On Monday, TIME released an article saying that more and more students are being hard pressed to find a meal let alone a healthy one. With the shitty economical era and rising food prices (up 5% this year according to the article), not to mention tuition increases every year, it’s really no surprise. Michigan State’s for-students, by-students food bank reports a significant increase in visitors this year, and the food bank near the University of Washington saw a 25% increase in students as of late. This makes me wonder, how is MY school helping ME avoid being penniless and chock-full of junk food?
At the beginning of this semester, I found myself waiting for my first paycheck and in the meantime saw my bank account flirt dangerously with a giant goose egg. I literally had $2.03 left. Eventually, I got out of the red zone, but I haven’t forgotten the lessons learned when it comes to really stretching every last penny.
Here are some of my tips to avoid the bread line (or if you are like me, doing what you need to do when there is no bread line to go to):
Tip 1: Stop Dining Out
This is hands down where most of my money goes in a week. Yeah, you want to hang out with friends, and yeah, most of the time the only thing to do is eat out but if you want to save your money then learn to say no. Instead, do small things like grab a cup of coffee or grab some ice cream, but save the dining out for every once in a while. You can still hang out with your friends while being cheap; just ask my friends they’ll tell you.
Tip 2: Pasta
From freshman year until now, pasta has never failed me in both the delicious and cheap departments. Here’s what you need:
1 Can of Tomato Sauce (around $4) cheap kind, fancy kind, I don’t really taste the difference so let go of your fear of generic products.
1/4 lb. of Ground Beef (around $3), or save 3 bucks if you’re not a meat-a-tarian
1 pkg. of Mushrooms (around $3) Whatever veggies you like, if any
1 pkg. Pasta (around $2)
Now this is what you do:
Brown the beef, mix in the veggies and the sauce. Boil as much pasta as you’ll want for dinner. Pour sauce over pasta and save the rest in a container. Eat and enjoy for days and days.
The amazing part about it is that cooking and entire thing of sauce will last you at least 4 meals, and think about it: $12 total cost / 4 meals = $3 a meal! How’s that for cheap? All you have to do for subsequent meals is reheat the sauce and cook the pasta. You can cater it to your taste and how healthy you want to be so it’s good for everyone.
Tip 3: Cook With Friends
This is a fun way to feed yourself. Cooking with friends means you can split costs and have a good time (a great alternative to eating out as well). Freshman year, my friends and I would go down to the kitchen and cook a whole thing of pasta to share (and there were always leftovers). One person would bring the sauce, another the pasta, etc., etc., so it ended up being a bit cheaper than if I cooked by myself. And there are tons of college-friendly recipe books out there for those of us without culinary expertise.
Tipe 4: Capitalize on Free Food
The best price is $Free.99. It just makes it that much more delicious. There are always tons of free food events, both on campus and off. Check out my earlier article here to figure out some off-campus options. As for on-campus, just keep your eyes peeled for signs and the savory smells.
Tip 5: Avoid Paying for Textbooks
This isn’t really food related, but it’s saving money, and saving money means you’ll have a bit more to spend on food, right? Anyway, going back to my experience at the beginning of this semester, I was strapped for cash. Then I realized that school means reading books that I’ll pay an arm and a leg for, read once, and never read again. So I had a goal: I wouldn’t buy a single textbook this year. As of now, I only caved once, and that was due to some complicated circumstances involving my less than perfect attention span. Here’s how you avoid buying textbooks:
- Got any friends? They got any old textbooks? Ask them.
- Go to the library. At Carnegie Mellon, the libraries have course reserves; textbooks professors specifically place there for students to use for their courses. Often times kids will pick up copies quick, so you should get on it early.
So there are some tips that got me through my toughest times this semester. Hopefully if I stick to these I won’t have to worry so much about my stomach or bank account.
Have any more tips? Tell me about them below.
(Photo cred: http://twobites.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/ramen.jpg)
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