eating on a student budget?

inlander

Hi all, I'm new around here so I hope this isn't a common/redundant topic. I'm a grad student living off of student loans. I count calories and try to abide by the MFP guidelines for carbohydrates/protein/etc and I've been doing pretty well eating healthfully on a budget. I generally eat oatmeal or plain greek yogurt with fruit for breakfast, snack throughout the day on fruit, I eat salads, cottage cheese, mixed vegetables, tofu, meat occasionally, eggs, and legumes, cous cous, but I don't really eat anything else. I don't really get much variety, but I'm okay with that. I feel like I could be eating more fresh veggies but frozen veggies seem to be a better deal in the store than fresh ones.

Is anyone else on a pretty tight budget and if so, what do you typically eat on a daily basis? (It would be helpful to know if you count calories only or if you low carb or WW or something, because I'm curious.)

JennLifts

I kind of am, but the only thing i've done that's helped is switched stores from kroger to trader joes. Much cheaper.

MiniMichelle

bump

merB89

Hey there, in a very similar situation as you! What you described is very similar to what I consume. I don't eat meat, and spend the money I save there on fresh fruits and veggies. I go to my local farmers market during the warmer months and I feel like I get great deals there, as long as you are buying in season. Things like berries can get expensive but lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, corn on the cob always seem really reasonable (even cheap!) to me. Same thing goes for the super market. Do a little research and see whats in season now, those things will likely be cheaper. Otherwise I try and avoid processed foods and buy the ingredients to make those things (soup, pasta sauce, pizza, etc.) on my own which I think is cheaper, and then you know exactly whats in it! Beans and rice are great fuel and cheap too! And you can season them all sorts of ways.

Valechka

When I was a student I was my skinniest ever. Plus I did not had a car, I took bus and walked a lot and I went to student free Gym as my fun place away from the library/lab, since I was on the budget for fun stuff too... Even though I ate lots of white rice ( I used to live near korean place where you can get 10 kg bag or rice for like $5 dollars , veggies, tofu too. So it would not get boring I would use different dry herbs and spices , they are not expensive and last long time. Oatmeal and eggs as well. Rarely any meat if any. Cheese if it would be on sale. You diet seems to be balanced. Buy what is on sale, I remember getting only those fruits that are on sale : and it is better , those are usually in season!

TipMcE

When I was a student I got good value for money on produce at farm stands (not farmers markets - straight off the farm).

I second the Trader Joe's recommendation. They also have healthier options like whole wheat cous cous that I haven't found elsewhere.

My town has some ethnic grocery stores that are much cheaper than the big super markets. You just have to be careful because sometimes produce is a day or two away from being over ripe.

I buy a lot of frozen veggies and stock up when there are 2 for 1 sales. Definitely plan out your meals using the weekly fliers and buy whats on sale. And if you get your store's loyalty card you'll get extra discounts (just don't buy stuff you don't need just because it's on sale).

lynn1982

I am also a grad student, so I understand where you're coming from. It is definitely hard. I'm not a vegetarian, but I've had to switch to buying tofu and fish as my proteins since they're cheaper. I like greek yogurt but where I live there is only one brand and it's way more expensive than other types of yogurt, so sometimes I switch to low fat cottage cheese. I find oatmeal is also a good option, as long as the rest of my day is not too carb heavy. Nuts are a good choice, especially for those long hours in the library. I also eat a lot of hummus and homemade bean salad. Right now it's easy for me to find fruits and veggies for a reasonable price, but once the fall and winter hit, I'll be reliant more on frozen veggies. I don't have much variety, but I don't mind it. Feel free to add me if you want.

tristahenry

Coupons! LOL sorry, I know couponing has become something of a joke but I am serious. I know healthy, fresh foods aren't available for coupons but if you save on things like soaps, cleaning products, toothpaste, etc. you can take the extra money and treat yourself to something a bit more expensive at the grocery store. It takes me about an hour to track the coupons I have available and another 30 minutes to plan my shopping list but it's totally worth it!

inlander

oh man, COUPONS. you're so right. the food ones are useless for me since i rarely eat prepared food, but i need to start couponing for other stuff!

