By Noah Heiing
Many Bluffton students find themselves cooking meals in the residence halls. But how do they manage to cook while maintaining the budget of a college student.
As a college student, cooking in a residence hall may be challenging due to the additional cost, resources and time. Chances are if you go into any residence hall in the evening hours, you will run into a student cooking a meal.
“It can be challenging sometimes to find time in my schedule to cook,” said Matt Minor, sophomore history AYA major. “A typical meal for me can take anywhere from an hour to three hours to cook. I usually cook on the weekends because I am more free then rather than during the week.”
To find items which fit into the budget of a college student, many students find stores in Findlay or Lima tend to be cheaper than the stores located in Bluffton. Students suggest shopping at stores such as Ruler Foods, Aldi, Sam’s Club and Walmart to find the cheapest options for shopping locally on a budget.
To figure out what to cook may be a challenge for some. Many turn to apps, such as Tik Tok, to find cheap and easy-to-cook meals. Some students use a family cookbook with meals they have grown up learning how to cook.
“I usually look up meals on Tik Tok to decide what to cook because they have several quick and easy meals on there,” said Nadia Button, senior criminal justice major. “I typically look for meals under $30 with ingredients that can be used over several meals such as potatoes and rice.”
A common reason students cook in the halls is getting tired of the food served in The Commons. They want variety and to ensure they will like their menu.
For other students, cooking is a way to relax from a long day or feel closer to home when they feel homesick.
“I cook in the halls because I enjoy cooking,” said Minor. “It’s calm and relaxing, especially when I am listing to music.”
Cooking in the halls involves many tasks, such as budgeting, time management and the actual cooking itself. Students who currently cook in the halls encourage those interested in starting to cook to plan their meals and budget before shopping. Doing this, they say, will allow students to know exactly what to buy and how much to budget for their groceries.
“When I am thinking about what to cook for the week, I make sure to make a list before I go to the store,” said Madi Sheppard, junior social work major. “From that list, I will look at the store’s apps to see around how much everything will cost so I am able calculate about how much I am going to allow myself to spend.”
