As a first-year university student, I had to start grocery shopping for myself for the very first time in my life. I came to the horrible realization that food is extremely expensive, especially if I wanted to eat healthy. I found out expiration dates come quicker than you’d think and that late-night McDonald’s urges often take priority over the food sitting in the refrigerator. After nearly six months of doing my own grocery shopping, I’ve found a few key tricks to keeping my grocery budget low and my food intake healthy.
- Write out grocery lists prior to shopping
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I used to aimlessly wander the grocery aisles on my bi-weekly grocery trips and pick up anything that came to mind or anything that looked good in the moment. It wasn’t until I got home, I realized that a box of cookies, a cucumber and a pack of ramen noodles wouldn’t sustain me or make good meals. Therefore, I began writing a list throughout the days leading up to my grocery shopping based on easy meals I knew I could cook. As a broke university student, the key was to prepare meals with as few ingredients as possible, or ingredients I could use for multiple meals. My main grocery list items always consist of eggs, Greek yogurt, lettuce, cucumber, bagels, wraps, some sort of protein and apples. The important thing to remember is to stick to this list. It can be tempting to get random items while in the store but sticking to the list ensures you do
oot waste your money. - Use the Flipp App
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After making my list, I check the Flipp Flyer app prior to shopping. I search up the items on my list to see if there are any items that are on sale for the week that I planned on purchasing. Whichever store has most of the items on my list on sale, is the store I shop at for that grocery run. Or I choose to go to two different locations to ensure the best deals. Certain items such as cheese and yogurt are often insanely expensive, but typically one location will have these items on sale every week. I never pay full price for these items. This will also give me a decent estimate on how much I’ll have to spend that week and to see if it’s in my planned grocery budget.
- Have Meals Planned Out… But don’t be too Strict
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I tried out meal prepping, which is making meals in advance and just warming them up when I get hungry. But the problem with this is that I eat based on my cravings and meal prepping was too limited for me. I then swapped over to having a few go-to meals in my note’s app on my phone, and chose from a selection of healthy, easy to make meals I had all the ingredients for. These included of high-protein pastas, chicken wraps and salmon with broccoli. Meals requiring as few ingredients as possible but allowed me to meet my health goals were key. However, planning a meal for every day of the week did not work for me, as I listen to my body and know some days my body will want McDonalds or Taco Bell. And that is perfectly fine.
- Buy Foods with Longer Expiration Dates
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As someone who loves fresh fruit, I quickly realized going from a five-person household to eating groceries for one meant fruit went bad faster. Typically, I only buy one or two fruits per grocery run to ensure I do not have to throw it out. For me, it always consists of apples, which don’t go bad as fast as other fruits. The second fruit will be whatever I find on sale in the Flipp app, whether that be strawberries or mangos or raspberries. Vegetables also tend to go bad far too quick. I swapped over to buying frozen asparagus and broccoli, which has saved me money in the long run. Unfortunately compromising for frozen is a reality for broke university students shopping for one, but the taste and health benefits are nearly the same.
- My Go-To Biweekly Grocery List
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Fresh Produce: Lettuce, cucumber, baby potatoes, two avocados, four apples, any sale fruit
Frozen: frozen broccoli, frozen asparagus, frozen green beans, salmon filets, Gardein meatless chicken strips
Dairy: 12-pack eggs, egg whites, shredded cheese, Greek yogurt cups, oat milk, baby bells
Meats: two cans of tuna, Yves veggie meat slices, bacon and breakfast sausages
Grains: Wraps, loaf of bread or bagels
Other: Rice Krispy Squares, Black Beans, Granola Bars and any two snacks I might want
After many months of throwing out expired food and wasting my money on things I bought and never ate, I finally cracked the code for my perfect grocery list that suits my needs and still allows me to eat out on days I’m craving it. Everyone’s list will differ, but creating a foundational list, easy go-to meals and finding the sales on items whenever you’re shopping is the key to the perfect university grocery trip.