grocery

How I Grocery Shop as a University Student

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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Hey guys, welcome back to the blog! Today, we’re talking about my favourite activity ever, grocery shopping. There’s just something about walking into a grocery store, pulling our a cart and picking out produce that de-stresses me. But, I realise that this isn’t the case for everyone. Often times, grocery shopping can be stressful especially if you’re a university students or you are on a budget and pressed on time. I”l admit that moving out and having to grocery shop for myself for the first time was a bit daunting, but I’ve slowly found the ideal method for my grocery shopping. However, I also realise that not everyone’s requirements are the same and that we all have different needs and spending budgets. This blogpost isn’t to sway or pressure you into any sort of habits, it’s simply to share a few tips that have helped me grocery shop in a healthy and sustainable way. So let’s get into it!

Tip 1: Set your monthly/weekly food budget

So, before you actually get into it, it’s good to set a realistic food budget for each month. This will vary for each person but it’s important to keep some room for flexibility since some months you might fluctuate around your budget. Food budget is probably the most important part of your financial planning after accounting for accommodation/bills, so remember to set a clear goal.

Tip 2: Decide how often you need to go grocery shopping

Some students prefer to go grocery shopping weekly while others prefer to go every two weeks or even once a month. I always separate my grocery shopping, with one trip a month focused on long term supplies and weekly trips for fresh produce. To help you decide how often you need to go grocery shopping, determine how much of what you need to buy can be stored for longer. If you buy a lot of fresh produce, it’s best to go weekly to avoid overbuying and your produce going bad.

Then you can schedule the days that you go shopping. As a university student, finding time to go grocery shopping can sometimes be challenging, but you never want to walk up to an empty fridge. I coordinate my grocery shopping according to my class schedule, but I try to avoid shopping on Fridays as most of the items are often out of stock by the end of the week.

Tip 3: Make a list!

I always keep a digital list on my notes app as well as a physical notepad in my kitchen. This helps me note down anything I might need throughout the week. Lists are great to ensure that you stick to buying what you need. It’s easy to get distracted when grocery shopping; you go for one thing and come back with ten. Make a list to buy the items you find necessary.

Tip 4: Don’t go Hungry

One of the best tips I learnt when trying to grocery shop is never to go hungry because you’ll end up buying random foods and snacks that you never planned on and may not be the healthiest options. So never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

Tip 5: Stick to frozen & prepped veggies

I like to stock up on prepped veggies to make cooking easier and faster as well as frozen veggies and fruits which are more affordable and last longer. I am selective when choosing which veggies and fruits to buy frozen, for example, broccoli, green beans, and carrots are some of the veggies I like to buy prepped. While I often get frozen berries for smoothies and baking.

Tip 6: Prep yourself

My last tip is to try and be as sustainable as you can when it comes to packaging, while you can’t completely avoid plastic at times at the supermarket, you can implement a few habits. For example, I always keep a few reusable shopping bags on hand for when I want to shop as well as smaller bags for produce. It’s also helpful to use a shopping basket than cart, I found that the more space I have, the easier it is to go overboard on the grocery shopping.

A note from the author

Thank you for reading and reaching this far, please like if you found something useful here today. I hope you follow for more lifestyle tips like these ones and join the healthboss community, xoxo.

Check out more posts like this one

Grocery Haul List – https://healthboss.blog/2020/03/25/healthy-grocery-haul-list-quarantine-101/

Healthy Food Staples – https://healthboss.blog/2020/07/05/healthy-food-staples/

How to Eat Healthy on a Budget – https://healthboss.blog/2020/09/20/how-to-eat-healthy-on-a-budget/

How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

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Healthy Eating on a Budget

You may think that eating healthy is expensive and will run you dry, but this belief is far from the truth. While eating healthy can be costly, it can also be cost-effective if you apply a few of the tips down below. I think this discussion couldn’t come at a better time, especially in the current state of the world, so today we’re going to be going over a few tips to help you eat healthy on a budget.

Tip #1. Buy Frozen Veggies & Fruit

Fruits and veggies can sometimes be pricey, for example; blueberries are one of the most expensive berries. Which is why the best option is to buy them frozen; as they are just as healthy and they are prepped when they are in their prime stage. Moreover, you can use these in smoothies, your oats or stir fries.

A few good options are:

  • spinach
  • broccoli
  • kale
  • berries
  • mango chunks
  • veggie mixes

Tip #2. Choose Whole foods Over ‘Fake Foods’

By fake foods I mean, if you have to choose between your $100 Protein powder and actual fresh protein, choose the whole food. Making the right choices and prioritising is essential in eating healthy with minimum cost. Instead of buying 20 protein bars, buy filling whole foods that are less processed, because you may think that one ‘processed’ food item is cost effective but when you add up the amount you may be buying in a month, that adds up. So remember to look at the big picture and that inexpensive isn’t always the best option.

