As a student living on a measly student budget, it is so important to be careful with your money and save where you can. For most students, those who aren’t going out 6 nights a week and spending their budget on pink gin, one of the biggest outgoings will no doubt be the weekly food shop. Grocery shopping can be expensive, but there are a few tips and tricks that can help you save on your weekly food shop. It doesn’t need to break the bank, but you also don’t need to live on a diet of Heinz Baked Beans either. Here are our top tips on grocery shopping on a student budget and how to ensure that you get the most out of your money.
One of the best ways to save money on your weekly shop is to plan your meals for the week and on which days you are going to have them. By doing this, you can write a clear shopping list of all the ingredients that you need to get when you are shopping rather than picking random things up left, right and centre. This will prevent you from coming home with a trolley full of Mr Kipling Angel Slices.
Another top tip on grocery shopping on a student budget is to make sure that you stick to your shopping list. Yes, that means not picking up 3 boxes of cream eggs just because they’re on offer. How many of us go into Tesco’s for some loo roll and a pack of chicken breasts but come out with a large trolley worth of unnecessary things? I know I do. So a great way to save money is to be really strict with yourself and make sure that you stick to your grocery list.
A great way to help you save money on your grocery shop is to stop buying fresh fruit and veg and instead buy frozen. This will help you to save money and reduce waste as frozen food lasts much longer and with things like frozen ready-chopped garlic or onion, you can use as little or much as you need, helping you to reduce waste.
For some reason a lot of people can be quite stuck up when it comes to buying own brand food. But I personally think its great! Buying own brand and ditching well-known labels can help you save so much money and most of the time the own brand version is just as good as the branded product. At the end of the day, do you really need Tropicana Orange Juice? Instead opt for the own brand product and your bank account will definitely thank you for it.
If you want to save money on your weekly grocery shop, try buying a whole chicken instead of a pack of chicken breast fillets. This is because whole chickens are so much cheaper than chicken breasts, with a whole chicken being priced at £2.91/kg and chicken breast fillets being sold at £6.16/kg. A whole chicken is also super easy to cook as you can just chuck it in the oven for an hour and a half, carve it and use the chicken when and as you please.
Supermarket offers can be amazing and can save you a lot of money. However, a lot of the time, offers trick customers into buying unnecessary items just because ‘it’s a good deal’ and make you think that you are saving money. In reality, if you weren’t planning on getting it in the first place, you’re not saving money. However, if an item that is on your list or that you need is on offer, by all means pick it up. You just need to remember to stop and think, am I really saving money with this offer?
If you want to save some coin on your weekly food shop, try your hand at late night supermarket shopping. This can save a lot of money per week because later in the day or during the night if the supermarket is open 24h a day, a lot of fresh food is discounted at more than half the original price if the product is heading towards its sell-by-date. So if you want to save some coin, try shopping outside of peak-time.
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