Going to college: cheap and cheerful food is best when on a budget

If you are moving out of home, you will have to start fending for yourself. If you are staying put, it’s about time you stopped leaching off your parents and learned to boil an egg. Either way, now is the time to learn to cook and to appreciate food.

1. Some groups of housemates might take turns to cook dinner for each other, either once a week or once a month. It’s a good chance to practice your culinary skills, expand your repertoire and taste buds, and learn from each other about different foods. If you are staying at home, cooking for your folks is a nice way of saying thanks for all the lovely things they do for you.

2. Eating out: lunch is cheaper than dinner. And there’s a good reason that generations of Irish people have had their main meal in the middle of the day: it fills you up for the day.

3. This notion of shopping around is all well and good, but most people who don’t have a car tend to be stuck with the local shops on offer. Whatever you do, try to avoid buying your food in convenience stores; it’s so much more expensive.

4. Single items – whether crisps and sweets, a lone tin of beans or peas or a single carton of yogurt – tend to be significantly more expensive than multi-packs. Asian supermarkets often offer good value, especially on the little birdseye chillies which freeze very well (just cut the tops off).

5. Everybody will tell you to go to Aldi and Lidl for your main groceries. Everybody is right: it’s much, much cheaper. I am particularly fond of Aldi, which has a top-notch range of own-brand products. Don’t overlook shops like Dealz: they have no fresh produce but they have cut-price ketchup, condiments and tinned goods.

6. Can you freeze it? Will it stay fresh? Will you really eat it? If not, buy one, get one free deals on fresh items, such as two bags of salad for the price of one, or two big jars of jam that you will never get through before the mould moves in, are not good value. That goes for a lot of supermarket offers too. Just because they claim the price has fallen by a few cents does not make it a good deal.

7. Pasta and boiled rice can be reheated by running boiling water through. Be careful of cooked rice: it can harbour bacteria and should be stored in a fridge and eaten within a day. In general, know the difference between use-by (don’t eat) and best before (may have lost freshness) dates. You will often find the fresher stock at the back of the supermarket fridge. Never buy dented food cans: they may harbour botulism toxins, which can cause a potentially fatal condition.

8. A good store cupboard means you will only need to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and dairy because you will always have the makings of a good meal at home. Build your meals around these, rather than buying expensive ingredients that may be used once and then go to waste.

The most basic basics will cost about €50 and include lentils (puy or green, split and red); tinned beans and chickpeas; tinned fish such as tuna, anchovies or salmon; salt and pepper; balsamic vinegar and olive or rapeseed oil; dried herbs including thyme, basil, oregano, bay leaves, rosemary and mint; soy sauce, honey/ sugar; stock cubes; condiments including mustard, mayo, ketchup and vinegar.

Extras include coconut milk, sesame oil, curry paste, fish sauce, jarred olives, chutney or relish and spices including cayenne, paprika, cumin, coriander and turmeric. Tins of tomatoes are a wonderful, convenient, nutritious and tasty base for many a meal. Keep a few tins at hand. Puy lentils are a rich, tasty and healthy alternative to meat in dishes such as lasagna, cottage pie and spaghetti bolognaise.

9. If you are going to use fresh herbs, it’s not so hard to grow your own: packets will almost certainly go to waste. You’ll find plenty of good advice online.

10. You'll find great online recipes at NorthSouthFood.com, AGirlCalledJack.com, and CheapEats.ie (formerly run by this journalist, no longer updated, but plenty of tips and recipes for happy, cheap eating) and of course bbc.co.uk/food