How to Save Money on Food Tips for Student

How to Save Money on Food Tips for Student

When you buy a meal plan, you pay for all the meals whether you eat them or not, so sign up for fewer rather than more meals. For example, most students find they're not out and about in time to eat breakfast in the cafeteria, so a meal plan with two meals a day may be more than enough. If, after your first semester, you find you eat out or fix something in your dorm room fairly often, you may want to buy a meal plan for only one meal a day.

Buy coffee at the grocery store and make it at home. A daily Starbucks or other gourmet coffee can cost $3 or $4 a day, $28 a week, $112 per month, $448 a semester, or $996 per school year--and that's nearly $4,000 during a fouryear degree program. Save the gourmet coffee for special occasions or the occasional treat instead of making it a daily habit.

Don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry. Studies have shown that you're much more likely to buy more than you need if you shop on an empty stomach. The best time to go shopping for food is after you've just eaten.

The best way to save on groceries is to plan ahead. Figure out the main meals for the week plus your favorite snacks and staples, like milk, eggs, and bread. Shop with a list; then stick to it, and you'll save money. Anything not on the list is an impulse purchase that should be avoided.

If you live in an apartment, get four to six friends together, pool your grocery money for your evening meals, and take turns cooking. It costs less per person, you'll eat better, you get to try other people's cooking, and you'll enjoy socializing.

Collect coupons for grocery and household items you normally buy. You can shave significant amounts off your grocery bill as long as you don't buy something you wouldn't normally buy just because you have a coupon for it. Your local Sunday newspaper usually includes a pack of coupons, and you can ask family members to save them for you, too.

Two words: ramen noodles. Sure, they're a cliché in college, but they actually have a place in your meal plan. How can you beat three meals for a dollar? For a more substantial meal, try bulking it up by throwing in steamed veggies and pieces of leftover chicken, another meat, or tofu.

Find out if there's a local food co-op in your college town. You can save a lot of money by buying items like dry beans, pasta, rice, oatmeal, peanut butter, herbs and spices, and other dry goods in bulk, without the expensive packaging found in grocery stores.

Make a list of the items you purchase on a regular basis (toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, certain foods) and compare prices at three different stores. Do your regular shopping at the store that offers lower prices on the items you buy most frequently.

Limit your grocery shopping to one or two stores. The price of gas for driving around town chasing a few pennies here and there will quickly eat into any savings. Also, every time you enter another grocery store the likelihood of making an impulse purchase goes up.

Pack your own lunch when you know you'll be on campus all day. Packed lunches are cheaper than buying food at the cafeteria or from vending machines, and you can eat them anywhere.

If your parents or other family members want to send you a care package, encourage them to send you nonperishable food (boxed macaroni and cheese, rice mixes, canned goods, cereal, and snack foods) to help reduce your grocery bills.

Avoid buying food or beverages at gourmet specialty shops and convenience markets. These stores are always more expensive than a grocery store.

The larger the supermarket, the better the prices overall. To minimize your grocery costs, do most of your shopping at the largest grocery store near you.

Learn to recognize the sales techniques used in grocery stores to encourage you to spend more money. For example, the most expensive products are usually placed at eye level so you notice them first. Look up and down to save money. Impulse items, like candy bars, cold sodas, and magazines, are placed at the ends of the aisles and at the checkout stands.

Don't pay for two meals and eat only one. That's what you're doing when you buy a meal plan for a set number of meals and you eat out instead of eating all the meals you already paid for.

Before using a coupon on a name brand item, do the math to see if generic brand item you usually buy is still cheaper. If so, the coupon actually costs you money.

When grocery shopping, remember that convenience comes at a cost. Laborsaving products, like shredded cheese, peeled carrots, and precut lettuce or salads cost more. Do the work yourself and save money.

Avoid buying foods that aren't in season in your part of the country. Fresh strawberries in Minnesota in January are going to cost more than you should spend. Buy fruit and vegetables when they're in season and you'll save money.

Brand-name foods are not necessarily any better than generic brands. In fact, brand-name companies often manufacture the generic brand foods that are sold under a store name or other off-brand-name. These items are cheaper because they don't come with the huge advertising costs that brand-name companies incur to sell their products.

Having a mini-fridge and a microwave in your dorm room can save you money that you might otherwise spend on take-out or fast-food. If you don't feel like hiking over to the cafeteria but you need sustenance, it's nice to be able to throw something together, like boxed macaroni and cheese, soup, boxed mashed potatoes, nachos and cheese, cereal, and so on.

Before going out to a restaurant or bar, plan how much you can afford to pay and then stick to that amount. If you don't plan ahead, you're much more likely to overspend and end up regretting it later when you're struggling to make ends meet.

Buy pasta in the bulk aisle of the grocery store. It's cheap and filling and can be prepared in limitless ways, plus it's easily stored. Look up recipes on the Internet.

In addition to comparing prices between stores, compare prices between brands. Most grocery chains have their own line of grocery items that are almost always cheaper than those of the large national food manufacturers. For example, IGAs often carry the Shur Fine line.

Limit your grocery store purchases to groceries. For non-grocery items, like paper towels, bathroom tissue, and cleaning supplies, shop at a larger chain retailer like Sam's Club or Costco. The prices will be lower, especially if you buy in bulk.

Plan ahead so you can limit your trips to the grocery store to one per week. The less often you go, the less likely you are to buy things on impulse and the less you'll spend on groceries.

Relying on fast food, convenience food, and frozen dinners not only adds pounds and drains your energy, but it also drains your wallet. You get more bang from your buck if you buy fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats and cook them yourself. If you're clueless in the kitchen, read a book like The College Student's Guide to Eating Well On Campus by Ann Selkowitz Litt, or ask your Mom to show you a few simple dishes.

Get a bunch of friends or dormmates together on weekends and have a potluck dinner or assign items (salad, dessert, casserole) to save money. It's cheaper than eating out and is a great way to socialize.

Stop by your local fast-food place at closing time and ask if they have any food they're going to get rid of that didn't sell. Some managers would rather see the food go to college students than get thrown away, so you may score some pizza, sandwiches, or other grub.

Check out which restaurants offer free appetizers (usually during happy hour) and hang out for a while. Restaurants hope customers will drink enough alcohol, which has a very high mark-up, to make up for the cost of the free food. Buy a glass of soda for $1.50 and you may get to eat $5 or more worth of food.

Buy your food, household products, and supplies at off-campus stores. You'll pay less.

Avoid buying single serving sizes of snacks. You'll pay more for smaller servings because of the added cost of packaging. Buy larger sizes and break them down into baggies containing a serving size.
Keep a refillable water bottle and light snacks like apples, raisins, and nuts, in your backpack so you're not tempted by the vending machines on campus, where prices are marked up. Fill your water bottle at the fountains in the buildings on campus.
Call around to a number of pizza places and sandwich shops that you like to eat at or get carryout from and ask if they have weekly specials. Try to plan the days you eat out around the times when your favorite places offer their specials so you can lower your food costs.