A student's week usually runs into two things: little money and little time. A good basket solves both. It is made of inexpensive products that keep long and from which a hot meal is easy to make in twenty minutes. Below are the set, a menu for a week and a few tricks that work in a dorm and in a rented flat.

What goes in a student's basket

The base is grain and pasta: buckwheat, rice, pasta, sometimes oats and millet. They are cheap, do not spoil for months and are filling. Next to them come eggs, potatoes, onions, carrots, bread and tea. These are the "products for everything".

On top add what you like and can afford: sausage, cheese, instant noodles, a bit of fruit. But remember that this is seasoning, not the foundation. Here is the set and the places where it is now better to assemble it:

What it costs: Student basket: cheap groceries for the week

The whole set at the best prices164.14 leiFound 8 of 9 items

Where to get the set

  • METRO6 of 9 itemsMost items
    551.50 leiMissing: Buckwheat, Eggs, Instant noodles
  • Family Market5 of 9 items
    198.55 leiMissing: Rice, Buckwheat, Eggs, Instant noodles
  • Kaufland5 of 9 items
    212.65 leiMissing: Pasta, Rice, Buckwheat, Eggs
  • Nr14 of 9 items
    109.65 leiMissing: Rice, Buckwheat, Eggs, Instant noodles, Potatoes
The whole basket

A week's menu: ideas

Below are not recipes but ideas. Each can be made in one pot:

  • Monday: buckwheat with fried onion and egg.
  • Tuesday: pasta with vegetables and grated cheese, if you have it.
  • Wednesday: potatoes boiled in their skins, with onion and a pickled cucumber.
  • Thursday: rice with carrot and sausage cut in cubes.
  • Friday: omelette with bread and a vegetable salad.
  • Saturday: potato and grain soup, for two days.
  • Sunday: fried potatoes with egg, or the week's leftovers.

Breakfast: porridge or a sandwich with egg, and tea. Lunch: what is left from yesterday. That is enough not to cook every evening.

Eggs, the student's best friend

Eggs are inexpensive protein that cooks in five minutes: omelette, fried, boiled, in soup, in salad, in pancake batter. They keep long if stored cool. They are best compared by price per piece.

Here are egg offers in different shops:

Where it is cheaper: eggs

This is not in the current catalogues right now: eggs. As soon as it shows up in a promotion, the cards will appear here.

Search the catalogues for something similar

Instant noodles: how to turn them into a meal

Noodles are a lifesaver on a day when you have nothing. But on their own they are little food: lots of salt and starch, little of what keeps you full for long. Make them fuller: add an egg straight into the boiling water, a handful of frozen vegetables or chopped cucumber and herbs. Split the pack into two portions with bread.

The rule: noodles once or twice a week, not daily. As soon as you notice the plate from the same sachet bores you, replace it with grain and egg: for the same money you get more food.

Sausage and frankfurters: how much and how

Sausage is a convenient option for sandwiches and as an addition to rice, pasta and potatoes. Take it on offer and slice it thin: a kilogram lasts a week if you put pieces into dishes and do not eat it as the main course. Look at the ingredients and at the price per kilogram.

Sausage offers in the catalogues now:

In the catalogues now: sausages and cold cuts

All offers

Expensive sausage can be replaced by boiled meat or a chicken thigh, if you can bake it in an oven.

Vegetables, herbs, fruit

Of vegetables the cheapest and longest-keeping are potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbage. They last a week and more. Take fresh cucumbers and tomatoes in season, and in winter replace them with sauerkraut or pickled cucumbers.

Which vegetables are on offer now:

In the catalogues now: vegetables

All offers

Fruit: apples and bananas, if on offer. Do not take cut and packed portions: you pay for work that you do yourself in a minute.

How to split shopping with housemates

If you live with others, agree on a pooled fund for the "shared" goods: oil, salt, tea, grain, potatoes. Large packs are cheaper per kilogram. Separately everyone has their own: dairy, sausage, sweets. That way there are no arguments about whose it is.

Keep a note in your phone with the list of shared purchases and write who paid. Once a month settle up. A simple system removes resentment and saves money for everyone. The method of working out the price is explained in the article on price per kilogram.

A checklist for the week

  • Make a menu for the week of five or six simple dishes.
  • Check what is in the cupboard and complete the list.
  • Look at discounts and catalogues and take what is on your list.
  • Buy the base at once, top up the fresh things.
  • Cook for two days and keep it in closed containers.

If you need an even shorter list, look at the minimum basket. General habits are collected in the article how to save on groceries.