Student with budget

[JoelyBird]

Hi! Are there any other students here with a small budget that have found tips and tricks to eat healthier on a small food budget? Thanks!

[Doing4me]

Some market stall holders will do you a “mixed bag” of veg and a “mixed bag of fruit for really cheap.

So you could say you have say £2 for veg and £2 for fruit can they make you up a bag please...

Some will some won’t but it’s definitely worth being brave and asking because once you have found that stall holder you will become his/her regular and it’ll be a lovely regular trip out.

Another tip is that at the end of day the supermarkets have a reduced section in one of the fridges abd the same for the other fresh food sections like fruit and veg. You can ask at your local supermarket what time they start reducing the fresh foods.

Hope this all helps

[JoelyBird in reply to Doing4me]

Thank you so much! I’d never thought of the mixed bags idea but that’s so good, thanks for the advice

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Check out when the yellow labels appear in your nearest shops. Also, look out for wonky veg: I bought a bag of 7 wonky peppers for £1.25 - great value. And go for foods in season. Frozen veg is good value, with no waste. That's another point: planning, so you don't end up wasting anything

[TheTabbyCat Administrator 16kg in reply to BridgeGirl]

I love "wonky" veggies!! Def a bargain.

[Greendream123]

I'd recommend the special veg on offer in Aldi and also veg like carrots, brocolli etc which can be really cheap. Lentil soup is great, freezes well and is really cost effective (a bag of red lentils goes a long way too). I have it most weeks (lentils, onions, veg stock). I also cook a lot with tinned tomatoes instead of processed pasta sauces and find that jacket potatoes (or baked sweet potatoes) are tasty but simple. There's also cheap breakfasts like porridge oats and weetabix (Aldi version). Good luck, I'm sure you'll get there!

P.S - I still shop on a budget even though my student days are long behind me and my partner and I both work. 😅

[PedallingMinstrel Restart April 2024]

Good luck Joely decide what you are going to eat and plan your meals accordingly. I’m always timing my supermarket visits when they are selling off salad greens fruit etc. I use Aldi a lot there are lots of low budget foods I eat oats a lot I am following a low carb diet which has really worked for me.use the Daily Diary to record your daily eating chat to people and weigh in a chosen day. Lots of support and tips here you’ve come to the right place.

Best wishes Jeff

[GreenQueen-99]

Hello! I’m a student too! Hope your degree is going okay with all this going on!! I tend to shop deals and stick with the cheaper supermarkets. Shop around! I alternate each week where I shop depending on deals! Another thing I do is shop in the evenings, a lot of things get reduced and are perfect for freezing! Especially like soup mixes etc! Very worth a look!

[JoelyBird in reply to GreenQueen-99]

Thank you so much! Honestly it could be going a lot better right now but we can only hope for it to get better right?😂hope you’re not suffering too much

[GreenQueen-99 in reply to JoelyBird]

I 100% get you there 🤣 fingers crossed for better times! If we can survive this, we can do anything! X

[Walkmore 7lbs]

Hope you’re well, and the course going ok, you’ve had some good tips, I’m not lucky to be near Aldi or Lidl and their special priced selections of fruit n veg - I definitely have veg envy 😁 . Would you have time to even try a weekly menu where you start with a main item eg chicken then add other food items to accompany it but make enough that carries onto the next day so you only have to add another item or two which keeps costs down. Start with a roast and veg, then the next day make a curry using more of the chicken and add anything else you didn’t finish in the curry too from the veg and potatoes, also buy a packet of nan breads, as the following night you could make a nan bread pizza with shredded chicken and whatever else you fancy - very quick and lovely 😊 if you have a freezer just freeze what’s left it’ll do a turn in a soup or stew later on. Then decide how to use up the other things you bought maybe frittata using spare veg or potatoes... I hope you get the idea. Don’t forget to google Jack Monroe who makes cheap healthy meals and has fabulous recipes online, she’s well worth a look. Have a fab weekend

[JoelyBird in reply to Walkmore]

Thank you so much! These are all absolutely brilliant ideas and I’m definitely going to try making my ingredients last longer like that!

[Walkmore 7lbs in reply to JoelyBird]

It’s amazing how far some things go. Let us know how you get on 😉

[JoelyBird in reply to Walkmore]

Already made my meal plan for the week using lots of the same stuff, if I can share a picture I will!

[Walkmore 7lbs in reply to JoelyBird]

You are on the ball, it’s great how the same ingredients with a wee tweak taste totally different and hopefully save you getting fed up with them. Have a good weekend 😊

[Walkmore 7lbs]

Ok