eating healthy on a college student's budget
findingthindependence
Posts: 4 Member
Like all of ya'll, I'm in college trying to lose weight. I do have a job but only work between 2 and 4 days a week, so my income is pretty low. For all of you in the same boat as me, what kind of healthy foods do you buy at the grocery store and how do you make it work for your budget? I would love to start couponing, but I honestly just don't have the time. I'm also guilty of spending the money that's supposed to be for groceries on cute things for my apartment, clothes, or shoes. oops. Then I resort to buying whatever is cheapest or on sale, which is usually not healthy. I'm also a terrible cook 
I just don't know how or have to the time to learn.
I just don't know how or have to the time to learn. 0
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Learning to cook would save you loads of money and make your meals the healthiest. Just look for recipes here on MFP, you really just learn as you go along. It will give you much better awareness of what exactly it is you eat, too.0
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I know it would, I just get so frustrated trying to learn. You're right about being more aware of what I'm eating, too. I've been trying to find easy recipes on here so hopefully that helps. Thanks for your reply!
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Personally I can't cook but I have a girlfriend and a roommate who can and do often. When they are not preparing a meal for us all then I usually munch on veggies, fruit, meats, or whole grains. Easy no-cook stuff that I can watch. Peanutbutter is a big help. And fruit is so easy to grab on the go that it really makes it easy for me when I'm juggling school full time and work full time =]0
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I know it would, I just get so frustrated trying to learn. You're right about being more aware of what I'm eating, too. I've been trying to find easy recipes on here so hopefully that helps. Thanks for your reply!
Stop making excuses.0 -
Sparkpeople.com and EatingWell.com have great healthy recipes. I used to be like you and say that I didn't know how to cook and I couldn't learn to do it. Guess what, I've now started cooking and if you can read and follow directions, you can make great food from recipes.
I'm a grad student on a very tight budget, so here are some tips for eating healthy. Follow the sales and stock up on frozen and canned fruits and veggies. You can make easy cheap pasta and rice dishes and stretch them by adding lots of extra veggies. Substitute cheap proteins (beans, lentils, etc) for meat.0 -
Cooking v. prepacked meals. I am vegan and lots of people tell me "oh that must be expensive", it's really not. I buy beans which are super cheap and can be used in lots of meals. I also buy produce that's in season because it's cheaper and you don't get tired of the same things. Or things like potatos can be healthy if you don't load them up too much. Paired with a small salad is good. But def get some cook books. I like "vegan on the cheap" and peta's college cookbook. But those are vegan cookbooks. I have to say not buying meat, milk, cheese has saved me money. I get so much produce for $10. If you do eat beef, might I suggest trying out boca's or morningstar meal starters? They taste like ground beef and are precooked so you just heat them up. They are cheap and quick. I used them wayy before I became vegan for those reasons.0
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Trader Joe's is a life saver. I don't know about you, but my apartment is super close to a TJ's. It's a lot cheaper than a lot of supermarkets. I buy a lot of Tofu, frozen veggies, and frozen fish/chicken. It lasts and is relatively inexpensive. Cooking at home helps keep me on track money-wise and health-wise0
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I completely understand an empathize with your struggle, because I remember what it was like when I first started college and had a minimum wage job with only a few hours a day. This is going to be a pretty long post but I hope you will take the time to consider what I have to say, because I don't want it to take you as long to learn what I'm going to say as it took me. Fortunately, I had a couple of people in my life from whom I learned to cook (because I didn't know much about it before leaving home). If you're new to living on your own it can be hard to manage your money as well. Budgeting is something that took me a while to master, but I've pretty much got it down now. If you don't want my advice on budgeting, skip this next section...
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Budgeting...
I think there are two things that are good for anyone who is either new to living on their own or in a new financial/living situation.
I used these things to learn how to manage money when I started living on my own.
1) Budget worksheets
2) The Envelope system
I have a better job now, but I still make a budget worksheet every (bi-weekly) payday with four columns: Expense (name), Amount funded, Amount Spent, and Percentage of total income. So you will have your rent/mortgage/etc, all your bills, grocery money, etc... Decide how much you want to fund per paycheck to each category, and in the end whatever is left over goes into your "surplus" category, which should be divided between saving and spending. That part is completely up to you how you divide it, and that's where you get your money for your cute apartment stuff and clothes
If it's difficult at first, you buy some envelopes to keep in a safe place and divide the money in cash between the envelopes. The logic behind this is that when we use debit cards, checks, credit cards, etc, the money feels imaginary. When you spend cash you are literally watching your money go away each time you buy something. Also, it helps you separate out which money you can spend on which things and never, for example, dip into your grocery money for money to go out. Eventually you can do it all on paper, keep your money in the bank, and use an "imaginary envelope system". Or if groceries is the only part you have trouble with, take your grocery money out in cash and keep it in a "groceries" envelope.
