’s range of cozy student rooms in Southampton, you can sort out your accommodation without paying a small fortune!
