Navigating food costs is a difficult task for some young adults as prices have risen amid the pressure of rent, car payments, insurance and student loans.
Four college students and recent graduates shared their decision-making process about food.
Buy in bulk
Brett Becker, a junior at the University of Georgia, splits his money between a commuter meal plan for students who live off-campus and shopping at bulk retailers.
“I get a meal a day basically for the whole year and I can stay there as long as I want, so that really constitutes most of the actual food that I eat,” Becker said, of the meal plan at the dining halls.
To compensate for his other meals, Becker sticks to the frozen section over fresh produce because he said the food can last longer and is cheaper.
“I feel like produce is so super expensive, so I’ve had to be really careful about where I go to buy,” he said. “I really try to go to, like, Costco or Sam’s Club and load up.”
Split cooking and dining out
Rachel Szulewski, a leasing professional at a housing property in Athens, knows the importance of trying to make her dollar stretch in the supermarket while prices continue to rise.
To stretch her grocery budget of $150 for herself and her husband, Szulewski shops at Trader Joe’s and the local farmer’s market for the best deals. The pair also mostly eat at home during the week, but allow themselves to splurge on the weekends.
“We have four or five meals we always eat throughout the week,” she said. “Fridays we eat out for dinner and on the weekends.”
Use a rewards program
Christina Bishop, an adapted special education teacher in the Clarke County School District, said she shops at Kroger because of convenience and the reward points for gas.
“It only takes me about five minutes to get there,” she said. “Right now [in] a lot of the grocery stores, the prices are the same and I can save money by not traveling so far.”
She uses her Kroger card to receive discounts and accumulate rewards.
“I also get fuel points at Kroger. I get my gas at Kroger,” Bishop said. “I get my groceries at Kroger. I use my Kroger card which takes a little tiny bit off, but I feel like I (am) getting something off.”
Opt for cheap take out
Drew Fincher, a recent University of Georgia graduate, finds the task of grocery shopping to be daunting, so he dodges the grocery store and opts for take out.
“It’s so much cheaper if I go to McDonald’s and get a number seven two cheeseburger meal versus going to Kroger and buying eight meals worth of food that I also have to cook,” Fincher said.
This story is written by the Covering Poverty project, which is part of the Cox Institute’s Journalism Writing Lab at the University of Georgia.
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