Bringing Food to Class: How to Have Your Dinner and Eat it Too

When I started my life as a grad student, I knew I couldn't afford to eat dinner out all the time on nights I had class from 6:00 to 9:45. But my options seemed limited. Sandwiches were a sensible, frugal, and easy possibility, but I've just never craved a sandwich past lunchtime. I like a little variety in my dinners. Not peanut butter and jelly.

But in my year of experience, I've come far. I've learned that I have options. And so do you.

You can have a truly satisfying meal without resorting to takeout or a lunchtime redux. Here are some alternatives to your run-of-the-mill brown bag lunch or dinner.

• Try bento. Sushi is definitely an exception to my hot-food-for-dinner rule. I'm not suggesting anyone attempt to hand-roll their own maki before rushing off to class, but consider the bento box for creative, varied Japanese-style meals. Bento boxes are widely available and because they're so small and use space so efficiently, they can be a great way to transport your meals. You can find them for around $10 if you shop around, and they're hardy and more eco-friendly than paper bags.
  

If you do try packing your meals in bento boxes, there are a lot of sites out there with suggestions and recipes for bento box meals, such as Just Bento and Lunch in a Box.

Even if you don't want to buy a bento box, you can use some of the strategies and recipes there to think beyond the usual sandwich or salad.

Image credit: "bento" by uberculture. Flickr Creative Commons.

• Get a thermos. Think of it as an investment. You'll save so much money if you use it regularly rather than eating out. And you'd be surprised-- thermoses aren't just for drinks or soup anymore. This summer I bought an Aladdin lunch-and-go container for $12.99 at Target, and it's revolutionized my class nights. All I have to do is pre-heat the container (I put it in the microwave for a few minutes), fill it with delicious just-cooked food (or just-reheated leftovers), and it will stay warm for hours. This is your best bet for hot food when you don't have access to a microwave.
  

An added bonus of having a thermos is that you can make your own tea or coffee at home and save the money you would have spent on a hot drink at Starbucks or Dunkin'. (And if you must have your steamed milk or caramel drizzle, at least we know how to get around some of that expense.)

DIY Design: Tips for Decorating Your Apartment on a Budget

Once you've moved into your apartment, those blank white walls can be intimidating. As a renter, your lease might not let you repaint, put up wallpaper or drill holes in the walls. Add in classes, work, and the student loans looming over your head, and you might feel like you don't have the time, money or energy to fix up your new place at all.

But you do have options. There are simple, frugal, and easy ways to make your new place yours-- and keep your landlord happy, too.

• Buy a blank canvas and a few tubes of acrylic paint and make your own modern art.
  
• You may not be able to put up traditional wallpaper, but how about making your own out of fabric and a little starch? It's cheaper, easier, and one hundred percent removable. This is also a good option if you're allowed to paint or wallpaper but can't afford to or don't have the time.
  
• Another inexpensive (but less removable) wallpaper alternative is to make a dictionary wall out of a secondhand, falling apart dictionary (or book of your choice).
  
• Apply a wall decal or two in lieu of paint, wallpaper, or artwork. Wall decals are removable and stylish. The downside is that they can be expensive, and once removed they cannot be re-used, so it's not a good option if you might relocate over the next few years.
  
• Art prints and postcards make for beautiful and cost-effective decor. Small 9 x 13" prints run around $5 each at museums. Postcards are 50 cents! Vary the sizes (and artists) and stagger them for visual appeal.
  

Art prints, posters and postcards nicely arranged, the day after moving into my first apartment.

• DIY artwork is even cheaper. If you're not artistically inclined, find a friend who is. One of my roommates paints and does quirky ink drawings. Not one of our walls is blank or boring.
  
• Save greeting cards, postcards, and flyers and hang them up. This is a great way to add character to a room, and it won't cost you a cent.
  

Free Internet Access for Students on the Move

Whether Verizon/Comcast/RCN screwed up again or you're just stuck studying far from home, every grad student needs easy Internet access--and getting stuck paying an hourly rate while trying to stick to a budget is never fun. Thankfully, many shops and restaurants are recognizing this need and rising to the occasion by eliminating fees, required log-ins, and other hurdles many Internet-seekers had to jump over in the past. Here are some coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants that feature free wireless Internet, no matter your location (just make sure you're using a WiFi-enabled device!):

• Starbucks recently quit charging for unlimited Internet. While you're there, use some of Get Grad Schooled's budget-friendly coffee shop tips!
• Panera Bread has free WiFi hotspots at all locations. Their salads and sandwiches are pretty phenomenal, too.
  
