How to shop:

The importance of shopping properly whilst at university cannot be underestimated. There are numerous benefits from a well planned and executed food-shop ranging from the financial to the personally rewarding exercise of cooking for oneself a freshly prepared and satisfying meal. As you will gather in due course this issue is something of a personal irk of mine, as cooking and entertaining are two of the most pleasurable of my pastimes. I want to convey the benefits that come from food-shopping in an efficient and cost-effective manner whilst highlighting how doing pretty much the opposite can lead to money being unnecessarily squandered. How important is this? Well, we all eat so changing the way in which we do so has far-reaching benefits.

The shopping list seems to be the obvious place to start. A big-shop should be undertaken once a week which will reduce the occasions in which you will need to pop round to that overly expensive mini-market or community grocers around the corner. This does of course mean going to a supermarket. Whilst some may complain of the evils of the supermarket empires that put small businesses out of action, the financial constraints of the modern student mean that noble ethics must – at least temporarily – be put on hold. The majority of students live in houses of between four and six and therefore have a unique opportunity to reduce the cost of food by buying in bulk. Staples like pasta, potatoes, vegetables, cheese etc. are far cheaper when bought in large quantities that will satisfy a household for at least a week. Equally, careful planning and coordination of meals means that fresh food will stay fresh as long as you know roughly the day on which you will eat it. It is therefore worth sitting down with your housemates and planning the weeks shopping and meal list.

There will of course be the odd clash in tastes. This can be easily overcome. If one of your group does not eat red meat, then they can purchase a salmon fillet from the fishmonger section of the superstore to eat in place of the steak, or vice versa. Contrary to popular belief it is not overly expensive to do so. Fillet, sirloin, or rump may be expensive but frying steak can be bought rather cheaply from supermarkets, and although an inferior cut, it is still a very satisfying meal if served with a homemade peppercorn sauce, or simply in its own juices with some thick cut chips. Although I'm trying to stress the financial importance of careful food-shopping, I am also trying to impress that good, hearty eating can still be achieved if considered properly. It is a sad state of affairs that students often feel the likes of pasta dishes are the only way to eat when there are so many affordable ways of eating as you might back at home.

One of the parallel benefits of a large group shop in a supermarket comes by way of the reward card system. Most large supermarket chains now incorporate points systems into their brands, rewarding you with money off or free items as your points begin to accumulate. Shopping on your own tends to result in an awful lot of weeks and months passing without any sign of a reward, but shopping as a household will drastically increase the number of points earned in a far shorter period of time. Why not take up this entirely easy and pain free offer and reap the benefit of a free crate of beer or case of wine when you throw a party?

There are additional ways of cost-cutting that may be possible if you live in an area that has a specialist Asian food store near by as I do. Here you can buy vegetables such as onion, garlic, and fresh chilli at almost ludicrously cheap prices. You can also buy large 500g or 1kg bags of spices and herbs such as chilli powder, ground cumin, coriander seeds, etc. for under £1. Supermarkets tend to only stock these spices in tiny 30-40g jars of either their own-brand or brands like Schwartz and will cost you between £1 and £2. The reason these Asian food-stores are such good value for vegetables and spices is that they provide stock for restaurants and take-away outlets; however unlike the cash-and-carry you do not need to own a business in order to buy their produce. Taking advantage of this kind of facility is a real bonus.

Are you a whore for ready meals? Check out our other article here:

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