If you’ve decided to provide food at your party, you’re one of the brave few.

While providing food often ensures that more people will come—I know of no college student who would turn down free food—it also increases the cost of the party and can create more stress and work for you. However, there are a few tips and ideas that can help you throw a party with food that won’t cost too much or cause too much distress.

A Little Goes a Long Way

If you want to foot the bill yourself, look for items that feed a crowd. For example, pasta is relatively inexpensive and two boxes of pasta can easily and cheaply turn into two pounds of delicious pasta salad. Here’s a recipe for a pasta salad that feeds 50.

Share the Responsibility

Get your guests involved! You’re already providing the place to party and probably more, so get your guests to bring some food items. To avoid people bringing too much of the same thing, make a sign-up sheet. You can create a virtual sign-up sheet at MySignUp.com.

Think Big

Smaller portions often go farther and last longer, but buying things that are “mini,” pre-made or pre-cut costs you more money. Instead of buying the little sausages, buy regular ones and cut them yourself. Instead of buying potato salad, buy potatoes and make it yourself.

Look for Sales

If you know you’re having a party at least two or three weeks in advance, start looking out for sales at your local grocery store and stock up on supplies. BOGO sales come in handy when you plan on feeding a lot of people.

Want some recipe ideas? Visit these party food websites.

• http://www.greatpartyrecipes.com/index.html

• http://partyfood.suite101.com/

• http://teriskitchen.com/appetizers.html

Written by: Laura R. Aiuto

Going to college has its ups and downs. You meet new people: up. You have a full-time job and go to school full-time: down. You live on your own: iffy.

And you learn what it’s like to love the 99-cent store, the Super Value Menu at your favorite fast food restaurant and the 10 for $10 sales at your local grocery store. When you open your freezer, you’ll see plenty of Hot Pockets and 99-cent pizza and when you open your cupboards, you’ll see Ramen Noodles, Spaghettios and of course, Mac & Cheese in the blue box, along with other assorted low-cost foods.

You’ll get away with it for a while, but guaranteed, your stomach and your taste buds will get to you eventually and make you wish you knew what to do to eat well on a budget. Your luck is about to change. Check out these tips for getting your food on without losing weight in your wallet.

Watch the ads

The biggest excuse for not picking up the ads from your local grocery stores is that most of these ads come in the newspaper and you can’t afford the newspaper. Get a grip and get on your computer. Every major grocery store and most small, local grocery stores post their weekly ads online to reach out to you. That’s right: you! They want your money just as bad as they want your parents’ money. Watching the ads will help you comparison shop and make the best choices about where to buy your groceries.

Clip coupons

Okay, clipping coupons does take time. That’s standard for everything that has to do with saving money. But clipping coupons can save you up to 30% or more every week on your groceries. Stop throwing away the coupon packs that come in the mail and save up for your Ben & Jerry’s. Who knows, you may even end up with a coupon for B&J that will make it even easier to get more of the things you want to eat, not just the things you can afford to eat. And don’t forget to check out the web—even B&J posts deals and coupons to snag buyers.

Love the off-brand

Don’t roll your eyes. Fact is, many off-brands are made by brand-name companies. And even if they’re not, they may have the exact same ingredients. This is especially true of spices—a spice is a spice is a spice. You can $12.99 it for 4 oz. of basil or 55-cents it for the same amount and it’s still basil.

Eat fresh, then freeze

Sounds odd, doesn’t it? Many fresh fruits, vegetables and meats can be purchased for the same price as or cheaper than frozen or canned foods. This is due to coupons, sales and the general supply and demand. You can also cook fresh foods in bulk (making it even cheaper) and freeze them to make future meals. A Saturday spent cooking fresh meals for freezing is a heck of a lot better than your leftover Mac & Cheese from last Tuesday.
Going to college means making sacrifices, but you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your health, your taste buds or your right to avoid the dreaded freshman 15 just because you’re on a budget. Play it smart and you’ll eat like…well, normal…throughout your upper class years.

When you lived at home, your mother made dinner for the whole family every day of the week. She also made lunches, breakfast and snacks.

When you live with a whole family, the pantry has to be full and the cupboards have to be busting at the hinges—and if you had a lot of family (like families in certain Western states), then you probably had a walk-in pantry and a large freezer, just so mom didn’t have to go grocery shopping every day. When you first move out on your own, you’ll be tempted to shop the same way your mom did—if she helps you on your first shopping trip, there will be no stopping it. But shopping like mom doesn’t always have benefits when you’re living in a tiny apartment with just one or two roommates. Check out these tips on cooking for one in college and save yourself a bundle.

Divide portions to avoid wasting food

No matter what you are making, there is a way to divide it into smaller portions. You know how to read and (hopefully) you know how to divide, or you wouldn’t have made it this far. So when you pull out that box of Mac & Cheese and are done trying to convince yourself that re-heated Mac & Cheese doesn’t actually taste like dirty gym socks or have the consistency of throw-up, try simple division. Divide everything by two (or four, depending on how much you eat) and put the unused dry portion of the pasta in a baggie and leave the unused portion of the cheese powder in the packet. Voila! You have officially cut your portions in half. The same can be done with…nearly everything else. Oh, and don’t forget that when you go out to eat, you don’t have to horde—this isn’t your last meal, fellas. You can ask for a take-home box at the beginning of the meal, put half in the box and only eat what’s on your plate. Then you’re guaranteed extra food for the next day.

Use clever options to avoid wasteful purchasing

When you’re cooking for one there’s no shame in eating what you love. But you have to be smart about it. Instead of buying an entire head of lettuce, a whole bag of radishes, a can of kidney beans, a carton of eggs, a jar of mini corn cobs and a whole bag of peas, go to the salad bar in the grocery store and get enough lettuce and toppings for just one or two days. Not only will you save a ton of money up front, but you’ll avoid unnecessary spoilage and waste and eat healthier. What college student can’t use that?

Use your freezer and those odd “going to college” gifts to create fast, on-the-go, homemade meals

When you move into your first student apartment, you’ll probably end up with a big box of hand-me-down kitchenware and appliances—an electric can opener, toaster, and pots and pans. Chances are, you might also end up with a crock pot, steamer, chafing pot or other seemingly useless appliance—and if you agree, oh how wrong you are. You can cook large amounts of food at a time in these appliances, portion them out in Tupperware and freeze the purposely created leftovers to make instant, homemade meals. This can be an especially helpful habit to form, so you can stock up when prices are low and save money in the long run.
Learning to live on your own in a student apartment is a rewarding experience—it gives you freedom and the right to learn to live above your means by being clever. Avoiding waste with simple tips can save you hundreds a year and put you far ahead of the “payback” curve when college is done and loan collections begin.