• Au Bon Pan offers a location search on its web site to help patrons discover if their local cafe is WiFi-enabled. Some locations have a six-hour limit.
  
• The New England-centric Boloco is a popular spot for burritos, smoothies, and of course-- free WiFi.
  

And if a quieter, less aromatic atmosphere is more your studyin' style, then the national bookstores might be your salvation. Both Barnes & Noble and Borders now offer free WiFi to all patrons. Libraries often have free access, either in general or by using an easily-obtained--and free--library card, so check your local library's policies, too.

If you prefer avoiding the chains, visit the web sites of (or pick up the phone and call) your nearby independent stores and eateries to discover which locations have WiFi, and never be without free Internet again!

Look! Cheap Cocktail Night.

Keg parties are so undergrad, so why not mix up a few cocktails at home? Oh, right, keeping even a minimally stocked liquor cabinet is way out of my grad-school budget. But there's another way.

Instead of spending money on fifths or even liters of our essential ingredients, my boyfriend and I bought a variety of miniatures. (50-mL bottles, or between 1.5 and 2 fluid ounces. Apparently they're called nibs here in New England.) For the same cost as just a couple regular-sized bottles of liquor, we were able to buy everything we needed to make six different drinks—three for each of us.


Here are the (mostly) classic cocktails we tried out:

• Amaretto Sour
• Tequila Sunrise
• Chocolate Martini
• Tom Collins
• White Russian
• and this crazy thing called a Monkey Gland Cocktail I stumbled across on Forbes magazine online, of all places

A note on the ingredients:
Each 50-mL bottle is about the same as one shot, the right amount of alcohol for one drink. The Monkey Gland calls for absinthe, which was our only budget breaker: we found a 100-mL bottle for $9.99. If you're just looking to try it out or only need a little, though, this amount goes a long way. A full-sized bottle will run you closer to $50 or $60. No thank you.

Did you know you can make your own sour mix and grenadine at home? Sour mix is just heavy simple syrup plus lemon juice, so I bought one lemon for 69¢ instead of spending $4.99 on a whole bottle of the pre-made stuff. Grenadine is just pomegranate juice plus sugar, but I actually didn't save money here. I paid a dollar more for real pomegranate juice than I would have for grenadine. However, the grenadine at the store is almost entirely high-fructose corn syrup, not actual juice. I think this is an extra dollar well spent.

The Monkey Gland and the Tequila Sunrise both call for orange juice, but I didn't want to buy a whole carton just to use about five ounces of it. I bought two oranges and fresh squeezed them. I'm sure this is much tastier, anyway.

Shopping list and total price:

amaretto	$2.99
tequila	$2.49
vodka	$3.50 (for 2)
gin	$5.98 (for 2)
Kahlua	$2.49
chocolate liqueur	$3.99
absinthe	$9.99
lemon	69¢
2 oranges	$1.07
pomegranate juice	$4.99
club soda	59¢
Grand Total:	$38.77 + tax

Sure, buying in larger volumes is a better value, but this was a cheaper overall cost and much greater variety for six drinks than we could've gotten if we'd bought larger bottles. More than 25% of our total was the absinthe, too, so we can make it much cheaper by nixing it next time.

Another thought: we're moving to a new apartment this weekend. This might just be the grad-school answer to the traditional housewarming party. Potluck, anyone?

Confessions of a Former Barista: How to feed your coffee habit without going broke

A few years ago I got hooked pretty bad. I was working long hours, living in a stressful environment, and I’d lie awake and jittery in bed at night thinking, “This needs to stop, tomorrow will be the day I finally kick the habit.” But in the morning, the vicious cycle always began again. I tried to switch to less expensive, less pure stuff, but it just didn’t cut it. Eventually, I had to start selling it myself just so I could afford my daily fix.

Hello, my name is Julia, and I’m latte addict and former barista.

