I would love to say that I definitely wasn’t a stereotypical student during my time at university but in all honesty I probably was. Constantly short of cash, always a little hungover and very keen to eat anything and everything I could get my hands on. When Sarah asked for some tips on writing a survival guide for new students, I figured it would be a good idea to pass on some tips and tricks to help get you through the hectic opening weeks!
Learn to cook at least one nutritional meal – There’s only so long you can live off pizza (almost 7 years now…) so make sure you can cook at least one meal that will fuel your late night cramming sessions. For me it was a simple dish; chicken, green beans and brown rice!
Buy some cupboard essentials in your first week - This is super important! I wish I’d bought more cupboard essentials during my time at university as these are great when funds are running low. Beans, rice, pasta, tinned tomatoes, noodles and cereal saved my life on more than one occasion.
Shop online – When in store there is always the temptation to add a couple frozen pizzas, a variety bag of chocolate biscuits, the special offer pack of 10 ice creams and a small selection of 40 chicken dippers to your trolley. If you shop online, you’re much less at risk of being tempted by such delicacies! It definitely helps to save money in the long run and also means your arms will hurt a lot less from not having to carry the bags from the super market.
Have a curry / pizza evening once a week (or once a day) – Takeaways are great, I’m a massive fan of the takeaway. However, it does make a lot of sense to limit how many takeaways you have. If you can limit yourself to just one takeaway a week then you’ll find yourself a lot better off, both in terms of how you feel on a health level as well as on a finance level.
Finally, here’s my list off kitchen essentials that I may have forgotten to buy and 100% needed!
Colourworks Blue Can Opener with Soft Touch Handle
Colourworks Green Pizza Cutter with Soft Touch Panel
Colourworks Orange Swivel Peeler with Soft Touch Panel
Colourworks Silicone Headed Masher
Master Class Professional Heavy Duty 28cm Frypan
Kitchen Craft Stainless Steel Three Piece Saucepan Set
Tom