It's all about planning, making the best use of staples and efficiently using your freezer space. For example, you can batch cook things like bolognese and then freeze it, same with curries. Also if you live near an asda or tesco take a peek later in the day for yellow stickered items then stick them in the freezer. Value brands can be just as good as the usual so try those first with some extra seasoning before wasting money on brands.
Original post by LPauling
So wondered if you had any tips?
Any regrets from something you bought/didn't need?
Any items you wasted money on?
Any tips to save time and money?
Any regrets from something you bought/didn't need?
Any items you wasted money on?
Any tips to save time and money?
Original post by LPauling
So wondered if you had any tips?
Any regrets from something you bought/didn't need?
Any items you wasted money on?
Any tips to save time and money?
Any regrets from something you bought/didn't need?
Any items you wasted money on?
Any tips to save time and money?
Hello
Cooking at university is a fantastic experience and it will go something like this...
- You'll burn something you didn't know you could burn.
- You'll cook things you didn't know you could cook.
- You'll set off the smoke alarms in halls and evacuate everyone outside in their PJ's.
- You'll discover 'your dish' and everyone will want some.
- You'll discover a dish that definitely isn't yours to make and you should definitely leave it alone.
- You'll learn the art of 'Fridge Tetris' and balance food and items in their in ways you never thought you could!
Tips:
- One of my tips is always this; before you go to university, do a practice shop for yourself. Sit down and plan out what you will be cooking for the next week, plan your meals and other essentials that you need and then shop around, use a website like 'MySupermarket' and compare prices and see where it cheapest to shop and see how much you'll need per week (you'll learn about cheap products and the fine art of 'shopping around' as you go through the year).
- If you are uncertain about cooking, buy a student cookbook. There are loads available from places like WHSmith and they are so useful. They give you timings, recipes and ingredients and in easy to understand ways and more often than not, these meals are actually healthy!
- You'll learn that sell-by dates aren't always accurate so don't waste food if it doesn't need to be wasted.
- If you are certain on a meal, BULK BUY ingredients, in the long run it's so much cheaper but if you aren't certain on a meal - buy cheap and buy once, don't waste money or food.
- General pots and pans are a must, a frying pan and a few pots and a wok! A wok is always important and a fantastic tool for a student, obviously then plates and cutlery etc.
- If you are living in halls and don't have a car, use online shopping and getting it delivered, delivery costs like a £1 extra and it's so much easy - plus if you've bought something cheap and they don't have it, they often replace it for the more expensive equivalent and charge you the cheap price - so, win win!
Best of luck
Always keep a packet of pasta, a few tins of beans, and things which won't go off quickly in the cupboard - you never know when you're going to run out of food and be starving, so having these around all the time is perfect for those times! The number of times I couldn't be bothered to go to the shop when I had no food, and I was just able to cook up some pasta and beans or something similar... It literally saved me!
When at uni a shop mostly at Aldi/Lidl - you will be shocked how cheap your regular shop will be compared to somewhere like Tesco! The quality is mostly just as good if not better than bigger supermarkets (although fruit and veg from there can be quite crap)
If you're living in halls then space might be a bit tight in the fridge/freezer/cupboards so share foods such as bread/milk/butter. We had about 5 loaves of bread which went off quick in our kitchen which was a bit ridiculous because nobody ever finished theirs before it went off!
The BBC Good Food website has loads of easy recipes you can follow if you're stuck for ideas or bored of having the same thing every week!
If you're living in halls then space might be a bit tight in the fridge/freezer/cupboards so share foods such as bread/milk/butter. We had about 5 loaves of bread which went off quick in our kitchen which was a bit ridiculous because nobody ever finished theirs before it went off!
The BBC Good Food website has loads of easy recipes you can follow if you're stuck for ideas or bored of having the same thing every week!
Pasta. 60p a bag, 2 for £1 in morrisons. Plenty of good ideas there. Tinned beans, tomatoes, potatoes possibly. Eggs keep for a week so you'll use those quick enough. Rice is another cheap and light and healthy core to a meal. Keep plenty of spices around - salt, pepper etc. to bring flavour to the simplest of meals.
Check the 'Tasty' YouTube channel for great ideas!
[video="youtube;yrWJ2-fUw98"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrWJ2-fUw98[/video]
Eating is a great reason to ask your course friends or your housemates to socialise and relax where you can talk about how uni is going and plans for the summer and the future and your career.
Check the 'Tasty' YouTube channel for great ideas!
[video="youtube;yrWJ2-fUw98"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrWJ2-fUw98[/video]
Eating is a great reason to ask your course friends or your housemates to socialise and relax where you can talk about how uni is going and plans for the summer and the future and your career.
(edited 7 years ago)
Get someone to teach you knife safety, so many students just don't know and it's an absolute pain, literally sometimes.
1. buy cheap pans as you'll probably destroy your first set by burning stuff onto them (and if you don't someone else will)
2. keep stuff in your room if you can
3. buy some easy recipe books so you can eat things which are a bit more interesting as it will motivate you to cook if you actually enjoy the food!
4. slow cookers are amazing
5. keep an eye on your use by dates so that you don't end up throwing things out/wasting food
6. buy the minimum possible so you are forced to keep on top of your washing up
7. make sure you know a few basic things before you go, e.g. make a tomato sauce, cook pasta, eggs a few different ways etc
8. online shopping is a good way to make sure you are staying on budget for food
9. splash out and buy yourself some stuff to flavour food with when you move in (i.e. herbs, spices, olive oil, and others depending on taste e.g. soy sauce, wine vinegar etc), again if you like the meals you make you're less likely to get take out and this stuff lasts ages
10. baking will make you friends - learn how to make cookies/brownies/muffins and bake some and share them with your flatmates
EDIT: also - never shop when you are hungry, you'll end up buying crap you don't need
2. keep stuff in your room if you can
3. buy some easy recipe books so you can eat things which are a bit more interesting as it will motivate you to cook if you actually enjoy the food!
4. slow cookers are amazing
5. keep an eye on your use by dates so that you don't end up throwing things out/wasting food
6. buy the minimum possible so you are forced to keep on top of your washing up
7. make sure you know a few basic things before you go, e.g. make a tomato sauce, cook pasta, eggs a few different ways etc
8. online shopping is a good way to make sure you are staying on budget for food
9. splash out and buy yourself some stuff to flavour food with when you move in (i.e. herbs, spices, olive oil, and others depending on taste e.g. soy sauce, wine vinegar etc), again if you like the meals you make you're less likely to get take out and this stuff lasts ages
10. baking will make you friends - learn how to make cookies/brownies/muffins and bake some and share them with your flatmates
EDIT: also - never shop when you are hungry, you'll end up buying crap you don't need
(edited 7 years ago)
Make a meal plan every week and write a shopping list - saves so much money on food!
Nosh for students is a good cookbook with straightforward recipes in it
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Nosh for students is a good cookbook with straightforward recipes in it
Posted from TSR Mobile
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