The first step to eating great on a budget is to plan your meals. Make a list of meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) you’ll need for a certain number of days. Then list every ingredient you need for these meals that’s not already in your pantry or refrigerator. Keep the list of meals posted on your fridge, so you’ll always remember what you have ingredients for. Take the list of ingredients to the grocery store.

Make sure you have enough meals to last until your money runs out. Otherwise you may end up begging Mom for meals.

Where you shop has a huge impact on your budget. In my town, the main grocery store costs at least 50% more than the local discount grocery store, but the quality is the same for everything but meat and some produce. So I buy what I can at the cheaper store, then purchase only a little bit of meat and produce at the more expensive market. Also be sure to check out your local farmer’s market. Sometimes—but not always—they are cheaper than grocery stores.

Even if you love to cook, it’s smart to plan plenty of quick, easy meals for those nights when you’re too busy or too tired to cook a gourmet meal. Many of these meals are inexpensive, too, like bean based dishes, meals with brown rice or whole wheat pasta, pasta substitutes (like zucchini, which can be sliced any way you like and used in place of pasta in such meals as lasagna), soups, and stir fry.

To make life even easier, cook in large batches and either eat the same food several days in a row or freeze the leftovers for a meal later in the week. If you’re really organized, you can even take one day out of the week to cook up all the week’s (or month’s) food, then stick it in the freezer.

Meat is one of the most costly parts of a grocery budget, but it’s still possible to eat it when you’re a poor student. Look for bags of frozen chicken breasts, for example. You don’t need to thaw them before you cook them, and they add inexpensive protein to a wide variety of dishes. For red meat, watch for sales and don’t be afraid to buy large packages if a really good deal comes along. Once you have that large package home, divide the meat up into serving sizes and place in freezer bags. Then use as needed.

Vegetables and fruit are an affordable way to eat healthy, even on a budget. To spend less money, buy in season, fresh produce. Learn to cook them by steaming or blanching, and you’ll find they are tasty, too. They also make healthy additions to stews, soups, casseroles, and stir fry. And instead of buying expensive and fattening snacks like chips and pretzels, keep long lasting foods like carrots and apples in the fridge.