I fear that as a fellow grad student you too may be going broke due to the caffeine monkey on your back that just will not accept the more reasonably priced coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts or McDonald’s. I’m here for you, and if my experience pushing the products of a certain international coffee chain (you know the one) can save you a few extra laundry quarters a day, well, then my struggles have not been in vain.

Admittedly, some of the tricks are a little sneaky, but I’ll leave the moral and ethical issues for your conscience and inner caffeine junky to argue over.

Each of my tricks will save you fifty cents every time you order and $78 a year if you’re in the habit of buying them three times a week.

Iced Latte

Ask for a double espresso over ice in a grande cup, then add the milk from the condiment bar. It will be the exact same drink, just cheeper.

Iced Coffee

If you add a lot of milk to your coffee, instead of asking for room, order a tall iced coffee in a grande cup and then add the milk at the bar. Better yet, make your own iced coffee at home; just brew it with twice the grounds you would normally use, refrigerate, and add ice.

Caramel Macchiato

Order a three pump vanilla latte, then after you’ve been rung up ask if they could possibly add caramel drizzle. Technically, there’s a charge for it, but the baristas basically consider it a garnish and definitely won’t go to the trouble to make it a separate transaction. The only difference is that the espresso in a macchiato is added after the foam; if you normally stir your macchiato anyway, it will be the exact same drink.

Want to save even more money on food when you're out and about? Check out Susan's Eating Out for Less.

How My Hectic Schedule and Tight Budget Feed My Food Dilemma

I never thought it would happen to me—last week, I developed a Starbucks habit. And it's not even about the coffee. Between work during the day and class in the evening, I have to eat. My evening classes completely block out my dinner time too, so I often find myself desperately needing an 8 p.m. snack. I don't have much time to hunt down something healthy and inexpensive, and the options near my grad school's campus are severely limited.

Lately, that means I stop in Starbucks for a quick snack or between-meals meal. A smoothie, some chocolate-covered graham crackers, maybe an egg salad sandwich if I'm really hungry.

This is a terrible habit that has to stop. I have class two nights a week, and eating out this often is terrible for my budget. Last week alone, I spent $18.28 on food I could've avoided buying if I'd just brought enough food from home.

This week, I have a new plan. Packing just a lunch isn't enough food to get me through my work day and four hours of class, so I'm keeping a variety of food on hand all day. Here's my favorite stay-full kit I've tried so far:

• Yogurt. I have access to a fridge at work, and a cup of yogurt is an excellent mid-morning snack. And mid-morning snacks are good because they keep me from getting extra hungry at lunchtime and overspending on additional food.
• Apple sauce. Fruit is great snack, and apple sauce doesn't bruise or smash easily. It also doesn't have to stay refrigerated.
  
• Cheese. Think individually wrapped pieces, like string cheese or those little Babybel wheels.
• Granola. I need something crunchy I don't have to eat with a spoon. Turns out I like granola, and the chunky kinds are the easiest to eat without making a crumbly mess.
• Nuts. If I have some almonds, walnuts, or cashews on hand, I'll probably toss some in with the granola. However, nuts can be expensive, so this isn't an everyday thing.

I've found that the best foods to take to work and class are ones that come in individual servings and are easy to transport in my messenger bag. However, watch out for 100-calorie packs! If you're hungry, you want some calories and plenty of protein, fiber, and carbs. Tiny 100-calorie packs will not make you feel full.

Grad Student Gourmet: Real Cooking on a Budget

Instant no more!

Yes, it’s possible to survive life as a penniless, overworked grad student without resorting to a life of Ramen Noodles and EasyMac. The instant stuff may seem cheap and easy, but it isn’t satisfying and the nutritional value is negligible. Hardly the way to fuel your brain. But in my first year as a grad student I’ve learned how to cook meals that are cheap, healthy, delicious, and fast.

First of all, you’ll need to figure out where you can buy your cooking ingredients cheaply.

Investigate ethnic markets. Some items will be significantly cheaper there. At C-Mart, for instance, fish sauce, soy sauce, miso, udon and rice noodles were also much cheaper than their Shaw’s or Stop-and-Shop counterparts. An added plus here is that if you can figure out how to make authentic pad thai or tandoori chicken or beef noodle pho yourself, you’ll start to spend a lot less on takeout.

