How to Grocery Shop as a College Student
If there is one thing I’ve learned from moving out of my parents house, it is that you have to get good at grocery shopping. In my opinion, grocery shopping for one is much more different than any other number. From the food going bad to getting bored of the food you have, it takes a while to be able to “master” grocery shopping for yourself and only yourself.
Over the past couple of months, I have found some rhythm to being able to buy groceries, keep my meals interesting, and not letting my food go bad before I can eat it. With that, I thought it would be fun to share my tips and current grocery shopping plan!
My Grocery Shopping Plan
When you have the opportunity to buy whatever groceries you want, it is hard to make yourself set boundaries with what you should and shouldn’t get. A couple months ago, I made a plan that I go by every time I grocery shop. It looks a little something like this:
2 Proteins (I grab ground turkey and either salmon or chicken)
2 Fruits (I like to grab berries for breakfast, and apples since they last a while!)
2 Veggies (I usually do lettuce for salads, and bell peppers for snacking)
1 Frozen Veggie (frozen broccoli is my go-to)
1 Frozen Meal (trader joes has the best frozen options!)
1 Grain (pasta or tortillas depending on my meals I have planned out)
My Non-Negotiables
These are things I get every time I go grocery shopping no matter what, that I don’t limit myself to a category for!
eggs
yogurt
bread
specialty drink (either kombucha or a probiotic soda)
cheese (either shredded cheese or block cheese but never both- I’m not a huge cheese girl lol)
Planning my grocery list out like this allows me to make sure I eat everything and nothing goes bad. It helps to have a plan so that I am not just buying “whatever looks good” at the grocery store, but I’m actually buying things I enjoy and know I will eat.
Tips for Grocery Shopping for one person
FREEEZE FREEZE FREEZE!!!
One of the hardest things that come with shopping for one person is the food going bad quickly. My biggest piece of advice is to freeze everything you can- whether that be vegetables, fruit for smoothies, or your bread, it helps so much!
Prep your food as much as you can
Something that helps me be able to actually eat all the food I buy is prepping my food as soon as I get home from shopping. As I put my groceries away, I was, prep, and cut all the food I can so I am more likely to eat it.
Keep your food where you can see it
Maybe it’s just me, but if I can’t see my food when I first open the fridge, I forget it is there and I let it go bad. Something I do to combat this is putting my food in clear or open containers when I can, and constantly cleaning my fridge out so nothing gets pushed to the back.
Don’t buy big portions of a snack craving
This is something I used to struggle with a lot. I would crave a certain snack and buy a large bag of it because it was “cheaper” than buying multiple small ones. This issue with this is that even though I thought I would want it later on, I would always just eat one serving of it and be done with it. Now, I will buy the smallest bag and if I want more later (which rarely happens), I just go and buy another small bag.
Plan out your meals
Before you go grocery shopping, plan out the meals you are going to eat that week so that you aren’t stuck buying random ingredients and foods that you don’t know what to do with.
