Poor college student

The slow cooker/Crockpot, has got to be the greatest cooking invention of all time. Throw some stuff in there in the morning, set it, and forget it! You can do beans with a hamhock for seasoning, vegetables, lean meat like chicken breast are usually inexpensive. There a tons of recipes online for Crockpot cooking. Also, you could cook on one day of the week, like a Sunday, and then freeze portions to thaw out later. Easy breezy is the way to go!

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I just went to Pinterest and searched "healthy recipes college." Lots of good stuff there.

Look for a local fruit stand or farmers market for cheap fruits and veggies

if your looking for recipes I would check out pinterest. You can search for tons of cheap, healthy meals. Im poor too. We do lots of frozen veggies, dry goods (buy in bulk bins if you can find them). Love the crockpot!!! I also try to find deals on proteins, cook and section them out so i always have meat to add to salads or soups etc. We dont usually eat red meat because its so much more expensive, just sub out chicken in recipes

I'm a student also, buy frozen veg and fruit. Also for variety sometimes you can get veg to use on the day , for cheap. Its good if you want to try new things and randomize your meals abit.

Learning to cook would be a very good thing. I can cook healthy delicious meals which cost $1-$2 per meal.

I just shop for healthy basics that are cheap. I don't go with a particular shopping list. I'll buy the cheapest seasonal fruit and veg, buy products/produce that are reduced to clear and other items that are on sale that week.

Then I just work out what meals I can throw together with the food I have. Being able to improvise is a good skill in the kitchen.

There are plenty of basic cooking videos on Youtube. Sometime I'll buy and ingredient I haven't cooked before, and I just look up how to prepare it on Youtube (I'm a visual learner).

Practice and experiment.

ejudge13 wrote: »

Help, I'm a broke college flood and idk how to eat healthy and be able to afford it! What are some things.that can help reduce the cost of eating healthy!?

Do you have Grocery Outlet stores where you live? They have some extraordinary deals. I shop there first and then go to other stores if there are a few things on my list that I can't find.

Something that can save you a lot of money is to buy cheaper spices. Winco has bulk spices at good prices--just refill containers that you already have. The dollar store can be good for inexpensive spices. Mexican stores are good too--they generally have small packets of spices for 99 cents--the quality is excellent and the per-unit cost is really low. The little plastic baggies that these come in are awkward, but I just decant them into small canning jars and seal them with canning lids and my own labels.

Do you have access to the school's cafeteria?

SergeantSausage wrote: »

Reducing the amount of food you eat reduces cost, right?

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For the price of *half* a Taco Bell meal, I can have 12 meals based on potatoes.

Rice is your friend. A 50 pound sack at Sam's Club for less than 17 bucks. I get about 70 dinners out of that sack. For under 20 bucks. Let that sink in: Under 20 bucks.

Chicken, chicken, tuna, and more chicken (even unborn, egg variety chickens). Cheap, easy protein. Choices, right? I can get a chicken McValue meal, super sized with fries + drink for, what, almost 7 bucks in my area (plus gas & travel time) ... or I can drink water and make grilled chicken at home for a buck-fiddy and hella faster than cruising to a drive thru.

Listen to this guy.

As someone above mentioned, you'll get better advice if you're more specific about your situation

Another idea is to buy things that are reduced and freeze them (if possible). Things like bread, milk, meats etc can all be bought and frozen the same day, and as well as being cheaper they'll also stay good longer.
If you have enough fridge/freezer space, batch cooking can be a good option. Things like pasta bakes, chillis, soups etc keep well.
Something I love is my george foreman grill. As well as cooking meats without the need for oil (and all those extra calories) it's great for doing things like toasted sandwiches or wraps. I find I tend to get bored of making the same thing over and over, so it definitely helps to make sandwiches more interesting.

Another thing to think about is where you're currently shopping. I'm also a student, and almost everyone I know shops in one of the bigger chain supermarkets, because it's easier. There's a perfectly good, cheaper supermarket a short bus ride away, but everyone would rather be within walking distance or get it delivered. Changing up your shopping habits may be a good way to save some money

I agree with the crockpot people. I love mine so much I actually have 2. You can also bake in your crockpot. I 've made both bread and crustless pumpkin pie in mine. Oh yeah and if you struggle with morning you can even make oatmeal in the crockpot overnight and have it when you wake up. Oats are mad cheap. I got a bag at the farmers market for $3 and it was 4lbs. That is a lot of damn oats. Just make sure you get steel cut if you are going to cook them in the crockpot, rolled oats tend to cook faster than I sleep for and I'm not getting up in the middle of the night to deal with oats.