There comes a point in almost every college student’s life when they must decide one thing: food or beer.

When times get tough and that sacred meal plan suddenly vanishes, students all around quickly find that eating on a budget can be much easier said than done, especially after a long spring break, French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest. And ramen noodles can only take you so far.

With some practice in the kitchen, and a thorough examination of your local grocery store, though, eating on a budget can become less of a daunting task, and could even leave you with some leftover money.

According to Molly Kimball, who is a registered dietician at Ochsner’s Elmwood Fitness Center, there are simple steps that everyone can take to eat better, while also staying on a limited budget.

“The first thing I would say to do is plan, number one, because if you plan ahead, you can make multiple meals to save for later. The things that have already been sliced, diced and marinated are always going to be more expensive. The biggest way to save food is to not waste food. Planning helps a lot with that,” Kimball said.

Wiley Thomas, history junior, agreed.

“Whenever I go to the store, I try to prepare for at least a few meals. I usually buy a lot of whatever is on sale and freeze anything I don’t use. That way I save money, and I don’t have to go to the grocery store as often,” Thomas said.

Produce can also be particularly expensive. According to Kimball, many organic products are often more expensive than non-organic food, yet many organic products have almost no nutritional difference.

“A lot of people think they need to buy organic. Organic does not mean more nutrient dense. The fact that it is organic has nothing to do with the vitamin content of produce. If you wash produce thoroughly, you are going to get most of the pesticides and chemicals off of it. Organic beef and dairy can be different, but poultry and pork can never be given hormones. If your goal is to avoid hormones, you don’t need to worry about chicken, pork and poultry,” Kimball said.

Another way to avoid spending too much money on groceries is to avoid overly packaged foods, usually found near the middle of the store.

“The middle of the store is going to be more expensive, because you are paying for the packaging and the advertising on the packaging. If you stay around perimeter of the store, you are going to get fresher, less expensive food,” Kimball said.

Farmer’s markets and produce vendors can also serve as a cheap alternative to grocery store food.

“Look at the foods in season. Check out farmers markets because the in season produce they have will likely be cheaper than grocery stores, and you will be keeping the money local,” Kimball said.

So forget the meal plan, and don’t skip on the beer.

Patrick Rafferty can be reached at [email protected]