Students are expected to live on a limited budget media is full of ways to save money through tokens, vouchers and discounts. Few go so far as to tell you about the everyday items on which you are wasting money.
Flavoured Rice
They might make an interesting change to the usual boredom of boiled rice with curry or chilli. Some are dirt cheap. However, proportionally they are expensive and nothing is as cheap as buying a bag of plain rice. It’s easy to add a little extra flavour too. Some five spice, a teaspoon of cheap peanut butter and a little bit of oil will give your rice a little bit of Chinese zest. For meaty flavoured rice as a cheap lunch, simply add a stock cube when boiling.
Jars of Sauce
Sauce jars are a quick and convenient way to make whatever type of food you prefer, you name it, there’s a jar for it. But did you know that with a tin of chopped tomatoes or passata and some salt and garlic, you have the base for most of your favourites already? A simple cookbook will show you how to make curry, Bolognese, chilli, and many more. Plus, you will be contributing far less wastage in the form of glass jars and metal lids.
Bagged Salad and Vegetables
Another convenience to make life easier is also going to burn a hole in your pocket. Bagged salads and pre-chopped vegetables and fruit not only have a shorter shelf-life, but they are also more expensive than buying the ingredients individually. It’s been reported that households throw away around 40% of bagged salad because it simply doesn’t last. Make your own and save £££.
"Fresh" Soup
On a similar note, so-called “fresh soup” that appears in refrigerated sections are no more fresh than the products you’ll find a few aisles away in tins. These have a shorter shelf life due to the manner in which they are packaged and are proportionally more expensive. The tinned produced is cooked in their cans at the factories. You can’t get fresher than that! Plus, there is enough in one tin that you’ll most likely want all of it.
Brand New Textbooks
The argument over whether cash-strapped students really need to buy so many books is a matter of debate. But if you really feel you need to own copies of all those books, there is no need to buy a pristine copy. Amazon marketplace and eBay are great places to look. It’s usually cash-strapped students in the year above you or graduates looking to raise money by selling books they no longer need. Make second-hand online sources your first port of call.