Of course I'm no financial advisor... just someone who doesn't make a lot of money but manages to get by pretty well on very little. I adapted most of this from Dave Ramsey. If it sounds like something that might help you but you're still not sure where to start, look him up. His books tend to be faith-based, but if you're not religious just ignore the parts about tithing and it's still a great way to start learning to manage your money like a pro! He's also pretty anti-debt, which I love, but thus concludes my "budgeting" rant...
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FOOD ...
So you have your grocery budget established, which you are going to use only for groceries, and now it's time to spend it. So where do you start? Well, there is a lot of cheap crap out there and it's not really rocket science to get a lot of groceries for a little money if you don't care what you eat. But you want to eat healthy, so kudos!
Learning to cook is going to be pretty important, and nobody said you have to be a five-star chef preparing yourself a gourmet meal every night. You just have to make it edible to begin with, and you will get better and better at making it taste good the longer you cook. Decide how long you are going to be buying groceries for... will you shop once a week or once every two weeks? Figure out how much food you need for that time period, and even sit down and make a healthy meal plan if that seems to help and then figure out what foods you need for those meals (try to re-use each particular food item, especially if you live alone, so you aren't buying as much.)
Fruits and veggies are pretty easy. You want to buy some fresh and some frozen, but try to stay away from canned veggies although you might keep a few cans in your kitchen. Find out which veggies are cheapest fresh, which can vary from one month to the next and based also on where you live.
SOME FRUITS & VEGGIES THAT ALWAYS TEND TO BE PRETTY CHEAP FRESH:
***Broccoli
***Carrots
***Apples
***Navel Oranges
***Anyone feel free to add to the list...
CHEAP FROZEN VEGGIES:
In the freezer section, take a look at the veggies that are available frozen. The ones without sauces & seasoning are pretty cheap. You might even find store brands for a steal.
*These can be cooked by themselves or put in soups or cassaroles.
CHEAP FROZEN FRUIT:
*No sugar added!
*Check for store brands for a bargain
*I buy these and make healthy smoothies for cheap.
MEAT:
*Probably the hardest food group to buy on a budget because cheap meats are often fatty, and meats that aren't from animals injected with all kinds of hormones are super expensive. I'm of the mindset that we do not need nearly as much meat as most Americans think we do, and even if you wanted to eat vegetarian or vegan you could be totally healthy if you do it right. BUT if you are a meat eater, here are a few things I remember buying when on a tighter budget:
*Frozen tilapia filets (thaw as needed)
*3 lb bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thaw as needed)
*The leanest ground beef you can find
*Ground turkey, turkey sausage, basically turkey anything because it's leaner than the alternative.
DAIRY:
Fortunately, the lower the percentage of milk fat in the milk, the cheaper it is. Well, finally something where the healthier version is cheaper! However, if you want to go for organic milk then it gets more expensive. I find that I don't drink a whole lot of milk. If buying milk, research the brands a bit. You may find that one of the cheaper brands that doesn't have "ORGANIC" plastered on the front isn't so bad. Supposedly the brand I buy doesn't come from cows given BGH which is good to know. It's not perfect, but I can't afford the Organic milk. If you can, go for it! If you want to go with a milk replacement I suggest vanilla almond milk.
BREAD:
The best cheap bread in my opinion is NATURE'S OWN 100% whole wheat!!!
Look at the ingredients. If the ingredients say "enriched" flour of any sort, put it back regardless of what the label says about "whole grains". Ingredient #1 should always be "whole wheat flour". It is on this bread, and it's pretty low in calories.
Also, buy whole grain brown rice. Rice is cheap, even when it's whole grain. A little goes a long way and it will be useful in soups and cassaroles as well.
You can also use some whole-wheat pasta or buy dry beans and cook in a crock pot.
MAKING LOW CALORIE TASTE GOOD:
There are a few things I like to buy to make low calorie cooking taste better. Of course, this will vary with your individual preferences, and not all of the things I'm going to list are cheap but they help me spice up the cheap stuff.
