When you are hard at work studying for a college degree, eating healthily might not be at the forefront of your mind. In fact, it’s not uncommon for college students to live off unhealthy but easy convenience foods, take-out, and even meals out with their friends.
However, eating healthy whilst you’re in college can have a huge number of benefits for your physical and mental health, leading to more energy, better sleep, and even higher grades! We’ve put together some top tips to help you eat healthy on a student budget.
Tip #1. Take Some Cooking Classes
If you’re at college and are struggling to cook for yourself for the first time, then you’re certainly not alone. Every year, hundreds of college students find themselves turning to microwave meals and take-out simply because they’ve been used to eating meals as a family cooked by their mom or dad and don’t have the confidence to get in the kitchen themselves. So, taking some cooking classes, either on your own or with some friends, can be a fun way to build your culinary skills and start making your own healthy, tasty meals.
Tip #2. Find Awesome Recipes
The great news is that you’re not the only college student who wants to start eating better but doesn’t have a lot of money for spending on food. You can find books, blogs, websites and even social media pages that are dedicated to sharing healthy but budget-friendly recipes that are perfect for students. Check out Pocket Change Gourmet, a site where you can find a huge range of step-by-step recipes that will barely cost you anything to make.
Tip #3. Get a Group Together
Do you have friends or roommates who are also hoping to improve their eating habits? Then, getting together as a group to eat can be a great way to save money. When you’re cooking for one, there’s always bound to be some left-overs and wastage; on the other hand, cooking for a group is much easier and you’re more likely to eat the lot between you all. Put together meal plans of what you’d all like to eat and do your grocery shopping together so that you can all contribute.
Tip #4. Shop with a Groceries List
Being smarter about the way that you do your grocery shopping can make it much easier to be healthy on a tight student budget. Along with the tried and tested method of shopping on a full, rather than an empty stomach, writing a list of what you need and sticking to that in the store is a great strategy when it comes to spending less on healthy food. If you go grocery shopping without a list, then you’re much more likely to buy items simply because there’s a good deal on, or because it appealed to you in the store, rather than because you need it for the week’s meal plan.
Did these tips help you? We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments.
