University and College Freshers

The Ultimate University and College Freshers Guide Part 2 - Eating on a Budget
By Mike Ha

You have made it through freshers week at university or college relatively unscathed. So what’s the next hurdle in student life? Well trying to feed your self on a budget can be a daunting prospective never mind actually cooking. The main advice is eating is essential! You may think that you can survive on booze and coffee but eventually you’ll be ill. Food for many of you will be something that you have just taken for granted. You come home from school/college/work and there is a dinner waiting for you, you get up in the morning and there is cereal in the cupboard and milk in the fridge. So feeding yourself may come as a bit of a shock when you first arrive at University or College. You may think you can get by with biscuits and take-away but, depending on how flush you are, you will eventually run out of money and have to cook. But, fear not, because the following pages contain some fantastic advice on how to eat on a budget.

Shopping

Students pride themselves on knowing where to buy the cheapest beans, bread and margarine. You may think students eating beans on toast is a bit of a cliché but this is just about the cheapest way to fill yourself up. Look for “value”, “smart price” or “no frills” ranges they don’t taste quite as good as the leading brand but they don’t cost anywhere near the same.

Find out when your local supermarket closes! Because just before it closes they will be selling off stock that expires that day on the cheap. Also get to know where the “specials” are in your local and buy these as often as you can.

It pays not to be too fussy when it come to food. Don’t go shopping with a set idea of what you want to eat, make a list of the basics you need and then be flexible with the rest buy what is cheap! That way your diet is varied.

Utensils