Grocery Shopping for a Broke Student?
Akariixo
Posts: 57 Member
Hi friends, I'm one of those broke College students up in Canada land and would love to hear your tips for eating/meal planning on the cheaper side
I don't eat dairy as I'm lactose intolerant or much meat as that also makes me feel sick and is expensive but I'm starting to get tired of eating one bowl of pasta every day lol.
I don't eat dairy as I'm lactose intolerant or much meat as that also makes me feel sick and is expensive but I'm starting to get tired of eating one bowl of pasta every day lol.
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Replies
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Are you trying to lose weight?
For inexpensively good food:
Avoid expensive organic products. "Organic" is a marketing scam and is no healthier nor better for the environment than conventionally grown food.
Frozen veggies are just as good for you as fresh, and usually cheaper and last longer.
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Beans, lentils and chickpeas are really cheap and healthy And the frozen veggies - absolutely!
Oatmeal is also cheap and healthy9 -
Ramen noodles, frozen veggies, eggs, bread, chicken leg quarters (most places I've seen have em for $6 or $7 for a 10-pound bag), rice, dried beans, cabbage, carrots, butter, salt, soy sauce, hot sauce. You can do all kinds of things on a meager budget. I'm not sure what all you have growing up there, but you can also find wild dandelion greens, wild chives, etc. to add to your diet. If you have Amish communities up there nearby, they sell food for excellent prices too.2
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Do you have cheaper Asian or Arab shops in town? Those might be good places to get dry products in bulk. Is meat or veggies more expensive where you are? Can you get either frozen at a lower price?
I can only comment on the UK, but I manage on roughly 80-110 pounds per month on all groceries. Veggies are often very cheap, especially at stores such as Aldi and Lidl. I buy what's on offer and in season. Meat is quite expensive, thus I eat fairly small portions. Tinned tomatoes are cheaper than fresh ones, and often taste better. I make a lot of dishes involving pulses, Asian noodles, rice, pasta, bulk them up with veggies and add some meat or fish. I usually cook for 2-4 days as it saves time and money. A simple curry doesn't need to be drowned in sauce. if you find an acceptable curry sauce then throw in a lot of veggies and/or cheap protein for a few days. Left over veggies? Throw them in an ovendish with a bit of oil, some potato or sweet potato and a breaded fish makes a nice dinner.4 -
Do you have cheaper Asian or Arab shops in town? Those might be good places to get dry products in bulk. Is meat or veggies more expensive where you are? Can you get either frozen at a lower price?
I can only comment on the UK, but I manage on roughly 80-110 pounds per month on all groceries. Veggies are often very cheap, especially at stores such as Aldi and Lidl. I buy what's on offer and in season. Meat is quite expensive, thus I eat fairly small portions. Tinned tomatoes are cheaper than fresh ones, and often taste better. I make a lot of dishes involving pulses, Asian noodles, rice, pasta, bulk them up with veggies and add some meat or fish. I usually cook for 2-4 days as it saves time and money. A simple curry doesn't need to be drowned in sauce. if you find an acceptable curry sauce then throw in a lot of veggies and/or cheap protein for a few days. Left over veggies? Throw them in an ovendish with a bit of oil, some potato or sweet potato and a breaded fish makes a nice dinner.
Ooh that's great! I didn't know you could store noodles for more than a day. I think there might be an Asian food market downtown I'll have to check it out
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Are you trying to lose weight?
For inexpensively good food:
Avoid expensive organic products. "Organic" is a marketing scam and is no healthier nor better for the environment than conventionally grown food.
Frozen veggies are just as good for you as fresh, and usually cheaper and last longer.
Yes, weight loss is the goal
Frozen veggies aren't bad it's like 99c a bag sometimes so I'll definitely have to grab some.0 -
Cottage cheese
Lentils
Chick peas
Buy whole chicken, cook it and shred it in to 150g servings
Gammon joints, as above
Seasonal veg
Eggs
OOPS! Missed the lacto intolerance part. I will leave the suggestions for lurkers reading though.
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No matter where you live and what you like - avoid hyped-up items (anything that is more expensive because it claims to be "natural", "organic", "low"/"high" etc), aimed at children or nouveau riche, and decide how much (time vs money) you really save by buying prepped (cut, pre-cooked etc) food.
