An empty stomach doesn't have to lead to an empty wallet.
Jillian Lewandowski, senior in human development and family studies, finds grocery shopping saves her the most money.
Lewandowski said since being in college, she has noticed she could spend up to $20 on a meal at a nicer restaurant when drinks and sides are factored in.
"But if I was to go to the grocery store and try to replicate the same meal--say I had chicken and rice, but have several pieces of chicken and have enough rice to last me as leftovers--it costs a lot less than $20 or so, and I get more meals out of it," Lewandowski said.
Andrew Eshelman, senior in finance and economics, agreed grocery shopping is cheaper and said you can control what you buy.
"You can make a meal for $2 or $3 rather than paying 10 bucks for a meal that you could have made in 20 or 30 minutes," Eshelman said. "It's just the time that people don't want to put in, that's the main thing."
To save money at the grocery store, Lewandowski looks for sales, and at a store like Kroger, uses the Kroger Plus card to save more on particular items.
Eshelman and his roommates save by buying in bulk, and make the food last longer by freezing it.
"We buy in bulk and go together as roommates to split it up," Eshelman said. "Really once you boil it down per person, you get way more money shopping at Sam's or Costco."
Eshelman said another positive aspect of buying in bulk is they can buy more for a cheaper price.
"If you go by per-unit price, whatever that is, it's way cheaper to buy in bulk," Eshelman said. "I spent $66 at Sam's last time I went, and I really think if I had spent that $66 somewhere else, say at Kroger or Publix, I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much food to last as long."
Blake Menke, senior in public relations, has found eating out to be cheaper than grocery shopping.
"When I was a freshman, I had the on-campus required eating plan so I was in the habit of not buying groceries and just buying meals on campus," Menke said. "When I moved to my apartment last year, I realized that to buy a week of groceries was about $50 to $60, and when I would eat out I would spend about $40 a week at most."
To save money on eating out, Menke said she will sometimes buy a kid's meal or order off the dollar menu.
With grocery store prices rising, budgeting is even more important.
Eshelman said if food prices increase, then fast food prices will increase as well.
"It's just a matter of budgeting correctly and figuring out how many times you can afford to go out to eat or maybe go to the Village so you don't have to spend money," Eshelman said.
Menke said she tries not to spend money on groceries to prepare an entire meal.
"Now I buy as little groceries as possible and eat the stereotypical college kid meals of ramen noodles and PB&J."
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