Tuesday Tips & Tricks - Meal Planning

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One of the biggest mistakes that students make when it comes to food (and uni work) is that they don’t plan.  This can take a massive drain on your finances and your time if you’re shopping from meal to meal rather than buying a week’s worth of shopping.  Today, I’m going to be talking you through how to effectively plan a week’s worth of meals so that you only need to go to the shops once a week, thus saving you both time and money.

An example of a 2-week meal plan.

Using a template such as the one above, you can easily plan out each week’s meals (either electronically or on a printout).  That way you can buy exactly what you need at the start of the week and you can be more focused in the shop. 

What you need to do to save money 

• If you actually want to save money then you need to be quite strict when you go to the shop.  That means making a list of everything that you need for that week’s meals.  This will stop you prospectively buying stuff that you won’t use and would end up throwing in the bin. 

• Checking your freezer for anything that you’ve bought reduced in previous weeks will help you save money.  You should buy reduced food at the supermarket and use it in the following week's plan to save even more money!

• Make sure that you can re-use some items.  If you’re buying food that comes in larger packages (ie; mushrooms, carrots etc) make sure that you can use them in 2/3 meals that week.  This will stop you from wasting food that’s going out of date.  You can see from my example how this works.

• Don't be afraid to stray away from your meal plan if other things get in the way (eg, if a friend asks you out for dinner).  Just don't make a habit out of it if you want to save money.