Students are not considered to be the most level headed when it comes to finances. We’re callous, go on shopping sprees and go out night after night despite how many zeros we have in our bank balance. While some people fit this stereotype, the biggest financial killer for all university students is food. It’s what you get on the way to your morning lecture so you feel a little less like you’re dying. You grab a kebab on the way back from a night out, order pizza or line up at Dominos, drunkenly trying to explain your complicated order with slurred words. These things eat away at our money. All those nights you’re too tired to walk five minutes to Co-Op or Sainsbury’s or the giant Asda superstore. So you just go online and scroll through Deliveroo to see which restaurant will be your financial downfall (mine is usually Five Guys just FYI). Here is the ultimate broke college student’s guide to eating in Southampton.
Let’s get back to basics: your weekly shop. Your actual weekly shopping. The food you will put in your fridge (leftover chinese food aside) and your cupboard and will last you more than one night. Lidl is the cheapest place to buy food. Everything is dirt cheap. Why dole out 99p for a loaf at bread at the co-op on the corner when you can get bread for 30p at Lidl? But be discerning when you’re there.
Upon arriving at university first Subway was giving out vouchers. Little square pamphlets with deals for two for one foot long subs and other great stuff. When you see this, do as I say AND as I do. Because I took fifteen of those suckers and they never had an expiry date so I was cashing in for a long time. So embrace the deals and hoard vouchers. Maybe you’ll look a bit nutty but hey everything has it’s price.
If it’s really down to the wire and you have to indulge yourself, do it in an intelligent way. Don’t buy a meal you’re gonna take ten minutes to finish. Look for the restaurants who have great deals like if you spend over £30 you get 30% off and a free extra dish. That amount of food can last you a week and you won’t have to cook anything.
A lot of restaurants have student specific deals. As long as you lug your student card everywhere you go you can find student deals of around 20% off at a lot of places. And not all of them are dingy pubs, there’s deals at actual restaurants like the Greek restaurant Blue Island by the SJM building. This is perfect when checking the guide to eating in Southampton.
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