Living on a tight budget means cutting back on a lot of things. One of the first things to go for college students is food, because it can be so expensive. I know how hard it is to be creative when trying to eat for only a few dollars per meal. Fortunately for you, I made a list of budget meals for college students. While they’re not all healthy, you’ll be fed with money in the bank.
Most college students can budget about $5 to $10 a day for meals each month, and Ramen noodles get old quick. I have a few tips that can help you make the most of your grocery budget without breaking the bank.
Tips for Meal Planning
Coupons
Coupons make a huge difference. You can score major discounts when you combine manufacturer coupons with your local grocery store’s coupons.
Shop Store Brand
Let’s keep it real: the only good mac and cheese is Kraft. But for most everything else, the store brand is just as delicious as name brands. In some cases, like the Costco brand Kirkland Signature, the store brand is often better!
Meal Planning
Never shop hungry and always shop with a list. Plan your meals for the week, utilizing leftovers as often as possible. You can make a crock pot full of shredded chicken on Sunday, and use it throughout the week for nachos, quesadillas, soups, burritos, chicken salad, and so on. Plan ahead so you know exactly what, and how much, you need.
Go Meatless
Meat is often the most expensive part of a meal. Try out “Meatless Mondays” for an easy way to cut a few dollars from your budget. Replace meat with black beans, tofu,
Budget Upgrades
If you’re budget is tight at the end of the month, you might still get stuck with Ramen noodles. Keep your kitchen stocked with affordable items Sriracha, green onions, dried seaweed, veggies, and soft-boiled eggs for an instant upgrade.
Buy In Bulk
If you’re lucky enough to have access to bulk stores like Costco or Winco, these are most often your most budget-friendly bets.
Budget Meal Ideas
Here is a list of cheap, but filling, meals that I eat regularly.
Meatless
- Eggs. Scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, baked, in a frittata, as a quiche – eggs are a great source of protein.
- Grilled cheese & tomato soup
- Cheese quesadilla
- Upgraded ramen
- Protein pancakes
- Oatmeal with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt
Meat-Based
- hot dogs/chili dogs
- spaghetti
- baked fish (we live by the coast so seafood is way cheap)
- stir-fry
- nachos
- hamburgers
- jambalaya or dirty rice (ground meat is cheap, we get sausage on sale)
- tacos (ground beef or chicken are cheaper than steak)
- chicken quesadillas
- if you find porkchops on sale, add mushroom soup
- macaroni and hot dogs
- Frito pie
- Homemade stroganoff (I will post my recipe at some point, but you can find them online)
Pre-Packaged
- frozen pizza
- store brand TV dinners
- Spaghetti-O’s (or your favorite canned meals from childhood)
One of the most useful tools in college is an online storage space where you can keep your school files. Some colleges provide cloud storage within your student email account, but this is usually very limited and difficult to use. There are a ton of other options out there for cloud storage, ranging from 2 GB to 50 GB of free space with an account.
Here’s a list of the best online storage tools available. All of these are free to use.
Free Online Storage Providers
- Google Drive With each Gmail account, Google provides up to 15 GB of storage space in the Google Drive. Google Drive integrates seamlessly with the full range of Google tools, like your email, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and so on. You can share single documents or entire folders if you need to collaborate on a project.
- OneDrive is a free storage option available to anyone with a Microsoft account. You get up to 5 GB of storage space. If you upgrade your Microsoft account to include the suite of Microsoft products, you can get up to 5 TB of storage.
- Amazon Drive is for Amazon Prime users. You can store up to 5 GB of files, including pictures, videos, and more.
- Dropbox only provides 2 GB of storage, but it can sync across all your devices. This is especially useful for those who forgot to email their papers in on time. You can use your phone to access Dropbox and attach files to your email.
- Sync is a super-secure storage provider. Free accounts get 5 GB of end-to-end encrypted storage.
MEGA users can get up to a whopping 50 GB of free storage when they sign up with a free account and download the app.
One of the greatest things about college is the free money people will throw at you. Yes, that’s right, scholarships and grants. Unfortunately, your income has to be pretty low to qualify for most grants, I’m talking low enough that it’s hard to even live on. So, scholarships are your best friend.
The essay
Most scholarship applications include an essay. Usually, the scholarship essays are pretty generic and you can use the same essay for multiple applications. A good idea is to write one about your life and any obstacles you’ve overcome that made you a better person. The best essays are those about your passions. Did you really volunteer with the elderly because you live to help people or to put it on your college application? If you’re a funny person, let them know that. If you are a bleeding heart, bleed all over that paper. An essay is about selling yourself and if you must embellish, then go ahead.
Where to find them
Your school advisers have the best collection of local scholarships, which give you a better chance. Also, most colleges have their own scholarships, which I think are just discounts since they’re the ones giving it to you. Either way, it’s money you don’t have to pay back. Most undergraduates with decent grades and a half decent essay can get something out of their school if they apply. After you’ve tapped those resources, online is the next step. Here’s three websites that were crucial for me.
Athletic scholarships are often awarded to high school athletes based on skill and performance. Unless you’re already a talented athlete, you should keep looking. Academic scholarships are based on your academic merit and financial scholarships are for those in financial need of assistance. Academic scholarships are hard to get because you’re being judged based on GPA, test scores, extracurricular activities and awards. Athletic and academic scholarships are very competitive and you need to start early to market your abilities to get noticed.
Places to look for private scholarships:
- Corporations
- Unions
- Foundations
- High schools
- Religious organizations
- Chamber of commerce
- Philanthropic organizations
Be careful when giving out personal information. Make sure it’s a legitimate scholarship before you give too much info. Stay away if they want some of your money.
