Five tips for saving money in your weekly food shop

Natalia Wilkowskaon 4 August 2021
Two paper bags with groceries, including fresh fruit and a packet of bagels

Are you worried about blowing your student budget in the first week? Get savvy with your loan - here's how to save on your weekly food shop.

Between the big parties and social events, students need to keep some money aside for food shops. There are plenty of techniques you can use to save some money on your food shopping. They will make your grocery shopping simpler and cheaper! Here are some tips on how to plan your weekly food shop: 

Make a shopping list

Preparing a weekly shopping list of the meals you’ll want to eat will help you to budget in the long run. Think about the recipes you’d like to prepare over the next few days and draft them down on your phone or notepad. This will help to prevent you from buying unnecessary things. Put perishable items at the top of your list and try to use them as soon as possible to avoid wasting food and money.

Hint: you can plan meals by reusing the same ingredient in different ways. For example, tortilla wraps can be used to prepare burritos, quesadillas or homemade nachos. This will save you money and keep your cooking interesting at the same time.

Avoid buying at newsagents and local shops

Local newsagents are super convenient for small shops and emergencies, like when you’re baking a cake, and you’ve forgotten the milk or eggs. However, they’re often much more expensive than the bigger shops and supermarkets. Forgetting the odd item from time to time is fine, but you’ll end up spending a lot more money at the smaller shops. So try planning your weekly shops in larger supermarkets - you’ll thank us in the long run! 

Check your local markets

Supermarkets are usually full of fruit and veg from across the world. But have you ever checked out your local street market? The sellers usually offer fresher products for much cheaper than the high street shops. Spending money at the market also tends to be more environmentally friendly, as most sellers don’t use plastic packaging.

Look out for deals and price reductions

Most shops will have special offers on food and drinks. When items have shorter expiry dates, you’ll see shops lowering their prices to avoid food waste. To snag the best reductions, it often pays to show up an hour or two before the supermarkets close for the evening. As well as saving money, you’ll be doing your bit to prevent food waste.

Use the "Too Good To Go" app 

Nothing beats getting your favourite food at a huge discount. This is now possible thanks to Too Good To Go. This app works with local stores and restaurants to prevent food waste. The meals which weren’t sold during the day are packed into paper bags and sold near closing time.

The stuff you can pick up in these bags ranges from fruit and sandwiches to entire meals. Download the app today to see who’s participating near you.

Follow all these steps and you’ll never have to worry about budgeting for food at uni again.

What’s your favourite food? Join our panel and let us know. You’ll get 1,000 reward points when you sign up. 

Natalia Wilkowskaon 4 August 2021