I've lived at University of Newcastle for two years, and of this, I spent one semester cooking for myself at Evatt House and have enjoyed it since. As a result of having to cook for myself, I developed a pretty good system to minimising food costs, time spent and never get bored from it. Here's the detailed information from my experiences.
Buying
Food purchases are done at two places: NUSA and Jesmond Stockland Mall.
NUSA
Every week up til Wednesday 4pm, they take money orders for co-op food produce of fruit/veggies. On Thursday, they go to the local farmers market and buy fruit/veggies in bulk from the orders. With the savings, there's more food per buck compared to buying individually at markets or supermarkets. By 12pm, they have sorted the fruit/veggies evenly into yellow plastic boxes for the people that have ordered and are available for pick up. I suggest picking up your fruit/veggies as soon as possible to get the best pick of the boxes as some may look too bad, scratched, etc. And as a bonus incentive to pick up the fruit/veggies, from 12pm til 1pm (or 1:30pm?), there's a free NUSA BBQ of beef sausage or veggie patties for vegetarians.
Here's what I got for the last couple weeks:
Week 7 (18th-24th April)
| Item | Total |
|---|---|
| Plum | 6 |
| Lemon | 2 |
| Corn | 3 |
| Apple | 5 |
| Zucchini | 2 |
| Cucumber | 2 |
| Banana | 6 |
| Orange | 4 |
| Silverleaf Lettuce | 1 |
| Butternut Pumpkin | 1 |
| Carrot | 1 |
| Tomato | 4 |
Week 6 (11th-17th April)
| Item | Total |
|---|---|
| Capsicum | 1 |
| Melon | 1 |
| Corn | 3 |
| Apple | 6 |
| Zucchini | 2 |
| Banana | 5 |
| Orange | 4 |
| Carrot | 2 |
| Tomato | 3 |
| Bok Choy | 2 |
| Garlic | 1 |
| Green Long Peppers | 1 |
| Onion | 2 |
| Pear | 3 |
| Kiwi Fruit | 5 |
Costs
Box: $10 ($15 if you're not a NUSA member) paid by Wednesday 4pm.
Upsides
- Free breakfast if you're a NUSA member.
Downside
- Free breakfast not available on weekends (NUSA isn't open)
- Bulk purchases are random (you may not get what you want. But why not trade it with others? I've traded some unwanted veggies for fruits in the past.)
Jesmond Stockland Mall
Why Jesmond Stockland Mall and not the fancy Westfield shopping mall at Kotara or the small open shops at Mayfield? It's because there's a provided free Jesmond shuttle that loops from the bus stop outside International house, to Edwards Hall, to Barahineban, to Evatt House and then to Jesmond mall before going back to International house. I've timed the loop to be 20 minutes starting at 5:30PM until 9:30PM (I think) on Thursdays, for example the bus could arrive again at 5:50PM, 6:10PM, 6:30PM, etc.
My ingredients needed
- Oil (I use olive, extra virgin)
- Brekky (Breakfast)
- Meat
- Staple food
For brekky, I've found it cheapest to buy cereal + milk, there's also the exciting toast. But toast is great with bacon and eggs on top.
For meat, I find buying sausages most nourishing even if it has stuff added. I also buy eggs.
For staple foods, I always buy small spiral pasta as it's the cheapest per gram (eg $0.12/100gram).
Bargain hunt tips
- Familiarise yourself with all open stores (Not just inside the Stockland Mall. There's shops outside including KFC, Hungry Jacks, Fruit/Veggie market, Pizza Hut and an Asian food market.)
- Remember your previous purchases (See if there's a store that sells them cheaper)
- Use awesome maths skills and follow the helpful $1/1kg, $0.10/100g to find the best price per gram
Costs
- Meat (Chicken Sausages + Eggs): $5.30
- Staple food (Home brand pasta): $0.60
Overall
- Fruit and veggies: $10
- Meat + staple food: $5.90
- Total: $15.90 per week
Next post will talk about what I eat and how I made or cooked it.