How to do a weekly shop like your mum, but on a student budget

Online shopping means less temptation

Write a list of essentials you need and set yourself a spending limit. If you can be organised, it’s worth doing your weekly shop online and splitting the cost with your housemates. Why? Usually there’s a minimum spend online and it’s much easier to keep a tally on what you’ve spent by looking at your shopping basket total.

It’s also a good idea to start off with the special offers to see if you can save on products already on your shopping list. Because you’re not walking around the physical supermarket, there’s also less chance for temptation to take over, meaning you can better stick within budget and won’t get home with extra items you didn’t need (yes, hangover, we totally blame you for caving in to that family sized tin of biscuits!)

Late night shopping = discounts galore

If you live close to a supermarket and can pop in later in the evening the reduced section could become your biggest money saver yet. Often items with a short shelf life will be reduced here as supermarkets try to sell off goods which have a sell by date approaching.

Be careful to check that the reduction is actually worthwhile though. At the very least the products should have half discounted off of the original price – 10p off is not a bargain.

Also, only buy something if you know you will be eating it that day or it can be frozen for later use, which brings us on to the next point…

Utilise your freezer

Bulk buying meat from your butchers or snapping up reduced packs of meat at the supermarket means you can pick meat up at a cheaper price and freeze it to use later. Just make sure you defrost it safely before cooking, following the instructions on the packet.

A top tip is to buy some freezer bags and put singular portions of meat/fish in them, so you do not have to defrost more than a single serving at a time.

Milk and bread can also be frozen and kept in your freezer until needed. Frozen sliced bread can be popped straight in the toaster meaning you’ll never have to worry about mouldy bread either!

Sign up for a membership card

Most supermarkets offer the chance to sign up to join a members club which gives you access to more offers and money saving coupons. For example, Tesco Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar can help you save on everyday items like pasta, cereal, loo roll and washing-up liquid. Oh yes, student life is glamorous!

It’s also worth downloading supermarket apps like Lidl Plus or Asda Rewards, as these often give you personalised offers or money-off vouchers. Just make sure you’re only using them for things you were going to buy anyway. A “deal” on three tubs of ice cream is still not a saving if you only went in for bread.

Swap ingredients

There can often be a cheaper way to make your favourite recipes such as using tins of chopped tomatoes to make a pasta sauce, using frozen fruit to create yummy smoothies, choosing dry noodles over fresh ones, or swapping beef mince for soy mince to make a cottage pie.

NEXT: 15 student meal ideas you've got to try cooking