Look at the price per pound, especially when you consider items on sale. Large quantities are usually cheaper per pound, but don't buy more than you can store and eat before it spoils (frozen foods keep for a long time, and canned and dry goods for eternity). Conversely, nothing is worth it if it causes you to overeat. You use different foods in different amounts, so different price per pound for pepper and flour is irrelevent - compare similar items. Best before-date is a guideline for quality, not the day the food turns toxic - use common sense.
Don't restrict yourself to recipes - learn to cook. Plan and balance your meals (you need to get enough of a range of nutrients every day, but overdoing it is wasteful), cook/prepare just what you need, and eat up everything (that includes to not drain fat, and to eat broccoli stalks). Be flexible so that you can use whatever is available and cheap and on hand - look into "reverse meal planning".1 -
AngelxAnnih wrote: »Do you have cheaper Asian or Arab shops in town? Those might be good places to get dry products in bulk. Is meat or veggies more expensive where you are? Can you get either frozen at a lower price?
I can only comment on the UK, but I manage on roughly 80-110 pounds per month on all groceries. Veggies are often very cheap, especially at stores such as Aldi and Lidl. I buy what's on offer and in season. Meat is quite expensive, thus I eat fairly small portions. Tinned tomatoes are cheaper than fresh ones, and often taste better. I make a lot of dishes involving pulses, Asian noodles, rice, pasta, bulk them up with veggies and add some meat or fish. I usually cook for 2-4 days as it saves time and money. A simple curry doesn't need to be drowned in sauce. if you find an acceptable curry sauce then throw in a lot of veggies and/or cheap protein for a few days. Left over veggies? Throw them in an ovendish with a bit of oil, some potato or sweet potato and a breaded fish makes a nice dinner.
Ooh that's great! I didn't know you could store noodles for more than a day. I think there might be an Asian food market downtown I'll have to check it out
A cooked pasta doesn't go off in a day. As my kitchen is usually unheated I might leave a portion of pasta in the pot. But usually I put it into portion bowls or lock 'n lock boxes and put them into my fridge. Ok, I must admit that I'm sometimes a bit odd (well, chaotic!). The oldest pasta I've ever eaten was 3 days old and not in the fridge. Probably not recommended, but I didn't get sick either.2 -
where in Canada are you? shop one of the cheaper grocery stores, shop sales, use coupons, look for stuff marked down, etc. - all of that adds up to a lot of savings, combined with some of the food choices above.2
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kommodevaran wrote: »No matter where you live and what you like - avoid hyped-up items (anything that is more expensive because it claims to be "natural", "organic", "low"/"high" etc), aimed at children or nouveau riche, and decide how much (time vs money) you really save by buying prepped (cut, pre-cooked etc) food.
Look at the price per pound, especially when you consider items on sale. Large quantities are usually cheaper per pound, but don't buy more than you can store and eat before it spoils (frozen foods keep for a long time, and canned and dry goods for eternity). Conversely, nothing is worth it if it causes you to overeat. You use different foods in different amounts, so different price per pound for pepper and flour is irrelevent - compare similar items. Best before-date is a guideline for quality, not the day the food turns toxic - use common sense.
When using coupons, the price per unit calculation is different and often a smaller size becomes more economical.
For example
There is an occasional recurring coupon for .75 off Dawn(dish soap)--ANY size.
Normally the large 75 oz size is most economical at 8.00 . 10 cents an oz
With the coupon, the 8 oz size at 1.00. Becomes much more economical
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Amy's soup, eggs, frozen vegetables, frozen berries, oatmeal, cheerios/granola, peanut butter, whole wheat crackers, brown rice, rice cakes, kashi/kind granola bars, popcorn, baby carrots, apples and bananas are all cheap too1
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1) Shop carefully. Waste is heartbreaking when you're on a tight budget. When the sale ads come out for the grocery stores (here it's on Wednesdays) I check to see what's on sale, combine that with what's seasonal, and pre-log a week's worth of meals so I can check my calories. Then I buy only what I need, unless there's a great sale on frozen/canned/dried goods that will keep.
2) Use your freezer. If you're cooking for one, you can use recipes to get ahead. If a recipe makes 4 servings, make the full recipe, plan on eating one serving that day, one serving the next day, and freeze the other two in single serve containers. Then when you don't feel like cooking, instead of eating out you can just microwave. Make sure to label and date.
