Hello Lovely Savers!

When I was in college, I was your typical student: tired, hungry, and broke. When my health started to decline I needed to be creative with what I could do to keep myself healthy. McDonalds was out of the question, and eating Pizza Luce was going to be way too expensive for my wallet. But shopping for one is really hard! Especially shopping for one AND trying to be healthy! Microwave dinners are convenient, but they are not great for you and they end up being more expensive than making your own food and keeping the leftovers.

My freshman year at school I didn’t have a car, so I didn’t get good at shopping until later when I was able to go to the grocery store more often.

Let’s start with what to buy! I started by making a board on Pinterest called “Always Hungry, Always Poor”.

If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re going to have a hard time getting through life.

I have a bunch of recipes on there that are very easy to make, even for novice chefs, and the ingredients are easy to find (no bat-wings, or frog-legs here).

…So not ALWAYS super healthy…

Now we’re at the store! I’ve picked out a few recipes for the week and written down all of the ingredients I need for them! I like to start in the very beginning. PRODUCE.

Pro-Tip: Buying fruits and veggies by weight is WAY better than buying pre-packaged or pre-prepared. You can pick out the freshest items, only buy as much as you know you’ll eat (no wasted food!), and they usually taste better and last longer than anything with preservatives mixed in.

I love green beans, they are super cheap and super versatile. I would buy pounds of these each week when I was in school.

Then the aisles! I go through each aisle because I’m OCD. But really, I go through to make sure I don’t miss anything on my list.

My roommate was never good at comparing prices, she’d grab what she knew she liked, which is sometimes good because you don’t want to waste food. Then there are basics: there is usually a specific brand of noodles on sale each week, and honestly- they are noodles- they all taste the same.

Wall of Noodles

I pick up my breakfast cereal and move on!

Now let’s look at our protein options… I personally don’t buy a lot of meat, because I find it expensive, but also I’m not the best a preparing it. When I DO buy meat, I try to go for the deals! Chicken is usually less expensive and arguably better for you, but sometimes the grocery stores will have deals on cuts of beef and I love me a good steak dinner.

Now onto dairy! I go for the cheapest milk, the cheapest eggs (which are actually sometimes cheaper at the gas stations, keep your eyes out for that!), and whichever brand of cheese I have a coupon for!

Mmmm…. Cheese….

I do love juice, but I try to not buy it, because it is a lot of sugar and I know I’ll drink it too fast!

Well… I mean… if it’s on sale…

Then I pop over to the frozen section for an emergency “I have literally no desire to cook” meal.

And we’re done!!! I didn’t buy very much, but that is because I don’t want to waste food when there is only one person going to be eating it. If I can go to the store once a week, I’ll save a ton of money by not buying unnecessary foods or foods that will go bad before I eat them. Also, I can feel good about all of the foods I bought, watching your budget is a great way to avoid things like chips and cookies.

Thanks for coming along on shopping day, next I’ll be doing a fun post about dating when you’re on a money saving mission! You’ll also get to meet “Handsome Man” who I am sure will be in several future posts.

Sugar and Savings,

Taylor

xoxo