One of the hardest things as a student is to stay healthy, while adhering to a small budget.
Over the last few years I’ve picked up on some really great ways to stay healthy and save money while being a student.
Obviously, people can eat whatever they like and however they want, and sometimes there really is nothing better than ordering a massive takeaway all for yourself, but these are just bits of advice that I wish I had when I started university, and things that people may find useful.
- Bring a packed lunch to Uni as much as possible
So many times I have gone to my library cafe for lunch, spending up to £5 on an overpriced unbalanced lunch! Our uni cafe also charges you 50p if you pay by card, so I must have lost quite a lot of money due to that fee over the years!
When you make dinner the night before, also preparing a quick sandwich or salad for lunch the next day can save so much money, and is usually much healthier! It also gives you complete control over what you want to eat, so you know that you have got something you are going to like. I always find that tuna is really great as it’s quick to prepare and full of protein, as are boiled eggs 🙂
Preparing it the night before means that when you get up for lectures the next day all you have to do is grab it out the fridge and set off.
Our university also has free microwaves in the cafes that we are allowed to use to heat up our lunch, and I’m sure that a lot of universities offer this too, so it may be worth checking if you can heat things up at university because then you have a wider range of food you can make!
- Cook more portions than you need and then freeze the rest
When it comes to cooking for one every night, the hardest thing is that most products you buy are for more than one person! For example vegetables and meat always come in packs that serve more than one. What I’ve found to be cost efficient is to cook a meal that will serve two (or even more) and then freeze the remainder of it in a freezer box. This means that if you are in a hurry, you will have a healthy meal in your freezer that you can microwave, instead of having to buy a ready meal which is costly, or eat out! This also means that a food shop you do for the week can last much longer and you throw away less fresh food because one of the biggest issues that I have is trying to eat fresh food in time before it goes out of date.
- Educate yourself on healthy eating
So many people go to university not knowing the basics on healthy eating, as they always have had their food prepared for them by their parents, and then they end up not eating a balanced diet. Having a balanced diet is important to help you concentrate and feel more energised, as too much junk food can make you feel sluggish and depressed.
There are loads of free resources available on eating right, the NHS website has lots of resources including this great article on tips for healthy eating:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/eight-tips-healthy-eating.aspx
And BBC Goodfood also has quite a lot of information including guildeline amounts of how much of each type of food you should be having, and what 1 portion looks like of things: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/balanced-diet-men
Finally, if you have a smartphone I would definitely recommend downloading the app myfitnesspal. It is a free app and you don’t need to use it every day or anything, I hardly ever remember in fact! But they post some really good content on their blog, and if you did want to count your calories then this one is the best app to use, as it also breaks down carbohydrates, fat and protein. Although calories is a rough guideline, more important is what type of food you are having! You can pretty much scan anything with your camera and the nutritional information will be saved of that item, and it comes up with little positives and negatives about the different foods!
- Always carry a bottle of water with you
I always try and take a bottle of water to uni with me every day as the positives of drinking a lot of water are endless. It’s good for your skin, your energy and it can stop you feeling hungry during the day. This article lists all the positives about drinking more water. It is advised that you should be drinking 2-3 litres of water a day, and water is totally free! If you take a bottle round with you, you can fill it up throughout the day at no cost.
- Try and eat breakfast every day
I’m definitely someone who regularly wakes up too late to make breakfast for myself, but those times that I do eat breakfast in the morning I definitely can tell a difference. Breakfast makes me less hungry in the evenings, and makes me more alert for my day. It’s definitely one of my favourite meals of the day, plus it is usually quite cheap! Boiled eggs are great in the morning as they are quick, as are instant porridge sachets for the winter when it is cold! Cereal, yoghurt and toast are also quite quick things to prepare and can be quite cheap as well.
- Make a food plan before you food shop
Making a food plan is a brilliant way to save a lot of money while food shopping, as you can plan your meals for the week and know exactly what ingredients you need to buy. Before I planned my food, I’d end up just buying whatever I thought I needed, and my food shops got really expensive, I ended up throwing a lot of food away that I didn’t eat, and having a lot of spare stuff lying around. It maybe takes about an hour a week just to write down what meals you want to make that week and what ingredients you do not have that you need to buy. It also means that you are guaranteed a balanced meal every day as you have planned for it, loads of times I will make a meal and realise that I have run out of vegetables, or do not have enough protein in there, this stops that from happening!
- Be open-minded to trying new foods
Making simple switches can sometimes save you a lot of money! For example, sometimes instead of having minced meat you can swap it for minced quorn instead. It is not always as tasty, but can be a lot cheaper and healthier! My favourite swap is a pizza with a cauliflower base (http://greatist.com/eat/recipes/cauliflower-crust-pizza)! Another thing, as a meat eater you do not have to eat meat every day, as meat is a huge expense! Fish can be quite pricey also, but trying to include fish at least once in your week will mean you have enough omega-3 and fish has a lot less fat than some meat! I know some people ‘don’t like fish’ but trying new recipes and being a little open minded may mean you find a fish that you like. I always get all my recipes on Pinterest. Some of them look amazing! Trying new foods could make it a lot easier to make a cheaper food shop, as you have more choice over what to buy.
- Take advantage of free trials at gyms
Where I live, I know of at least three different gyms walking vicinity to me. Most gyms offer a free trial of a few days, so if you are thinking of joining a gym, take advantage of the free trials first! For one, if you use all of them you could get up to a week for free, and another you may realise that it’s not the right gym for you or that you do not think you will use it enough. In that case, you have saved paying a sign up fee and a month of gym. Be aware that they will try and talk you into joining though, so you will have to have a strong stance of saying no! If you do want to join a gym though, the university gyms are usually the best as some of them will do contracts for the university year (september-june) so you do not have to pay over the summer, and they usually are discounted/the cheapest.
- The gym is not the only way to get exercise
If you cannot afford a gym membership there are plenty of free/cheaper ways to do exercise! The gym isn’t for everyone anyway, some people cannot stand it. Most universities have societies with all sorts of sports, and if you aren’t the competitive type, a lot of universities run exercise classes that are usually free or charge a small fee. As well as that, running can be a great way of getting free exercise done. Signing up for a run can give you motivation to train, and usually means you make quite a lot of money for charity. Also, finding out where the leisure centre is and what they offer (plus any student discounts available) can give you great activities to do for one off fees. Our university runs a “swim for £1” scheme on wednesdays, where it only costs £1 to go swimming at the leisure centre. So, find out if your university has any schemes or partnerships with local leisure centres too!
Fitnessblender (https://www.fitnessblender.com/) is also a great place to go to get free workout videos, plus they cater for everyone (beginner/advanced/etc!). They also have a really good attitude about being body-positive and not pushing anyone too hard.
As well as this, simple things such as walking to university every day instead of getting the bus/a taxi can make a lot of difference!
- Get enough sleep!
This ones free, and will make you feel so much more energised and proactive. Having 8 hours a night of sleep will make you feel more refreshed and ready to face the day.
With all the money that will be saved from following all these points, you can treat yourself every so often with a nice Starbucks or meal out! If you treat yourself less often on money that you have saved, it feels more special and you feel less guilty about spending the money 🙂
I hope these points helped someone, even if you aren’t a student a lot of them are good practice anyway, and great ways to save money without sacrificing your health! I’m no expert on any of this, only speaking from experience so apologies if I got anything wrong!
Yasmin B 