College Students

kristenegeorge

With the cliché "broke college student" budget, how do you other college students find great deals on great food? I for one buy in bulk and live off of granola bars and other general snacks. However, it's becoming bland, and I was wondering what are some great foods that are available to a general student on a very cheap budget.

Hauntinglyfit

How do you feel about frat parties?

kristenegeorge

Honestly? Not a huge fan. I run for my college, so when it comes to partying, I don't do that much because we may have a meet the next day or practice rather early.

AllTehBeers

Buy a giant bag of chicken breasts, the frozen ones you can get for less than $10. Get a variety of spices and condiments and make stuff like buffalo chicken, lemon pepper chicken, chicken fajitas, bbq chicken, maybe some kind of chicken rub blend. You can make all those into sandwiches, salads, fajitas or just by itself with a side. Maybe dice one up with some eggs, onions, peppers, mushrooms and cheese (or what ever you like) for an omelette.

Eggs. By the dozen. I love them scrambled, hard boiled, poached or fried then made into sandwiches or with a side of toast and bacon.

All this is making me hungry.

PikaKnight

Do you have access to a kitchen?

Hauntinglyfit

Do you live on campus, do you have a freezer?

I buy big cuts of meat, portion it and freeze it. Cans of tuna when it's on sale. I buy a whole cooked rotiserie chicken for 8 bucks, and that's like 3 meals right there. Milk, eggs. Big bags of frozen veggies can be fairly cheap.

kristenegeorge

I live on campus in a suite style dorm where I have access to a tiny little fridge that's shared among the 5 of us. However, I am a vegetarian, and while all of these idea are fantastic, I guess I forgot to specify that.

eblakes93

Buy store brand Greek yogurt in larger containers instead of single serve.

Buy generic cereal in bulk.

Freeze bread so it last longer and you don't waste it.

Do you have a campus meal plan? I have a lot of healthy options at my campus restaurant (I know a lot of people don't)

Lexandreia

Hot sauce is my best friend. Tastes fantastic on everything from egg whites to watermelon. Take advantage of your freezer if you've got one and freeze fruits when they're on sale. Make meals ahead of time and chuck them in the freezer too. And explore foreign spices and new food combinations (blueberry+raw onion, avocado/tuna/bell peppers, cucumber+rice vinegar). Be creative haha

And keep buying in bulk, nuts are way cheaper that way or order them online.

kristenegeorge

Actually, yeah! And the campus has an all organic, vegan/vegetarian only dining hall (which is totally awesome), the only problem is, because of my class schedule and practice/meet schedule, I rely more on the food I keep in my room vs. the dining hall.

StepAwayFromTheCupcake

Get a crock pot. I make stews and soups that last for days--super healthy and cheap ingredients.

There's also tons of threads in the Recipes section on how to shop and cook healthy on a budget.

novakac

Spaghetti is always good, and the jar of sauce won't take up TOO much space in the fridge. Also, potatoes are great. Buy them in five lb bags and microwave them. Add a little salt, pepper and butter, and you'll remember just how much you always loved potatoes. Peanut butter is a favorite inexpensive vegetarian protein (doesn't need refrigeration), and you can often find loaves of cheap whole wheat bread in the funniest places (7-11, gas stations, etc.). You can also put the peanut butter on any sort of cracker. (even those free saltines you can steal from the cafeteria soup station.) Look for sugar free or low sugar peanut butters if you can find them cheap. Veggies are tough because they usually need refrigeration, but fruits will often last several days out in the open. Add a fresh apple to your granola bar from breakfast, and that's pretty much as great a meal as most of us eat. Instant oatmeal isn't too expensive, but if you don't mind cooking it, it's WAY cheaper to buy the canister.

Now, if we were going back to MY college days, I'd add in Mac & Cheese, Rice a Roni, canned soups, ramen, and Pop Tarts. I didn't always eat healthy.... but all the walking around campus kept me in great shape weight-wise. I just had no energy and slept through all my classes.

PikaKnight

Get a crock pot. I make stews and soups that last for days--super healthy and cheap ingredients.

There's also tons of threads in the Recipes section on how to shop and cook healthy on a budget.

If the tiny fridge is how small I think it is (plus being shared by 5 other people) - I don't think they are going to be able to store stuff from a crockpot.

kristenegeorge

I never even thought of potatoes! Right now, my closet is more full of food than clothes, which I get picked on sometimes for. But hey, it's hard to find foods I like and that are healthy (for the most part, since I do have a large box of pop tarts in there along with cookies) so when I do, I buy whatever I can. We all have a small section in this fridge for ourselves which generally holds a few yogurts, a small bag of some cheese, and a bag of carrots, so there'snot much to workwith, but after discussion earlier today my room mates and I will most likely be pooling our money for another, so that means more room for storage (awesome!). Thanks for all the great ideas!

DasGoff

When I was massively struggling for money in my first year of university, I'd make a big group meal and split it into containers which I would freeze, all I had to do was pop them in the over and boils some frozen veg. When it got really bad I'd live off soup, tinned fruit, noodles and veg! I also had a draw with multivitamins so when I got to my lower budgets I would still be able to get enough nutrients. ^_^