Meal Prep and How to eat Healthy Eating on a budget

Tip #3. Meal Prep at Home

Eating out is usually more expensive than eating at home and you can be even cost effective by planning your meals or meal prepping for the week. This will help you plan you monthly food budget and avoid any food waste.

Tip #4. Make a Grocery List & Stick to it

Often we find that we go to the supermarket with a budget in mind, but end up exceeding that by an unreasonable amount and that’s because we all get distracted by and tempted by things we don’t need. This is why planning ahead can be beneficial, if you know which meal you have planned for the week, it’s easy to make a list and buy only what you need.

Tip #5. Don’t Buy in Bulk

Avoid buying fresh vegetables and fruit in bulk, if it’s possible try buying them weekly or once every two weeks. This is to avoid any wastage as most of the time, buying veggies in bulk means some goes bad before you get a chance to use it.

However, buying other ingredients such as grains; oats and quinoa, in bulk is a good idea.

Granola Recipe and cheap ways to eat healthy

Tip #6. Make Your Own Recipe

Sometimes making a product at home is much more cost-effective than buying at the store. For example you can make your own gluten free granola or protein bars at home rather than buying the overpriced product at the store. Moreover, these products often contain unnecessary sugar and preservatives, which you can avoid by making your own.

Check out my easy and quick Gluten Free Granola Recipe.

Tip #7. Support Local Markets

Local produce is often less expensive and a great way to support the community. Try finding your produce at a local farmer’s market, you’ll often find that it’s more cost-effective than buying at a supermarket. In addition, this means you’ll avoid unnecessary packaging/plastic used in stores, making your shopping and lifestyle more environmentally friendly.

Tip #8. Baby steps

When starting a healthy lifestyle, it’s not practical to jump into the gluten free, sugar free or vegan world, because you’ll feel lost and you’ll find the cost overwhelming. Instead you should approach it steadily, for example, buying 10 different brands of almond milk is not the way to go. What you should do is start by making some healthy food swaps, you can check out a list of my grocery staples right here.

Healthy one pan meals

Tip #9. One Pan Meals

One pot or one pan meals are quick, inexpensive and everyone loves them, besides it doesn’t get any easier than throwing some protein and veggies in a pan and calling it a day. Stir-fries are also a great options for this and the best part is you can cook in bulk and save for meal preps.

Tip #10. Try Grocery Delivery

I’ve seen two types of grocery delivery services; one where you select a few meals and you’re set the ingredients for those recipes and second, where you put together a grocery basket and have it delivered. Either way, these are a great way to eat healthy on a budget and brands such as; Thrive Market and Hello Fresh claim to save you a considerable amount of money through their services so it’s definitely worth trying out.

Final Thoughts

To summarise, it’s definitely possible to eat healthy on a budget and you should never feel pressure to completely jump to the other side. Balance is key so take it step by step and you’ll find what best suits your lifestyle. The important thing is not to let your eating habits or food itself rule you, you control your habits. I hope you enjoyed this post, please like and leave a comment if you did and feel free to follow for more posts like this one. Thank you for reading, xoxo.

Healthy Grocery Haul List (Quarantine 101)

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During our current global situation, it’s often difficult to get a sense of staying healthy when stocking up has become the main priority of a lockdown. This is why I made this grocery list, to help you save time and have a good structure of what to buy. This is what I based my grocery haul on so here it is.

PROTEINS (easy to store/freeze so stick to your usual)

  • Chicken Breast
  • Beef
  • Eggs
  • Fish- Salmon/canned tuna
  • Beans/chickpeas
  • Plant-based meats
  • Protein Powder

CARBS

  • Quinoa
  • Gluten-free Pasta/ veggie pasta
  • Potatoes/ sweet potato
  • GF flour for baking bread etc.
  • Oats

FATS

  • Milk – almond, oat or any plant-based milk
  • Olive oil/ Coconut oil/ Avocado oil
  • Almond Butter
  • Nuts – almonds, walnuts…
  • Seeds – pumkin, chia

VEGGIES & FRUIT (Buy mostly Frozen)

  • Bananas (easy to freeze)
  • Frozen fruit- berries, mangoes
  • Broccoli
  • Baby carrots
  • Stir fry veggie mix
  • Spinach

SNACKS

  • Popchips
  • Popcorn
  • Fruit/nut bars or protein bars (Lara, Quest, Rawbar)
  • Dark chocolate (Sweet switch)

ADD ONS

  • Coffee/ teas
  • Coconut Sugar
  • Honey or any sweetener of choice
  • Carb Smart Chilli Sauce
  • Carb Smart 1000 island dressing

I hope this is helpful in any way possible, you can add or leave out anything from the list and customise it for your own needs, this is just to give you a basic guideline. Thank you for reading and stay safe, xoxo.