3) Eat beans! Lentils are very good for you, delicious, and don't need to be presoaked. Here's my favorite lentil stew (you can use bouillon instead of broth to keep it cheaper):
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/easy-lentil-stew-191459
I always have refried beans and cans of chickpeas in my cabinet. Google chickpea curry. Make an easy burrito of refried beans in a tortilla, bake in the oven until crispy, then top with lettuce (or spinach or cabbage, whatever's cheap that week) and salsa.
4) Save on spices. You don't really need a lot of individual spices. I buy one big container of Italian seasoning from Aldi for 99 cents and use it in any recipe that calls for basil, oregano, or thyme. Don't be afraid substitute or leave something out.
5) Since you like pasta, here's something cheap using frozen veggies that might be a little different: Boil 4 oz of whole wheat pasta until 1 minute before done. The last minute, throw in a 16 oz bag of frozen stir fry veggies. Drain well, and toss with soy sauce and garlic powder. I like a tiny bit of sesame oil too.5 -
Here in Canada food is crazy expensive. On a week of $50, this is my suggestions:
Eggs 1.99 a carton at fresh co or food basics
Frozen veggies 2$ a bag good for two or three meals
$10 pack of 3 1lb ground lean beef
Potatoes
Rice 4-5$ for a decent size bag
Lentils $3 per bag
Curry powder
Coconut milk 1$ /can
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Whole chicken (you cut it up and for one person that’s 5 meals) $8 at food basics
Salad fixings $5-8 depending
Dressing $2
Oatmeal $2 for instant $3 for oats
Light mayo 3$
That’s a week of eating really healthy with enough left over for bread.
Dollar tree is a good place for sauces, can turkey flakes and spices as everything is $1.25
Good luck3 -
Do you have a slow cooker? That's a great way to make use of cheap beans/lentils and frozen veggies. Stock up on some broth and you can make a LOT of soup and stews for not very much money. I'm just a mom who pinches pennies with a daughter in college, and we both are big into our slow cookers and beans! My daughter is also not a big fan of meat, so the beans and lentils help with that quite a bit.
Rice is a little pricer, but it's a nice alternative to pasta also.
A big shout out to Oatmeal, also. And eggs. I know in the U.S., eggs are pretty cheap.1 -
Muscleflex79 wrote: »where in Canada are you? shop one of the cheaper grocery stores, shop sales, use coupons, look for stuff marked down, etc. - all of that adds up to a lot of savings, combined with some of the food choices above.
Kingston Ontario, I definitely don't do much coupon stuff because it's not as common here but maybe something to get into!0 -
fitoverfortymom wrote: »Do you have a slow cooker? That's a great way to make use of cheap beans/lentils and frozen veggies. Stock up on some broth and you can make a LOT of soup and stews for not very much money. I'm just a mom who pinches pennies with a daughter in college, and we both are big into our slow cookers and beans! My daughter is also not a big fan of meat, so the beans and lentils help with that quite a bit.
Rice is a little pricer, but it's a nice alternative to pasta also.
A big shout out to Oatmeal, also. And eggs. I know in the U.S., eggs are pretty cheap.
No slow cooker but I've been looking at them for months!! I really have to get one haha!
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Here in Canada food is crazy expensive. On a week of $50, this is my suggestions:
Eggs 1.99 a carton at fresh co or food basics
Frozen veggies 2$ a bag good for two or three meals
$10 pack of 3 1lb ground lean beef
Potatoes
Rice 4-5$ for a decent size bag
Lentils $3 per bag
Curry powder
Coconut milk 1$ /can
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Whole chicken (you cut it up and for one person that’s 5 meals) $8 at food basics
Salad fixings $5-8 depending
Dressing $2
Oatmeal $2 for instant $3 for oats
Light mayo 3$
That’s a week of eating really healthy with enough left over for bread.
