A Guide to Meal Planning

The easy way to eat healthy, without breaking the bank.

College is expensive, obviously. But an unexpected expense that all students are quick to realize is food. When first coming to college, you don’t realize how difficult it is to eat on a budget. A few months later and halfway through your semester, you realize you’ve already breezed through your declining balance. The best way to budget your diet is through meal planning. Not only is meal prepping the cheapest way to get through college, but it can also be a great way to eat healthy.

“Not only is meal prepping the cheapest way to get through college, but it can also be a great way to eat healthy.”

Here are all the questions you have about meal prepping, answered by your fellow college bargain hunter.

1. What is meal prepping?

Meal prepping/planning is a way to organize your meals. In one day, you cook and organize all your meals to last you an entire week. There are many different ways to meal prep. If you live in a dorm, I would suggest the method of cooking all of your meals and packaging them individually for refrigeration. The way you can simply take out a meal, pop it into you 700-watt microwave, and live your life. However, if you have a kitchen, cooking all the ingredients separately gives you more freedom meal-to-meal. Heat up the ingredients you want on a given day and save the rest for another time. Choose what works for you.

2. What should I meal prep?

To meal prep, buy all (or most) of your ingredients for the week at the same time. This makes purchasing your food more expensive on the front end, but much cheaper in the long run. Usually when prepping, the cost of a larger grocery store visit can range anywhere from $50 to $100. Although those numbers sound daunting, that upfront cost will provide you with meals for the entire week. That’s only $2.38 to $4.76 per meal. These meals are not only much cheaper than having to pay $10 for every purchase, but, they’re also good for you. You’ll be able to eat actual vegetables, something unheard of on a college campus.

3. How do I get started

There are a number of videos, articles, and books about how to meal prep for cheap. I would start with your protein, then work out from there. Chicken thighs are great for you and won’t break the bank. If you’re vegan, tofu is also an amazing source of protein. Next, consider what would go well with your protein. Think grains, vegetables, and/or fruit. Whatever you decide, plan it out and limit the ingredients as much as possible. See what you could use in multiple dishes and what you could substitute for something in another recipe. Make a list of all the ingredients you need and don’t stray from it- trust me, it’s a slippery slope.

Storage and preparation are up to you. Make this your own and have fun with it. After all, it’s important to enjoy the food you eat. There are a ton of recipes online so start off with some research and find what you like best.