Staying healthy in college can be expensive, so it is important to learn how to keep a budget. College living is expensive, especially when you live in a dorm or rent an apartment. There is this expectation to go out to eat a lot and to spend your money on all this food so you can hang out with your friends. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly fine to do this every once in a while; when it is once a week, however, it is not the best when trying to save money. Now, if you live in a house or an apartment, you’ll need to buy your own food on top of eating out with friends. It is easy to fall into this rhythm of eating carbs when you stay in and make food, and then order out or eat at restaurants for other nights.
In order to make sure you stay healthy, you should meal prep each week. Grab a lined sheet of paper and a pen. Write some basic food that is good to have in the house. Then look up three or four healthy recipes that are easy and don’t take too long to make, and then write them down. If you find recipes with vegetables, then during the week if you decide you don’t want to make a certain dish, you can always sauté the vegetables or use another recipe. It is easy to mix and match vegetables.
One other thing that could be done is cutting coupons. This is important, since you can save a few dollars on certain items.
After making your shopping list, you should make sure to go grocery shopping on a full stomach. There is a tendency to put a lot more unnecessary food in your cart when you are hungry, so you will end up spending more money. Make sure you cross off the food on your list as you go so you make sure you have everything. It is also easier to go by section in the store. Start with the vegetable section then go to the bread section and etc. from there.
In general with buying vegetables, you can mix and match so that you don’t always have to use the same recipe. Fried rice is a perfect recipe. Sesame seed is more expensive (but not much!) and is used less so it lasts for multiple uses. It is simple, it is easy, and it is delicious. There is also usually a lot of leftovers, so you can eat it for a day or two after. You can save so much by just doing something simple like meal planning.