Dollar tree is a good place for sauces, can turkey flakes and spices as everything is $1.25
Good luck
Omg I never even thought of dollar tree/dollarama. I'm over here waddling through loblaws -.-
Definitely going to have to get some flyers and shop around.1 -
if you have a car - i often shop around for my weekly groceries - i get the flyers for all the stores by me (for me its safeway, giant and shoppers) and then I look at all of them to figure out what is on sale; shoppers tends to have better deals on shelf stable items (rice/beans than others)
i know lots of ppl swear by Aldi - but i've been disappointed in their options/quality (bread that went moldy within a day)
meal plan - budgetbytes is a great website because she breaks down cost to cook each meal1 -
AngelxAnnih wrote: »Here in Canada food is crazy expensive. On a week of $50, this is my suggestions:
Eggs 1.99 a carton at fresh co or food basics
Frozen veggies 2$ a bag good for two or three meals
$10 pack of 3 1lb ground lean beef
Potatoes
Rice 4-5$ for a decent size bag
Lentils $3 per bag
Curry powder
Coconut milk 1$ /can
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Whole chicken (you cut it up and for one person that’s 5 meals) $8 at food basics
Salad fixings $5-8 depending
Dressing $2
Oatmeal $2 for instant $3 for oats
Light mayo 3$
That’s a week of eating really healthy with enough left over for bread.
Dollar tree is a good place for sauces, can turkey flakes and spices as everything is $1.25
Good luck
Omg I never even thought of dollar tree/dollarama. I'm over here waddling through loblaws -.-
Definitely going to have to get some flyers and shop around.
Be careful with dollar stores, some of their stuff is actually more expensive per unit.4 -
When I was living in Toronto, we often shopped at NoFrills and BulkBarn. I haven't lived there in a few years, but I imagine they're both still fairly affordable. Definitely get your spices at BulkBarn or non-western stores, as they'll always be cheaper. With BulkBarn you can buy small amounts so you'll always be able to have fresh spices around.
Like someone else said, also check out various non-western grocery stores. I'd occasionally find certain foods much cheaper there, although that won't be the case for all things.
If you have an oven and are open to making your own bread, I suggest giving that a go. If you have no interest in actually spending time on making bread, not judging it's not for everyone, look into no knead bread. You just mix everything together, let it sit for 12 hours, spend <5 minutes shaping, let it rest for an hour or two and then bake. With this method, you get a really high quality loaf of bread with minimal work and expense as the only ingredients are flour, water, salt, and yeast.2 -
deannalfisher wrote: »if you have a car - i often shop around for my weekly groceries - i get the flyers for all the stores by me (for me its safeway, giant and shoppers) and then I look at all of them to figure out what is on sale; shoppers tends to have better deals on shelf stable items (rice/beans than others)
i know lots of ppl swear by Aldi - but i've been disappointed in their options/quality (bread that went moldy within a day)
meal plan - budgetbytes is a great website because she breaks down cost to cook each meal
No car and no Aldi but there is a shoppers like a 10 minute walk from my house. I've always thought they were a little pricey but I'll have to look again because they might be cheaper for some things (like the rice you mentioned).
I find when I get bread it sits in my freezer for 3 months and then goes in the garbage haha. My boyfriend goes and buys a loaf and then no one eats it!0 -
deannalfisher wrote: »if you have a car - i often shop around for my weekly groceries - i get the flyers for all the stores by me (for me its safeway, giant and shoppers) and then I look at all of them to figure out what is on sale; shoppers tends to have better deals on shelf stable items (rice/beans than others)
i know lots of ppl swear by Aldi - but i've been disappointed in their options/quality (bread that went moldy within a day)
meal plan - budgetbytes is a great website because she breaks down cost to cook each meal
Aldis will vary a lot. Two by me are great, one the produce is really unreliable. You want to find a store with a fairly high turnover. The best thing to look for is an Aldi that's really busy on the weekends and on Wednesdays...and then do your shopping on a Monday.
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beadgalsarita wrote: »When I was living in Toronto, we often shopped at NoFrills and BulkBarn. I haven't lived there in a few years, but I imagine they're both still fairly affordable. Definitely get your spices at BulkBarn or non-western stores, as they'll always be cheaper. With BulkBarn you can buy small amounts so you'll always be able to have fresh spices around.
Like someone else said, also check out various non-western grocery stores. I'd occasionally find certain foods much cheaper there, although that won't be the case for all things.
If you have an oven and are open to making your own bread, I suggest giving that a go. If you have no interest in actually spending time on making bread, not judging it's not for everyone, look into no knead bread. You just mix everything together, let it sit for 12 hours, spend <5 minutes shaping, let it rest for an hour or two and then bake. With this method, you get a really high quality loaf of bread with minimal work and expense as the only ingredients are flour, water, salt, and yeast.beadgalsarita wrote: »When I was living in Toronto, we often shopped at NoFrills and BulkBarn. I haven't lived there in a few years, but I imagine they're both still fairly affordable. Definitely get your spices at BulkBarn or non-western stores, as they'll always be cheaper. With BulkBarn you can buy small amounts so you'll always be able to have fresh spices around.
