It can be tough eating healthily in college without spending a small fortune in college restaurants. So I’ve just put together some simple tips for saving money on food in college without sacrificing healthy eating.

• Bring lunch to college whenever you can, not only will you avoid spending lots of money on below average food on campus, you’ll most likely eat healthier foods too!
• Meal prep; this goes hand in hand with my first tip. Preparing your meals in bulk reduces the time you spend cooking, enables you to bring lunch into college every day and ensures you always have something in the fridge that you can heat up if you need food quickly, instead of buying a pizza or chicken fillet roll!
• Learn to love eggs! Eggs are the cheapest form of animal protein, which is usually the most expensive component of a meal. Eggs are full of so many vitamins and mineral, as well as having a combination of fat and protein to keep you full while you study. There are so many dishes you can cook with eggs; you’re bound to find one you love.
• Avoid getting takeaways for dinner, not only are these full of trans fats, salt and MSGs, but buying takeaways regularly can end up being pretty expensive.
• Start using dried legumes. These are about a quarter of the price of canned legumes and much tastier! Adding pulses and beans to you meals increases the amount of fibre, which very few Irish people get enough of. They’re a great source of protein so you can reduce the amount of meat you use in a dish, or leave it out completely.
• Use frozen fruit and vegetables. These are substantially cheaper than fresh fruit and veg, and also won’t go off as quickly, so you’ll have less food waste too!
• Take advantage of any freebies being given out in college. Many colleges give out free samples of foods out as part of promoting different products, make the most of this and grab some whenever they’re on offer!