Hey y’all! It’s your girl Nimrat here, ready to give you some life-saving tips on how to grocery shop like a pro. If it’s your first time moving out, no one warns you how tricky it can be to figure out how to buy groceries for yourself. So, to help you not get scurvy, I’ve written five foolproof tips on grocery shopping. Sit down and buckle up for Groceries 101: class is now in session.
1. Make a budget before you go – and stick to it!
Making a budget sounds like basic advice, but it’s a necessary step to the grocery shopping experience! Especially in this economy, and working with a student’s budget, groceries can get costly quickly. Use your first grocery run to get a rough estimate of how much money you typically spend on groceries. That estimate should become the budget you aim to stick to for every grocery trip. This will stop you from picking up stuff you don’t need, and save money!
2. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 method (and adjust accordingly)
The 5-4-3-2-1 method works like this: you buy five veggies, four proteins, three fruits, two starches, and one fun item every time you go grocery shopping. As a student, you can likely scale this back and adjust it to your needs, but the point of the method is to ensure you have a good balance of fruits, veggies, and proteins daily to fuel your brain. Remember that frozen veggies and fruits also count, and are a great, affordable way to get your vitamins. Don’t let yourself get scurvy!
3. Leftovers are your friend
No one has time to cook something every single night and day. Making bigger batches of food can be great meal prep. You won’t spend money on lunch every day, and you’ll save time in the week you’d typically spend cooking. Try to scale your groceries so that you buy enough for more than one portion of a meal, rather than shopping for single-portion meals.
4. Plan four recipes and three easy meals
You can adjust this to your needs, but when grocery shopping, decide on three to four meals you will cook yourself. Pick some recipes you know you love, or want to try. Choose these meals based on your schedule – For busier schedules, you may have more “easy” meals. Think anything easy peasy to make – I’m talking about a frozen pizza, or ramen. Something quick that takes little effort and energy. During weeks that you have more time, buy more ingredients and get cooking!
5. Stick to what you know
Getting adventurous with cooking is great, but it can be a risk when you have limited funds and time. Stick with recipes/meals you know you love (make a list of them to keep track of them if you need to) and rotate through these meals during the week. If you want, you can let yourself have 1 adventurous recipe; however, most days you should focus on stuff you already know how to make, and most importantly, that you already love.
6. Bonus for commuter students: GET A GRANNY CART
Who cares if it’s embarrassing? You NEED IT. Getting a granny cart/some form of shopping cart in my first year saved me SO MUCH hassle with getting groceries on the bus. If you don’t want to struggle, just give in and buy one. I got mine from Walmart!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nimrat Dhaliwal is a fourth-year English major originally from Calgary, Alberta. She is passionate about writing and creating art and is deeply invested in activism and social justice. You can almost always find Nimrat jamming out to music and ranting about her favourite albums. Or you can find her at the thrift store, finding new pieces for her many incredible outfits. Her favourite thing to do in Kelowna is explore new places (and find the best places to eat) with her friends 
