How to eat AND make rent; a guide for Bristol students

The number one problem facing students this year is of course money. Things cost more and money
is worth less, all the while student loans have remained the same. Students are struggling and for
many of us; eating is a luxury we can no longer afford. That’s why I have set out to make a list to help
students not starve to death.

1. Get a job.
A phrase commonly used to insult students may actually be a veiled bit of very salient advice. It has
the obvious advantage of remaining monied through university but it also has other advantages like
keeping yourself active, organized and productive. It also makes for an impressive CV as it shows
employers you are capable, motivated and driven.

2. Discount supermarkets
It surprised me to find out there are actually more supermarkets than lidl aldi, Sainsburys, tesco and
asda but there are! Places such as home bargains, b and m and farmfoods are supermarkets that
have business models based around peddling unfamiliar brands of groceries and selling in bulk.
These places hold tiny parts of the market share but most cities will have some scattered around if
you know where to look. Remember cheaper, doesn’t always mean worse sometimes the off brand
stuff simply hits differently, shop around and I promise you will find a couple diamond in the rough
foods.

3. Buy things in bulk

It’s not just supermarkets where you can buy food. If you look on the internet you may find that
some of your staple foods like instant noodles can be bought in bulk. If you have a family or friend
who owns a business or works in distribution, they may be able to give you a wholesale card which
lets you go to wholesale shops. Although you must be prepared to bring home a genuinely insane
amount of food but just remember anybody who makes fun of you is actually just jealous because
you own 112 cans of tinned tomatoes and they don’t.

4. Too good to go
You probably can’t afford to eat out, but does that stop you wanting to? Unfortunately not, however
if you download the app too good to go, you still can. All you need to do is reserve a bag on the app
and restaurants will let you pick up leftovers that they didn’t manage to sell, for a small fee.

5. Take action
The cost of living crisis we are all experiencing is partially down to Brexit and Ukraine, but also
because of corporate greed. Corporations responsible for how much things cost, suppliers and
distributors have been seeing record profits since the “cost of living crisis.” What essentially has
happened is that because the cost of some things had to rise because of Brexit, corporations now
have an excuse to raise prices, not just on things that cost more to manufacture and to import but to
everything. And they get away with it because they can scapegoat the fact that the world and the
country has been through so much turmoil. They are stealing from us and we are letting them. The
cost of living crisis is not a crisis, it is a conspiracy and the conspirators have names and addresses.