* Have a good collection of herbs and spices. Buy a few at a time or find a cheap spice rack. I like spicy food so I use a lot of cayenne pepper. I also use garlic sea salt (in a grinder) and McCormick's Peppercorn Medley. I could go on and on because I have more spices than anyone I know. Spices add flavor without adding all the calories of other ways you could add flavor (ie creamy sauces & cheese)
* Use olive oil for cooking. It has fat, but it's monounsaturated so don't be scared of a little olive oil.
* Hot sauce... I guess you can ignore some of this if you don't like spicy food haha... FRANKS RED HOT isn't that spicy. It's sweet and has a good flavor. It has zero calories, and as the label says "I put that * on everything"
* Peppers, onions, garlic...
So much flavor for so few calories. Bell peppers aren't cheap, but a little bell pepper in a dish takes the flavor a long way. I stick to red & green because the yellow and orange ones are too sweet for me. Of course if you like hot food you can venture out and see other peppers with a little more spice)
Onions also add a lot of flavor, especially if you sautee them.
Garlic can also add a lot of flavor... sometimes too much... so take it easy and just use a little
*Spinach. I keep raw spinach on hand and add it to everything. I eat it raw in salads, cook it, put it on sandwiches. I believe it's a little more nutritious than lettuce and it's one ingredient with a lot of uses.
OTHER TIPS...
*If you don't have a crockpot, you should... if you live alone, get a little one, but you can make a pot of some healthy soup for very cheap in a crockpot with very little effort, and you will even have leftovers. Just don't make too much because that's a waste if you don't eat it, and make sure if you're buying one that it has removable stoneware.
*I think single serving blenders are great. I make healthy smoothies in the morning with frozen fruit and a little protein powder. It's a cheap, easy way to get an extra serving or two of fruit into your day.
*Glass tupperware is awesome. It's expensive at first, but a good set of glass tupperware (I use Pyrex) will last you way longer and won't retain flavors & colors or get ruined easily like plastic tupperware. It will keep your leftovers WAY BETTER, which saves you money because it doesn't spoil as quickly.
*Get an appropriately sized (probably small if you're living alone) casserole dish and learn to make healthy casseroles. They are so cheap to make if you get it down, and this is where you can use a lot of frozen veggies. Buy some whole-grain brown rice for this too. You will have an easy meal that will also give you some leftovers. I used to buy some bisquick or Pioneer baking mix to make a biscuit topping for some casseroles. You can also use it for biscuit topping on certain crockpot recipes. If you're making any casserole with cheese, always take it easy on the cheese to cut calories.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope there was at least something helpful in there. I apologize if I assumed that you knew less than you did. I know I haven't outlined a perfect way of eating but all you can do is start exactly where you are and slowly make small changes as your diet gets healthier and healthier. Don't let anyone intimidate you and feel like you have to eat a perfect diet right at first. It's tough on a student's budget, but you can do it! It won't always be tough. The longer you do it, the more it becomes habit and it will eventually no longer be a challenge to figure out your grocery list.0 -
You've gotten a lot of really good advice, but one tidbit I can offer--
Save up like $25-30 (put down those heels and that new purse) and buy a George Foreman or panini maker-- essentially the same thing. It's really good to use to make chicken and other meat especially if you're living in a dorm or don't have much cooking experience. It cooks it healthily, and it's super, super easy. Just sprinkle some salt, pepper, garlic powder or whatever on it, flip it a couple of times and bam-- you have chicken.
Plus you can make sandwiches, quesadillas, burgers, etc. etc. on it. I love mine!0 -
Trader Joe's is a life saver. I don't know about you, but my apartment is super close to a TJ's. It's a lot cheaper than a lot of supermarkets. I buy a lot of Tofu, frozen veggies, and frozen fish/chicken. It lasts and is relatively inexpensive. Cooking at home helps keep me on track money-wise and health-wise
I second Trader Joe's. Absolutely my favorite supermarket. Their prices are unbeatable, and they have awesome options-- I always try to keep frozen veggies around to heat up, and they have a great selection.
I would also recommend working on finding recipies you can make for the week on Sundays, then all you have to do is grab and go throughout the week. Some of my favorites are turkey meatloaf muffins, hard boiled eggs, rice, chili. Easy and quick.0
