Cheap Meals for College Students – How to Save A Lot and Eat Well
As a college student, you probably understand the financial battle so many students across the country face. With the rising cost of food and the average college debt after graduation on the rise, the struggle has intensified in recent years. You are on a tight budget, but you need to eat, right? You don’t want to have to take a car title loan just to afford a decent meal. You may be pinching pennies, capitalizing on financial aid , but still wondering how you’ll ever pay for an online degree program. To save money, many students turn to the cheapest foods around, and end up with a belly full of chips, pizza and toaster pastries. Fortunately, you can eat well and stay within your budget. Cheap, healthy college food does exist, and you don’t have to suffer at the mercy of $5 pizzas anymore!
Food for College Students
Most cheap food for college students is extremely unhealthy, but that doesn’t mean that all healthy food is expensive. You simply must be smarter about what you put in your grocery cart, and you’ll begin to realize that low budget meals don’t have to take a toll on your health. Here are some tips for creating cheap recipes for college students that won’t break the scale:
1. Go Italian! Many college students love those noodle cups that simply require hot water, but they provide little nutritional benefits. Instead of these noodles, buy spaghetti (preferably whole wheat) and a jar of marinara sauce. Cook the noodles, add the sauce and voila! you are done. Serve with a side salad and you have a healthy, cheap easy college meal in no time.
2. Be a kid again! Go back to the days of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and you will be helping out your wallet and your waistline. When it comes to easy recipes for college students, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches definitely take the cake. All you need to buy is a loaf of whole wheat bread, natural peanut and honey or jam. This meal is extremely cost effective and provides a generous amount of protein, healthy fat and complex carbohydrates, all of which are necessary for proper health.
3. Buy local! Hit up your local farmers market to load up on fruit and vegetables to inspire cheap meal ideas. Farmers markets are better than your local chain grocery store because they often have the freshest produce. By buying locally you are not only getting healthy and fresh ingredients to make your cheap college meals, but you’re also supporting local farmers, which is a great thing to do for our environment and society.
4. Cook with friends! You are most likely not alone in your quest to eat well inexpensively, so why cut costs by splitting the cost of groceries? Whether you’re making easy meals for college students, adults or kids, going in on the groceries is going to reduce the amount you have to spend and you’ll be able to have some fun socializing. You can make a big batch of chili (one of the best healthy cheap meals for college students), a homemade pizza with veggies, a pot of chicken noodle soup, or even lasagna, which is inexpensive and can feed a crowd.
5. Buy frozen! College meals often consist of something frozen, like frozen burritos, which isn’t always healthy, but sometimes frozen food is the best way to go. You can score killer deals on frozen vegetables and frozen fruit, and they are just as healthy, but a lot cheaper! You can use the frozen fruit to make healthy smoothies that cost a lot less than the fancy drinks at the smoothie chain stores. The frozen veggies can be used just like fresh veggies, which are great in soups, stews and just plain, and can save you a ton of cash at the store!
See, cheap healthy meals for college students don’t have to be diet disasters! What are YOUR favorite healthy meals for college students?
