Being a college student myself, and spending upwards of $25,000 a year on school, sometimes I don't get to eat at 5 star restaurants. Usually there are no stars involved in my food. I may not have much extra money lying around but I still manage to not only eat but eat healthy.
The number one resource for eating on the cheap is discount groceries. Living in Chicago I don't have a hard time finding these, Aldi's for instance. Another thing to consider when wanting to eat cheap and healthy, don't shop at specialty grocery stores, like Whole Foods or Fresh Market. They may have a wine and cheese bar but you're generally looking at 20% higher prices for foods. Even the discounted food at these places is still above the average price at a regular or discount grocery.
If you are in a city that has a Cosco I highly recommend this option. Cosco sells higher quantity foods that end up saving you money. You may not need 4 boxes of Cheerios right now, but you will get to them eventually, and cut down on travel cost because you are visiting the grocery less.
If you can save 20-30% on groceries per visit, then after a year of grocery shopping you're looking at a few hundred dollars saved. These savings compound as you go from shopping for one person to a multi person household.
The last tips I can recommend for saving money on groceries is possibly the best and most unused facet. If you have the time or really want to save some money, you can visit produce markets or deli's to buy specific foods. Living in Chicago I have access to many of these. The amount of difference you can expect to find with fruit for example is about 70% cheaper than a regular grocery. Even Cosco can't beat prices that a local produce and fruit store have. The reason for this is because a lot of these buy directly from the farmers instead of going through distributors, trucking services, big companies, etc etc. If you don't live in a larger city, most medium sized cities will have a farmers market at least once a week, where you can buy directly from farmers as well.
I've gone to my local produce seller before and been given trays upon trays of strawberries and blueberries... FOR FREE! Just because they can't get rid of them in time, so they end up giving them away instead of throwing them away like Groceries. You also get the benefit of developing a first name basis with your food supplier, which is a great benefit for saving money!
This theory also works great if you live in a big city and go into Hispanic, Asian or European neighborhoods. Many of the local groceries in these areas will have products sold much cheaper than at your “normal” grocery store because at these places the food isn't “exotic.” For instance I was in Chinatown and could buy Peanut Oil to cook with for about 85% cheaper and in bigger quantity than at my local grocery store. Yes, 85% CHEAPER!
Summary
- Buy in Bulk
- Shop at Discount Grocers, not specialty groceries
- Hunt for bargains within your grocery store
- Diversify where you shop
