Moving away to university can be difficult, as for many of you it will be your first experience living on your own. This means having to look after yourself… those pre cooked frozen meals your mum made you won’t last forever! It is easy to be so wrapped up in the one million other things going on in freshers’ week and your first year at uni that you forget to make sure you cook and eat properly (for when you run out of pot noodles).

So this means getting used to doing your own weekly food shop and included in that is also becoming familiar with the idea of budgeting, whilst still being able to buy food to maintain a healthy balanced diet. When it comes to move in day, its easy to go absolutely crazy in the local supermarkets, and most supermarkets usually catch on to this hype and put on special promotions for new university students that will be doing their first shop. But it is important to at first, keep it simple. Here are just a few things that I’d recommend including in your first grocery haul.

1. A whole load of fruit and veg

Maybe not what you wanted to hear but in a new environment with freshers’ flu looming, you’ll want to keep your immune system strong. It doesn’t have to be difficult either as many supermarkets sell frozen bags of mixed veg that you can cook in the microwave… which also means that they won’t get wasted when you forget about them and eat takeaway all week!

2. A big bag of pasta.

And I mean a BIG bag of pasta. Pasta is one of the student essentials: it’s quick, it’s easy and it will give you the energy you need to sustain those long days at uni. Plus you can make any meal go with pasta… just stock up on some fabulous sauces as well and you’ll be good to go.

3. Some healthy frozen ready meals

This will help you on the busy days when preparing a lovely freshly cooked meal just seems to difficult. Oh and your bank account will thank you when it stops you from reaching for that takeaway menu.

Obviously, these are just a few of the things you will benefit from buying but from experience are some of the more essential things.

But you won’t only have to think about what to buy… also how to buy it. Budgeting is a big part of learning how to master the grocery shop. For this I have scouted out a brilliant app that I have tried and tested to help you compare prices to help you get the best deal: mySupermarket – available for iPhone and Android. This allows you to find the best deal for your groceries, whether it’s a whole list or just a single item, and lets you few offers as well for when you’re not sure which supermarket to go to.