If you're a student, you've probably figured out a few ways to stretch your money. Making your money last can be a real challenge and many students could use some help. One of your biggest expenses, besides your normal bills and tuition, is grocery shopping. New students may have never shopped for themselves before and may find it challenging to squeeze what they want into a tiny grocery allowance.
The first step is to always check your budget before you go to the store. Your budget should show how much money you have coming in and how much you have automatically going back out. Cell phone bills, rent, tuition, books, electricity and water will all be deducted from the amount that you have coming in. Once you're pretty sure that you've accounted for each thing that you'll need money for, then figure out how much you'll need for recreation, food, gas and other essentials like laundry detergent and toilet paper. Remember that your grocery store trip will include buying all of these things, not just food.
Once you've come up with an amount that can be spent on just food, figure out how many meals you'll need to cover on that amount. Plan your grocery list by considering what you'll eat for each meal. Don't make the mistake of buying a whole lot of snacks and running out of things to cook for dinner after just a few days. Don't panic if you get down to just a couple of dollars allowed for each meal. There are plenty of ways to eat good food on a small budget.
One way is to buy in bulk. You can buy a big bag of frozen chicken tenders for around ten dollars. Then, you can use the chicken for easy meals like barbeque chicken, chicken sandwiches, boxed meals that only require you to add chicken, and many other good dishes that are good for you. A college student cooking for themselves can get about ten meals out of one bag of chicken. Hot dogs are not necessarily the healthiest thing you could choose, but you can get between four and eight meals from one package. There are always the college student staples of macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles as well.
Soups are also cheap options and are available in hearty recipes that will actually fill you up. Eggs and milk can go a long way as well. Now that it's winter, a big pot of chili is a healthy cheap option. You can make one big pot of chili for around ten dollars and it keeps well in the fridge. You can quickly microwave bowls of chili for a week off of one pot.
Don't despair if you have a tiny grocery budget. Shop around for coupons and find out if a store near you does double or triple coupon days. Shop for the best deals and get the most meals from each purchase that you can. Don't forget to ask your parents for suggestions. Chances are, they've been through the small budget grocery crisis before, and can give you recipes and tips to survive on a small budget.
If you expect that you'll really be broke and have no money for food at some point, then you may consider student credit cards as an option to get you out of a bind and build some credit at the same time.