msmodular13

Tofu is great-- for veggies, broccoli and cabbage tend to keep longer. Rice or Almond milk are great and generally cheap (plus they last long). So, bran cereal is good. Also, chili, mexican (beans), spaghetti, asian, etc are pretty cheap. I agree with the beans and rice/tofu and rice. (I am also a graduate student who was divorced and left with paying for all of the bills...so I have definitely adapted to eating for one on a budget!!) There's a book about eating vegan for under 4 bucks a day...I am sure that would have some good ideas! Bananas are also good sustainable fruit and I agree with the cheaper fruit being in season and better quality.

theflyingartist

Protein powder.
I know it sounds weird, but that stuff is filled with vitamins and minerals and if you get it cheap (Amazon or on sale) it can last you for awhile.
I also like the idea of Trader Joe's. If you live in Seattle, there is one in U District that I LOVE. (Saw your icon picture!)
Meal planning is great. Utilizing weekly groceries into your diet and precooking things so that you can piece together your meals. Also, popcorn and dried fruits (again, when on sale) are great snacks to have around.
Lastly, COUPONS. Seriously.. they are a godsend for me. Usually I don't find much because most coupons are for foods I can't eat but if it works for you go for it! Good luck! Congrats on grad school

alper102

I am kind of on the same page that you are...I am a graduate student trying to eat healthy on a budget. The problem that I am having is that I currently live on campus with no access to a kitchen or any cooking appliances. The only appliance I have is a mini-refrigerator that I share with my roommate. Does anyone have any suggestions as to meals that I can easily make in my dorm, rather than eating all the fatty fried food from the cafeteria?

regina_mundi

I was a grad student until seven years ago, but everyone's living on a student's budget these days. Or they should be. Your list looks clean, cheap, and cheerful. I also notice you're supporting yourself with student loans. Could you ask your DGS about funding (a teaching or research assistantship or a gradership for a prof with an extra-large class), especially if you're in a traditional PhD program? These really should be funding students fully.

Most college towns have some sort of co-op place where you can buy grains and pulses in bulk. Even Whole Foods in places where I lived previously had bulk sections. I regularly buy quinoa, chickpeas, black beans, chickpea flour, and (controversially) TVP from an independent ersatz Whole Foods more hipstery than Whole Foods.

If your city has a high concentration of "ethnic" populations, shops catering to Mexicans, South Asians, and East Asians are fantastic for spices, legumes, and produce. Plus you'll find lots of cool, invariably unprocessed foods to try.

Don't overlook the internet. Amazon's subscription service can be fantastic, especially for bulk deals. I get regular deliveries of organic coffee and Wasa Crispbreads. Since they are bulk, you have to budget for them up front, but they can be priced far below what you'd pay for them at the grocery store. If you use credit cards and pay them off every month, you get the "float" with your money; if your cards have rewards, your discount is even greater.

At the moment, fresh produce isn't exactly cheap. If you're going to be in school for more than another year, starting a garden next spring can be therapeutic and not arduous enough to pull you away from your dissertation. Herbs like basil grow themselves. Tomatoes, peppers, and squashes will be busting out all over soon. I'm sure you've checked out your farmers' market already. I've found farmers' markets to be highly variable in price and offerings. Some degenerate into flea markets. If yours sells good produce, go near closing time. People will be giving stuff away because they don't want to bundle everything up and schlep it back to the farm.

At other times of the year, frozen vegetables are often better for you than fresh, which has been trucked from a distance and languished on the racks for days. (That said, fresh produce gets marked down when it's looking less pretty. For instance, brown bananas: freeze them without even bothering to peel them until you're ready to pull one out of the freezer to blend into a smoothie with protein powder or silken tofu or whatever you like.) Coupons for Green Giant and Birdseye come out pretty regularly (though I haven't seen one in months), and they're good for the plain vegetables. Avoid the ones with the little bricks of salt—I mean "sauce" suspended in manufactured fat.

And I agree about the coupons. Never pay for shampoo, toothpaste, toothpaste, deodorant, (if you're female) tampons, etc., and save that money for inexpensive frugal food.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Good luck in your studies.

thereseofdoom

I second what Regina said about frozen vegetables. They are flash frozen a the peak of freshness, and this causes them to retain a lot of nutrients. The vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store are many times old, or picked before they are fully ripe so they can ripen on the truck across country or wherever they need to get. As the fruits age they lose a lot of the good stuff that they had when they are fresh. The apples at the grocery store are commonly up to 4 months old! Check the "picked on" date on a bag of apples next time.

Anyway, bottom line: If you don't have access to a farmers market or locally grown produce, frozen in most often better than the "fresh" produce available in the gocery store.