Eat well for less.

Groceries may be one of the hardest hit areas by the cost of living crisis. With meal deals nearing the £5 mark and the price of olive oil not far off a mortgage, it’s more crucial than ever shop smart and get the most from your grocery shops .

Meal Prep

Batch cooking and meal prepping can save you valuable time and money as well as helping you eat healthy meals, even when you’re in a rush. Dedicate a few hours on a quieter day to cook a big batch and then freeze and eat through the week.

Check out some of these meal prep recipes to stock your freezer with:

Weekly meal plan from Save the Student

Meal prep ideas from BBC Good Food

Meal prepping also doesn’t have to be hard work or time consuming, traybakes are an easy way you can batch cook food that can frozen and repurposed down the line. (Try meals with different bases for example pasta, rice, in a wrap or a salad). Have a read through these delicious traybake recipes:

BBC Goodfood

Olive Magazine

Delicious Magazine

Remember wait for food to be room temperature, once defrosted eat within 2 days.

Eat out for less

Look out for monthly dining deals at restaurants and food spots throughout the city, there are often deals available that can make eating out more affordable. We’ll include some monthly dining deals in the Spirit what’s on guide every month, so keep an eye out on Student News.

TooGoodToGo is an app which helps reduce food waste by purchasing surplus food from local shops, cafes and restaurants for half the price or less.

From as little you can as £1.99 you can save food from businesses including Pret, Greggs, Yo! Sushi, Burger King, Subway as well as a wide range of independent food spots.

Supermarkets such as Aldi, Morrisons and Asda also offer grocery bags with items of surplus food you can cook at home, a selection of grocery items that could include fruit, vegetables, cheese, snacks, meat and fish.

Download the app today and start saving food, money and the planet.

Watch where you shop

While Aldi and Lidl are the obvious choice for cheaper alternatives, they aren’t always the most accessible. If you’re located in Fallowfield, Wimmy Foods is a good independent supermarket that sells fresh produce at a reasonable price. Similarly, Worldwide Foods on the Curry Mile is a great supermarket to buy in bulk. There are also numerous markets such as the Platt Fields Market Garden which sell homegrown produce on Friday’s and Saturday’s.

If you can, try and avoid convenience stores like Tesco Extra and Sainsbury’s local, you’ll tend to find the highest prices for standard groceries.

If you’re shopping in supermarkets like Sainsburys or Co-op, try and buy own-brand where possible as you’ll pay a fraction of the price the same products.

Don’t forget to have a look through our other student news articles on how to save money and manage your finances at university. If you are having problems with your finances or would like to talk about any other problems, please get in touch us with student.welfare@spiritstudios.ac.uk.