Cut the cost of your weekly food shop
Becoming a student comes with it’s own set of challenges, falling in love with the right university course for you, finding the right student accommodation in Lancaster, navigating your way through freshers week and of course, making sure you never miss a deadline. However, one of the biggest challenges is budgeting; having your student loan, in bulk at the beginning of every term can make it difficult to plan - but follow our handy guide to keep the cost of your food shop down.
1. Budgeting
We know this sounds simple, but the best way to help make sure your food shopping doesn’t leave you skint is to create a list of monthly outgoings and any additional income from part time work.
If you set a budget for food every week and stick to it when you shop, you will be on the right track. It’s easy to go over by a few pounds each week but over a year this really adds up.
The best way to do this is to track the amount you spend as you go (yes, picking up that sandwich at lunch does need to be included in your food budget). This sounds tricky, but there are a lot of handy app’s which do the hard work for you:
Money Dashboard - Money Dashboard also graphs your projected monthly spending with a predicted balance at the end of the month.
Emma - Emma analyses your savings and current accounts as well as credit cards, and categorises your spending so you can easily see where your money is going each month.
2. Take a shopping list
Before you head to the supermarket, when you are at home in your Lancaster student accommodation, go through your cupboards and fridge first to see what you have. Then write down everything you need and work out if you’ve got enough in your budget to buy it all.
3. Plan your meals
Planning what you are going to eat and cook in your Lancaster student home is one of the most important steps you can take. what meals you’re going to make in advance, you’ll reduce waste and create your shopping list at the same time. Cook meals in a batch and freeze the leftovers, this will save you money and time to study (go out).
4. Shop with a calculator
When you leave your student accommodation in Lancaster, don’t forget to grab a calculator (or your phone!). Make sure you add up how much you’re spending as you go around the shop so you don’t have any nasty surprises when you get to the till.
5. Shop on a full stomach
This might sound strange, but shopping when you’re hungry means you’re likely to buy more. Try to shop when you’re satisfied, and those 241 offers will look a lot less tempting.
6. Go on a yellow sticker hunt
Find out when your local supermarket mark goods down. If you can get into the habit of shopping around the time the yellow stickers start to appear on things that are about to go out of date, you could save yourself a fortune each week.
