While a college student’s staple food might be a cheap pack of ramen that can quickly be put together with hot water, it’s not necessarily the healthiest meal to have. There are other ways of coping with your hunger that involve eating healthier, home-cooked meals–ones that won’t hurt your health or your wallet.
Split the costs. I recently signed up for a subscription for Hello Fresh, a food delivery service where you choose specific meals you’d like online and all of the ingredients and recipes are delivered right to your doorstep. Because the price tag seemed kind of steep, I split the cost with my roommate. It’s a great way to make a fresh, home-cooked meal without having to run to the grocery store and stress out over deciding what to cook. If you divide up the cost with someone else, this service can be both affordable and efficient.
Look at weekly grocery ads. When you want to go grocery shopping, I highly recommend looking at the store’s ads beforehand. You can usually find them online or download the grocery store’s app if they have one to get more coupons! This is quite an underrated task that can often save you a lot of money.
Use your leftovers. Sometimes, you may find yourself looking in your fridge, see a bunch of odds and ends, and consider throwing them away because they’re not enough to be a meal on their own. Instead, try throwing all of these ingredients together and making something great–soup, casserole, hash, you name it. Some of the best meals I’ve had are when I’ve been creative and mixed everything together into one giant dish that can last me several meals. This limits the amount of food as well as the amount of money I waste.
With these options available, cooking for yourself will be a lot easier on you and your bank. It never has to be a trade-off between health and paying the bills.