Studying is not the only problem that an international student faces. Other than that, the student has to deal with paying taxes and rent, cleaning (including all the big amounts of laundry!), constantly generate ideas about what to eat and meanwhile also try to meet friends. At the beginning of your study career, it might be quite complicated to handle all of the things at once, especially if you also have to go to work or training. That's why we will share with you several tips and tricks to get the best out of your student life in the upcoming time!
The reality is that often the biggest problem out of these seems to be food and cooking. As a student myself, there are times where I have skipped a meal and counted a pack of cookies as a quick alternative, especially during stressful times in life. That’s not a healthy choice but it can happen to anyone. It might be complicated to eat healthily and a variety of different foods and sometimes you might notice that the packages in the stores are often family size. Some groceries just stay in the corner of your fridge and stay there until the next month... or even longer.
I have gathered 5 awesome tips that could help you to have a healthy diet, save money and time.
1. Plan your weekly cooking
Planning your weekly cooking sounds awfully boring but it has many great aspects. First of all, the amount of money that you save by missing the spontaneous shopping sessions is massive. Let’s say you plan to go to the store once or twice a week and you already know all the groceries that you need before. It will save you money because you won’t buy random products that you do not need. Secondly, related to the first point, it’s a lot healthier. You could also plan how many snacks you will eat that week and make a deal with yourself not go to the store and buy another pack of chips before next week. Third thing is the quality and diversity of the food - planning your meal in front will ensure you that you will cook something nicer. If you’re eating pasta with shredded cheese every day, than this one might be for you.
2. Invest in food storage and learn how to storage certain items
Did you know that an apple can stay crisp for weeks in the fridge? Probably you have noticed a few times that some of your groceries or homemade meals have gone bad too quickly. You can make their lifetime a lot longer by just learning how to storage them! For an example, pasta can get musty pretty fast when it’s package is open. And let’s be honest here, some packages have so much inside of them that you can have eight meals out of it, how much pasta can one person really eat, right? For pasta for an example, air-tight glass containers are recommended. This way, the moisture from the air is held away from and it will stay nice and fresh for a much longer time! If you need them with a student friendly price, you can always go to IKEA or Action.
3. Have backup food at home - for the days that you are busy or do not have money
We all have busy days and it is understandable. The thing is, it’s pretty easy to let yourself go and have instant noodles 3 times a day when you feel like cooking is stealing your precious study time. The food that you already have at home should be with a long shelf life, such as canned soups, beans or fruits. In case you’re lucky and also have a freezer at home, you can collect some frozen vegetables and fish sticks. With this tip you will soon realize that the amount of spontaneous food ordering and fast food consumption decreases fast because you already have fast easy solutions at home and they are much cheaper, too.
4. Check the best deals of the week
Grocery stores provide many good discounts, most of them starting from every new Monday. As a student, saving money is an important aspect and many are trying to keep an eye on it. Since it seems that unhealthy food is cheaper than healthier, then it might be hard to find motivation to go to the store and get those vegetables instead of just going to the first fast-food chain. Getting the best deal might be almost like a fun challenge - how much money can you save? Stores like DIRK, Jumbo and Albert Heijn have all of their best weekly deals listed on the webpage so you can just check the best discounts from home before going out. You can even use the weekly discount as an inspiration of what you will cook this week. For some stores, such as Albert Heijn, a good saving tip is to have their bonus card too, often it saves quite a few euros.
5. Use apps that are focusing on saving food, like Too Good To Go
Apps like Too Good To Go are designed for getting rid of food that is made on the same day or that has reached expiry date. Many restaurants and even stores like Albert Heijn to Go and SPAR are using this app. For a little price, 4-5 Euros, they will give you a bag full of groceries/meals that are often actually worth much more that you paid for. The food in that bag might have an expiry date on that certain day but many times the things are edible for many more days afterwards. You never know what you will get, so it will definitely give you a culinary trip, too!
Even though students experience a lot of new problems they have never faced before moving away from parents, the experiences will last for a lifetime. Hopefully, some of those tips could help you save money, eat healthier and save time!
