How to: Shop as a Student!

Written by Mo Stevens

Being a student comes with many difficulties and one of those difficulties is how to do a grocery shop on a budget?

To successfully shop on a budget, I would recommend that you follow these simple steps:

• Firstly, before you even head out to the shops, plan the meals that you are going to cook at the start of every week. Then write a shopping list of the ingredients you need – along with any other essentials (for example, breakfast cereal). This way you won’t have to go to the shops twice in a week and you also won’t waste money on buying any unnecessary ingredients because you will know what you need.

• Secondly, don’t go to the shop that’s nearest to where you live for convenience because the shop may be a little expensive. For example, don’t walk to Sainsbury’s simply because it is a 10-minute walk from your accommodation. Instead, it is worth it to walk that little bit further to a discount supermarket, such as Lidl or Aldi, because you will save a lot more money than you might initially think.

• Another useful tip is to bulk buy ingredients that you know you will use a lot. This is because buying in bulk is simply cheaper. So, don’t be afraid of splashing out on a 1kg bag of dried pasta, because you will save money in the long run.

• Furthermore, don’t buy foods or products for convenience, such as ready meals, pre-cut vegetables, grated cheese etc. This is because these are far more expensive than you might think because you are paying for the cost of cutting vegetables, for example. Whereas it is free for you to cut the vegetables yourself and it only takes a minute or 2 to do. So, don’t be lazy, grab a knife and cut the vegetables yourself.

• Also, don’t buy branded products just because you think that they are better than non-branded. Often, supermarket own brands are of as good quality or even better than branded products. Plus, non-branded products are usually far cheaper, so it’s a no-brainer really.

• Finally, it’s handy to bring your shopping list and a pen with you when you are shopping, so that you can tick off the items on the list as you shop. This has nothing to do with saving money, but it does ensure that you have brought everything that you need and haven’t forgotten anything, which can really annoying.

So, there we have it: a few simple steps on how to do your grocery shop whilst living on a budget. I hope that this has helped in your venture to be a savvy student shopper!

 A bargain ain’t a bargain unless it’s something you need!  

Sidney Carroll