Spending money while in college can put a hole in your pocket. That's why eating on a balanced budget is key.

Cheap Meal Ideas Too tired from studying to head out? Consider the following inexpensive meal alternatives: 1. Pasta and basic spaghetti sauce. 2. Home-made baked potatoes. 3. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 4. Pizza (Remember: When the cost is split between three or more people, it's more economically feasible). 5. Grabbing a meal from a fast food restaurant's 99 cent menu.

A Buck a Day Still Makes for a Tasty Meal
By Sophia Santana
June/July 2002

The CollegeBound Network NewsClick -- When grabbing eats from a vending machine, you're paying extra for the convenience. But on a student's budget, those prices can be anything but convenient. For the price of a small bag of chips, you could probably buy enough food for two meals. And it's not as difficult as you think.

"The hardest part of college for me has been living on a small budget," says Anthony Diez, a student at Florida International University, Miami, FL. "I've met people who eat junk food every day and never have money for gas. So I decided to start planning my meals so I don't turn out like that."

Every weekend, Anthony buys his groceries for the week -- usually two boxes of pasta, a jar of spaghetti sauce, some fruit, and a box of cereal. He says he rarely goes over $10. Using a hot plate in his dorm room, Anthony cooks the pasta and refrigerates it. Then, every morning before going to class, he'll pack up some cereal in a Zip-Loc bag and take a container of pasta with sauce to class.

When Anthony gets time during the day, he stops by the cafeteria and spends 60 cents on a small carton of milk and dumps some of it into the bag, which believe it or not, holds up pretty well as a make-shift cereal bowl when you hold it from the bottom.

By mid-day or whenever he's hungry again, Anthony eats the spaghetti. He says he doesn't mind eating it a little cold, although most campuses have microwaves that students can use. For dinner, he usually orders a pizza with friends, splitting the cost, of course.

"I'm eating well and have money left over to go out on the weekend," insists Anthony, who is a waiter in a restaurant. "The only difficult part is waiting in line in the supermarket."