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Eating healthy on a budget

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misspinkshorts
misspinkshorts Posts: 41 Member
in Social Groups
I live off campus now so I no longer have to eat in the dining hall but I am struggling to get healthy on a budget. Sometimes its cheaper (and easier) to hit up the drive thru or buy frozen pizza and stuff like that.

Fresh veggies and fruit always seem to cost so much more. How do you college girls eat healthy and keep to a college budget?

I need help!!

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  • jhargrove1
    jhargrove1 Posts: 8
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    Some shopping suggestions,

    When you are short on time and cash you can do most general shopping I go to bargain food stores like Aldi's, they tend to lack variety but make up for it in price.
    For bulk freezer items shop at your local meat/fish market you will get great prices and great quality.
    An overlooked gem are Asian supermarkets, we have one here is Pittsburgh called Lotus and I get amazing deals there I literally spend half of what I would if I had gone to a Giant Eagle or even Walmart.
    If none of the above work you can stick with your general food store but start collecting coupons, (the Sunday paper and online) and take advantage of store cards and circulars if you time it right you can save money.

    -Good luck!
    Jamie
  • caffeinatedbookworm
    caffeinatedbookworm Posts: 32 Member
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    FROZEN FRUITS AND VEGGIES!!!!! I buy those :). I really only buy fresh of what I use a lot (strawberries, apples, spinach, baby carrots), and then I buy frozen bell pepper/onion mix, frozen broccoli, and frozen raspberries or berry blends (I love them in smoothies). And if you buy something fresh and worry it will go bad, just toss it in the freezer! I also freeze all of my breads/wraps so they stay fresher longer. I also go online and get coupons (Chobani always has some), and I take note of which stores have the cheapest prices of products. I'd say 90% of what I buy comes from Trader Joe's because they have such great prices on their store brands!
  • jrwhitney
    jrwhitney Posts: 2
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    I've been giving a lot of thought about ways to eat healthy and balance school and a social life. my plan is to do "good" not "perfect". I'm planning on stocking up on 100 calorie packs of snacks, microwavable meals like quinoa or brown rice, and keeping greek yogurts in the fridge. although these food may not be the best of the best, it sure as heck better than some of my other options!
  • tahni
    tahni Posts: 45 Member
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    I know this was posted forever ago and this seems somewhat tedious BUT:

    One day I went out and got loyalty cards(or app) to the 3 supermarkets that send mail/ads to my house. I spend maybe 15 minutes on Wednesday looking through these and picking out the best things from the sales. For instance, I bought a ton of my favorite apples which are usually $3/lb for $0.69 /lb. Luckily for me the three stores are all close to each other but I try to make grocery lists and stick by them. (I don't really buy processed foods aside from the occasional wrap and noodles so I've really caught on to the "base prices" of lots of fruits and veggies and can read through the adds very quickly)

    In conclusion: free loyalty cards! and freezer stuff as said before is a steal. Also I usually buy store brands. (Meijer makes fantastic quality store brands! The other two I use is Marsh, Payless (which is owned by Kroger) and occasionally Aldi)

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