Like someone else said, also check out various non-western grocery stores. I'd occasionally find certain foods much cheaper there, although that won't be the case for all things.
If you have an oven and are open to making your own bread, I suggest giving that a go. If you have no interest in actually spending time on making bread, not judging it's not for everyone, look into no knead bread. You just mix everything together, let it sit for 12 hours, spend <5 minutes shaping, let it rest for an hour or two and then bake. With this method, you get a really high quality loaf of bread with minimal work and expense as the only ingredients are flour, water, salt, and yeast.
Oooh Bulk Barn is actually a great idea too, my boyfriend and roommate have 10% off there so maybe I should plan a trip over there with one of them!
We have an apt (no dorm room) so there's an oven, I've never actually thought about making my own bread, because the loaf from the store never gets eaten and I don't know how to cook very well but that's definitely something I'm going to have to try out!0 -
Tip on bread if you don't eat it all: lay out slices on a sheet pan and freeze, then put in a plastic bag. When you want some, just pop it out of the bag and into the toaster.
(I promise I'm not trying to take over your thread, but I have a couple of hours to kill this morning, and this is actually a topic I'm well educated in, out of necessity. )5 -
Start stocking up on non-perishables when they go on deep discount even if you don't have immediate plans to use them. A can of tuna you bought two months ago goes really well with some diced onions and pickle relish to liven up any salad.0
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nickssweetheart wrote: »Tip on bread if you don't eat it all: lay out slices on a sheet pan and freeze, then put in a plastic bag. When you want some, just pop it out of the bag and into the toaster.
(I promise I'm not trying to take over your thread, but I have a couple of hours to kill this morning, and this is actually a topic I'm well educated in, out of necessity. )
Oh please, you go right ahead and take over cause I need all the suggestions I can get. These have been great because I'm not very good at the figure it out yourself. I'm a person who needs like someone to show me what I'm doing or give detailed instructions and then I figure the rest out on my own so this thread has been super helpful
Do you put the bread in separate bags or in one bag with a paper towel between them? (Lol this is what I mean)
We don't actually have a toaster, that's probably why all the bread goes in the garbage, they have to heat up the oven to make toast!
That's probably too much effort for the men in my house when they first get up haha.0 -
I just put it in one bag. If you freeze the slices separately at first, they don't stick together. Also, if it gets dry, that's a perfect opportunity to make french toast! If you don't happen to have eggs in the house, you can use mashed banana and milk or plant milk. In my experience, if men wake up to french toast, they decide that you're a goddess.2
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Follow sales! I use the Flipp app on my phone before I go grocery shopping to see what's on sale where.
Definitely don't skimp on the protein, it's very important for your body. Cheap sources of protein would be eggs (eggs are SO nutritious and cheap), beans, lentils.
Rice, potatoes, eggs, beans, lentils and fruit and veggies will take you far.
Buy freezable/non-perishable stuff in bulk when on sale. Don't buy fresh fruit/veggies in bulk, because you don't want to end up throwing away half of them before they go bad.
Meal-prepping is an awesome way to save money and not spend too much time in the kitchen. Cook some big portions and freeze half for a later meal.
My favourite things to prep are: soups, stews, chilis, curries, lasagna, quiches, breakfast sandwiches1 -
Check out youtube or foodtv for videos on how to cook. You will never regret it and your friends will be happy to come over and be your tasters. I used to tell a friend to buy the vegetable or bring the wine/beer and I'll provide the meal, she would reciprocate by buying lunch at a restaurant.
If you don't eat much meat, check out vegetarian times website or check out a few cookbooks at the library. One of my new favorite meals is a lentil/mushroom 'meat' loaf.
Roasting vegetables all at once is a time saver. Eat alone, on a piece of toasted baguette or over pasta or polenta. You can make your own polenta with plain cornmeal and boiling water. Add parmesean cheese and eat while it's in the mushy stage or you can pour in onto a sheet pan and bake for a firmer texture..super cheap.1
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