For the Boston-based grad student, doing your produce shopping at Haymarket is also a godsend. Haymarket is held by the Haymarket T stop (on the Orange and Green Lines) all day on Fridays and Saturdays, every week of the year. I go every week, and I might score 9 kiwis for a dollar, a whole pineapple for a dollar, grapes for a dollar per pound, 3 pounds of potatoes for a dollar, 3 acorn squash for a dollar, and 8 apples for two dollars. I’m up to my neck in healthy, varied produce. And I have the opportunity to try so many new foods. I’d never had a fresh fig before I started going to Haymarket, or a chestnut, or yucca. Gourmet cheese, huge rounds of pita, bagels, baguettes and delicious soft Armenian bread are also available for very cheap at Haymarket.

I also recommend trying out Market Basket if you live in the Cambridge/Somerville/Union Square area. Market Basket may be crowded, but it’s way cheaper than any other grocery store. I find their regular prices are comparable with the sale prices of most other stores, and their sale prices are just unbelievable.

And of course there’s Trader Joe’s, if you can find your way to one. Whole Foods-style products at very affordable prices-- and like Whole Foods, they also offer free samples. Always a plus.

Finding inexpensive things to make can still be tricky, especially if you’re also short on time, but fear not. If I can do it, so can you.

• Make your dinner ahead. Reheat it when you get home. It'll still taste good, I promise. And it's a much better option than stocking up on Stouffer's: it won't leave you hungry like so many frozen meals, it won't be chock-full of sodium, and it won't cost you 4 or 5 bucks a pop.
• Use your freezer. Freeze anything you can't use or eat before it goes bad, rather than throwing it away. Don't worry about competing with your roommates for freezer real estate; I have four of them, and I manage. Besides, did you know freezers actually work more efficiently if they're filled to the brim with food?
• Cook on the weekends, in large batches. You'll be able to feed yourself all week.
• Rotate between different types of leftovers so you don’t get bored. (And don’t fear the leftovers-- some things taste better when the flavors have melded a day or two in the fridge, like this Autumn Sausage Casserole.)
• Invest in a slow cooker. This is probably the single best cooking tool a grad student can have. Prep the ingredients and leave them cooking on low while you’re at work or in class, and follow your nose back home to find your dinner warm and waiting for you.

Here are my top 3 tried-and-true sources for cheap and/or make-ahead recipes.:

• Cheap Healthy Good - This site is an incredible resource. Recipes as well as informative and insightful articles on how to make food that is cheap, healthy, and good. All recipes include approximate price per serving. Most come out to less than a dollar. Compare that to the $7 you might pay for a sandwich at a cafe. The chicken with shallot-apricot sauce comes highly recommended. As does the chocolate souffle (did you know you could make souffle for $0.46 per serving?!). Hell, even the DIY Microwave Popcorn.
• $5 Dinner Mom - A collection of recipes that cost $5 or less, total, to make. I wouldn’t swear by all of these, but there are some gems in here.
• A Year of Slow Cooking - One woman’s quest to prepare food in her slow cooker-- from enchiladas to creme brulee-- every day for a full year. It’s not quite Julie and Julia, but this is probably the single best slow-cooker resource out there.

Budgeting Your Money, Supermarket Style

One of the top priorities for every grad student (besides doing well in class, of course) is to save money. We’ve all figured out just how much we’re paying for every course, every credit, every hour of class. And yeah, it’s a lot. So you’re going to want to cut back on your expenditures. You have to get creative when saving money, especially in a city like Boston. One of my favorite ways to stay on track with my money is with my groceries.

For example. Yes, we all love cereal. It’s great in the morning, for an afternoon snack, or during a late-night paper-writing cram session. But do you know how much cheaper the store brand cereals are? Fine, I’ll grant you that they don’t exactly taste the same. But when you’re exhausted from pulling an all-nighter are you really going to know the difference? I vote no.

Sometimes it’s all about where you shop. Everyone loves a good Whole Foods, and not just for the tasty samples they provide. But for the duration of your graduate studies, say goodbye to Whole Foods (except maybe for the samples) and hello to Market Basket. Even if you have to take the T to get to one, it’s worth the difference you’ll be saving.

