Adulting is tough, and having to shop for your own groceries each week can make it even harder. But don’t worry, I’m here to provide some helpful tips to hopefully make your grocery store shopping both easier and more efficient! As a college senior with food sensitivities, who’s been living in an apartment for the past 3 years, mastering the art of grocery shopping has been a huge part of my college experience. (Also, shoutout to my roommates, who have been instrumental in this learning process!)
Start with the basics
Having a core list of grocery items you purchase each week is essential to creating an easier grocery shopping process; this can be achieved through categorizing with a few basic food groups. From there, you can add on more items.
- Protein
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You always want to ensure you have some source of protein in your fridge and/or pantry! The simplest way to do this is beans—they offer an excellent source of protein at a low cost and can be very versatile. Other good sources of protein range from sandwich meat to frozen burgers. My roommates and I often keep chicken thighs, ground turkey, and some kind of fish in our fridge to use whenever we want to cook with them. This meat doesn’t need to be purchased every week, only as we use it up. More frequent purchases we often make include multiple kinds of beans, sliced turkey for sandwiches, chicken sausage for easy meals, and turkey bacon for breakfast.
- Fruit
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Fruit is not only good for you, but it’s also delicious, and in many cases easy to transport for a quick snack! The most common fruits we purchase at my apartment are apples, bananas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. The fruits you choose can be easily personalized to your preferences and it’s a good thing to repurchased each week!
- veggies
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Veggies are always good to have on hand and a good rule of thumb is to keep both fresh and frozen veggies on hand. Frozen veggies last a long time and are easy to cook in a hurry; fresh veggies meanwhile can be cooked into meals, placed on sandwiches, and used for snacks. Our most frequent frozen veggie purchases are green beans, broccoli, and mixed veggies. Our fresh veggie purchases usually consist of multiple peppers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and spinach.
- dairy & eggs
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Cheese, milk, and eggs are frequently repurchases each week depending on how much we’ve consumed.
- Grain
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This includes rice, bread, pasta, and oats. Many of these you’ll want to keep on hand but won’t necessarily need to repurchase each week. At my apartment, we often purchase larger bags of rice and oats which allows them to last for a long time. Bread and pasta are purchased in smaller amounts more frequently.
- snacks
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As a college student, or really as just a person, good snacks are a must. Having a good balance in your snacks is key too—we often get multiple kinds of chips and crackers, as well as applesauce, dried fruit, granola bars, and protein bars. I would emphasize sweet treats as being a must here too.
- drinks
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Everyone in my house is a certified beverage girlie. Between coffee, sparkling water, and Diet Coke, we always have beverages on hand. Having a fun beverage, as well as the ones you need to stay hydrated and caffeinated, is a must for college students.
- Misc
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There are of course always extra things you can get at the grocery store. Personally, I like to keep one or two frozen meals on hand for nights where I’m especially busy.
Hopefully, this helps make your next grocery shopping trip slightly more enjoyable! Happy shopping!