When you graduate from college, everything is different. You’ll go from a dorm room to your own apartment, and you’ll go from a mini fridge to a full kitchen. You’ll lose access to your beloved dining halls, where you could go for every meal and have unlimited access to an array of cuisines. Unfortunately, once you walk the stage, you’ll be on your own when it comes to food. You might have done some light grocery shopping as a college student — if buying frozen meals counts. But once you leave college life behind, you’ll be tasked with actual grocery shopping. This can seem intimidating — and expensive. But it doesn’t have to be!
Scope out the most budget-friendly stores.
Whether you’re moving to a new city or just a new living space, it’s important to figure out what budget-friendly grocery stores exist near you. It can be tempting to settle for the supermarket that’s down the street, but you might be able to find better deals if you venture further. You should also make it a point to see if there’s a Trader Joe’s near you — just because you’re no longer a college student doesn’t mean you can’t still indulge in your favorite college meals. Plus, we all know how great the Trader Joe’s prices are. For things like fresh fruit and produce, check to see if there’s any farmer’s markets in your area. These are a great place to get fresh, cheap fruits and vegetables that will last you a while.
Plan out your meals.
This can seem daunting at first, and a bit tedious. Planning out your meals doesn’t necessarily mean meal prepping — you don’t need to pre-cut your vegetables or prepare your meat in advance if you don’t want to. Meal planning simply means having a rough idea of what you’ll be eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week so that when you go to the grocery store, you know exactly what to get. Think about your schedule for the week, what days you might be eating out, and what meals you’d like to eat that week. By having a plan for what you’ll be cooking, you’ll leave the grocery store without anything extra.
Curate a basic list.
Everyone’s grocery list will look different, depending on your taste preferences and dietary requirements — but something that every post-grad student should do is establish a basic grocery list that can be used every time they go shopping. Things like rice and pasta should be recurring items on your list. They can be used in endless, easy recipes. Rice is one of the main ingredients in this super easy tuna and rice bowl that TikToker LetZannaCook shared.
Vegetables like onions and potatoes are also extremely versatile and used in so many recipes, so it’s good to add them to your list. Frozen vegetables — especially the mixed vegetables — are also a great addition. The same goes for eggs. They’re a cheap protein and can be used alone for breakfast, or added to a dinner dish, like fried rice. For meat, you can’t go wrong with sausage or ground beef.
Think about leftovers.
When you’re planning your meals and browsing in the grocery store, think about how you can get the most meals out of everything you cook. This can also be really helpful if you’re living a busy life post-grad — the time you spend cooking dinner can be made up when you have leftovers you can easily heat up for lunch the next day. You can also add a side to your leftovers, like a side of rice or a fruit. Throw leftover vegetables from a salad into an oven for a meal of roasted vegetables, or add them to rice the next day for a stir fry.