Once you’re at Market Basket, there’s really only one thing you need to remember: store brand, store brand, store brand! Seriously, you can practically feel the savings in your wallet.

Make sure you buy enough to make your lunch for work because you’re done with going out on your lunch breaks. It’s a great way to save. Just pack it all in a nice little lunch box, though you might want to call it a meal bag. Sounds much more professional.

Maybe you shouldn't say goodbye to Whole Foods completely. I mean, those samples can come in handy for a nice afternoon snack. You can consider it a weekend activity, and a free one to boot. Now you're thinking like a grad student

The one thing I would go name brand on: water filter. This way you don’t have to buy water bottles, which are mucho expensive. One water filter lasts a few months and is definitely more price-conscious than bottles. Now you know how to save money on food and water. What else is there?!

Beginner's Guide to Saving Money

So you’ve decided to go to grad school. Good for you! But your carefree college days when you lived off of your parents' dollar are over, and you're probably up to your ears in student loans. What’s a cash-strapped, -debtsaddled grad student to do?

The way to go here is to save, save, save. Every penny you set aside now will help you later when you have that master’s degree in hand. You want to be able to pay off those loans and get on with your life once you’ve graduated.

And for many of us, grad school is our first foray into living independently, off-campus and with minimal parental support. It’s best to learn how to budget now so you don’t live beyond your means once you have an income to speak of.

Lucky you, the internet and the world around you offer a wealth of tips and resources for learning how to budget wisely. Here are some I’ve picked up and use to my advantage:

1. Don’t buy new unless you have to.

If you’re persistent, you may be able to find whatever you need second-hand for cheap or even for free. Browse your local Craigslist or Freecycle chapter, and be patient.

I swear by this one. Just last month my laser printer died on me, in the middle of a screenwriting workshop. But I wasn’t screwed, and I wasn’t suddenly out a lot of money. I picked up a used one in perfect condition-- nicer than my old one, in fact-- for $30 on Craigslist.

If you check often, you’ll be amazed at the bargains you can find. iPod touches and iPhones have been offered for less than a hundred dollars. Barely-used mattresses and bedframes for free or almost-free.

This works for clothes, too. I’ve never gotten clothes off of Craigslist or Freecycle, but I’m crazy about thrift stores. I got a pair of perfectly good, comfortable winter boots for $15. I picked up a gorgeous party dress for less than a dollar. I recommend Boston-area thrift stores like the Garment District, Frida Bee, Raspberry Beret, and Boomerangs. Or try your local Goodwill.

2. Don’t buy your textbooks from the school bookstore.

Textbooks are needlessly overpriced, and it’s really not hard to find cheap like-new copies online. Even factoring in the cost of shipping, this will save you a bundle.

Half.com, the Amazon marketplace, Abebooks.com, or Thriftbooks.com are some of my favorite places to purchase textbooks.

3. Track your spending.

This may seem like a huge pain. It is. Do it anyway.

I recommend using the free service at Mint.com. First, you set your budget: how much you think you spend, or should spend, per month on groceries, rent, utilities, fast food, entertainment, clothing, and so on.

Mint will track and sort every purchase you make, and send you a weekly email documenting how much you spend in each designated category. You can see exactly where your money goes, and you can plan and budget accordingly. Do you find yourself overspending on groceries week after week? How much is that daily Starbucks run costing you per month? Just a few months of using Mint can make you rethink your finances completely.

4. Shop around.

Like the song, right? Yes, you had better shop around. It does pay off. Many financial planning sites recommend waiting thirty days to make a purchase. This gives you time to decide if you really need it. But this also gives you time to compare prices. You don’t even have to go out of your way. You may notice the item you want for sale at different stores during those thirty days. Remember the price. Find out where it’s cheapest. Don't pay more than you have to.

Other Links and Resources:

The Cheapskate Guide - 50 Tips For Frugal Living

Wise Bread - A whole siteful of tips, tricks, strategies, and how-tos for saving money, from how to save money even at Whole Foods, ways to reuse aluminum foil, and how to eliminate waste in your cooking.

Saving Money Plan - has freebies, coupons and deals. Updated at least once a day.