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When you leave home to be a student, it may be the first time you've really had to cook for yourself, day in day out. We've put together some tips to help students eat well on a budget.

Food shopping

Savvy shopping

Make a shopping list. It saves hassle, duplication and reduces the temptation to get things you don't need. Don't shop when you're hungry! If you're lucky enough to have a local market, make it your first destination for food. Fruit and veg are often cheaper than supermarkets, especially at the end of the day. And you're supporting your local community. For the things that you have to go to the supermarket for, try all their own label products to see which ones you like. Buy in bulk - particularly if it's on offer.

Diet

Stay sharp, avoid the fresher flab

Many students put on weight in their first year of university because they eat badly. But by following some basic rules, this needn't happen. Good food keeps you more alert and more able to concentrate on your studies.

Healthy eating in a nutshell

By now you'll probably know what a healthy diet looks like. The key is variety, with fruit and vegetables every day. Ideally five servings of them. And of course the obvious things like keeping fried food to a minimum, and going for whole foods, such as brown bread instead of white. Water is important too - try to always have a plastic bottle of water in your bag that you can just fill up whenever you see a tap. Apart from water being good for you, being fully hydrated keeps your brain and body alert.

Getting your fruit and vegetables

Always have fruit in a bowl at home so that you are tempted to have some. Have a couple of fruits in your bag at all times in case you fancy a snack. Include veg in every possible meal - until it becomes second nature. Buy or ask for a present of a liquidiser when you leave home - it's the key to easy, nutritious soup whenever you want. A hand-held one will do, and you can clean it in seconds. Then you can turn chopped veg into soup in no time at all, and have loads of fun trying out different ingredients.

Exam and deadline eating hazards

During stressful periods it's tempting to eat unhealthy comfort food and snacks. You tell yourself you're too busy to cook - and anyway, you deserve it. But what you're actually doing is punishing your body and brain, and hampering your studies. Good food keeps you alert and gives you stamina, bad food makes it more difficult to concentrate and leaves you tired.

A side degree in eating

Yet another reason why it's good to think about your food and diet is that it sets you up with great eating habits for life. See it as a kind of course all of its own.

Cooking

Make it yourself, and make it fun

If it seems like a chore to cook for yourself, then you're probably not going about it the right way. It's important to make cooking fun or you won't do it nearly as much. Planning is all part of the enjoyment to be had. Think about what you really fancy - it might be something you saw on telly or in a magazine - then look about on the internet for recipe ideas, or ask your mates if they've got any suggestions. Then decide what day you'll cook it and invite people round. Take the recipe to the supermarket with you to make the shopping easy and stress-free. You might need to start cooking an hour or so before your guests arrive, but tell them they can always come round earlier if they don't mind chatting to you while you cook. Some people actually really like this 'kitchen time'!

Breakfast of champions

It's healthier to eat breakfast than to skip it. The main reason for this is that if you miss it you'll be hungry by mid-morning and will be more likely to eat unhealthy snacks. A good breakfast will help you keep alert all morning too, which will help you focus in those lectures. Try to avoid very sugary cereals, and avoid having a fry-up too often. Fruit is great. Porridge is too, because it's nutritious, is a source of slow-release carbohydrate that keeps your blood sugar steady all morning, and is easy to prepare.

Basics to keep you out of trouble

Fast food is best avoided for obvious reasons, takeaways are also best kept to a minimum for financial and - in some cases - health reasons; and eating out is obviously a costly treat. So you need to make it easy to eat in, rather than give yourself the excuse to do any of these things. Always have basics in your cupboard that allow you to throw together something cheap and cheerful in an emergency. Things like baked beans, jars of pesto, pasta, cans of tuna. Keep half a sliced loaf in the freezer in case you're caught without - you can break off slices and toast them easily.

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