Tips on good Cheap foods to buy as a College student?

Calinorth

Hey there! So college student here, and was wondering if anyone knew of any good healthy cheap foods to buy? Maybe it to general of a question , but just to get an idea.

Diamond05

Tofu, legumes ( beans, lentil) and look at the specials.

Calinorth

Love me some lentils, Is tofu cheap? always thought it was expensive.

pobalita

Shop at an asian or mexican market if they are near you. You can get everything so much cheaper - including vegetables and meat.

Tofu is $1.19 for a pound at my asian market.

CEHayes73

Eggs, brown rice, oatmeal, and whatever's in season for fruit & veg.

Diamond05

Tofu is 2.39 a pound in a chain store.

Markets are definitely cheaper than big chain stores.

jennontheroad

Go to farmers markets at the end of the day, they want to get rid of everything so it's real cheap.

meeper123

coupons are wonderful don't do what I did and eat nothing but ramon pizza when I could get it and beer lol I got huge! like 130 to 230 huge it was bad

pinktiger8

I find that national brand packaged foods like snacks, cereals, canned foods, jarred foods, etc are cheaper at Walmart. Asian and Mexican markets have cheaper produce and meats, at least in my area.

The 99 cent store or a dollar store that has an extensive market section is a good alternative too. There is nothing wrong with their food as long as you watch the expiration date, which you should do at all stores anyway.

megansarro

As far as meals, look for stuff that's on sale, or clip coupons. Try something new!. I purchased some freeze dried apple chips with cinnamon at big lots for a dollar today!! I absolutely love them! They are extremely good for you and it was something different besides eating a plain ol' apple!! Good luck to ya!!

herblackwings39

Do you have access to a kitchen? Will you be cooking strictly microwave/toaster oven?

MzManiak

Bump for future reference. Single mama of 3 here! lol

aloranger7708

Take advantage of your meal plan! Our plan allowed us to get a to-go container and pack it full of stuff once every single hour. It was awesome. I would go in there and stock up on spinach, veggies, grilled chicken, fruits, rice, etc.

And I totally agree about going to markets instead of big box stores.

justwanderful

Go out at night and get some free grapes. Just kidding.
I'm not sure how it is there, but here in AZ, this is what I find:
The 99 cent store has great produce prices as well as canned fish.
Win-Co has very good meat and produce prices, but their bulk bin items can be a bit stale.
Sprouts has great produce and meat specials and fresh bulk items.
Since Safeway, Albertsons and Frys are hi-lows, they're fine just for their sale items and beer.
Food City (caters to the Hispanic market) has good produce and meat prices.
Walmart has good prices on staple items.
Hope this helps.

kcaffee1

bump for replies

KateL1969

I try to eat low carb to lose weight but meat is expensive. As a single Mum I have to be a flexitarian. I eat a lot of Quorn as easy to cook, a relatively cheap protein with a better texture than tofu (and probably better for me and the environment). I add fajita spices, red bell peppers and onion and stir-fry.

In the UK you can buy 4 cans of baked beans for a pound from Lidl - that's 25p each. If you wash off all the sugary tomato sauce you can use the beans for anything. Particularly nice to add to veggies and make a curry or a chilli.

I generally eat beef mince once a week which I buy from a farm shop as cheaper, better quality and better animal welfare standards than supermarket stuff. Lidl also sell passata for 25p per 500ml. Much cheaper than a tin of tomatoes. Great for chillis/bolognaise sauce.

Freezers are a great help if you have one. The supermarkets sell chicken/salmon at almost half price when it is close to the best before date. I buy it, separate it into individual portions and freeze it, taking out just what I need. I do the same with sliced brown bread which I try not to eat too much of these days.

I have three chickens and as eggs are so expensive these days, it works out cheaper. I eat an egg every morning. Hope that helps!

adorable_aly

Tinned tomatoes
Frozen veg
Pasta
Bulk buy meat and freeze it.

I find the cheapest meals are the ones I make for 3 or 4 days and freeze to have through the week.

MyChocolateDiet

frozen veggies
whole wheat pastas
brown rice
beans all kinds
meat on sale and freeze it

MyJourney1960

My answer would depend on what kind of kitchen facilities are available to you. For example, if you have a good fridge and stove you can do all sorts of beans , beans and rice, rice and stir fry, chili, etc - using smaller amounts of chicken and meat and rounding out your meals with fresh veggies and beans.

RubyRosee1

Hi there, i'm from Australia but i find that fruit is extremly filling and healthy (grapes and watermelon) make some smoothies and add some spinach and banana and whatever else you like and have it for breakfast, really filling and you may not be that hungry for a few hours after ALSO porridge/oatmeal is cheap and filling!!

feast4dabeast

Tinned tomatoes
Frozen veg
Pasta
Bulk buy meat and freeze it.

I find the cheapest meals are the ones I make for 3 or 4 days and freeze to have through the week.

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