Best supermarkets in Leeds for students

A big thing for you when you become a student is obviously being savvy with your budget and many students find a lot of their money goes towards food and eating (once you’ve realised you haven’t eaten properly at all in fresher’s week…). Here's a few places that I like to go to to buy my food on a budget. 

Morrisons, Kirkstall - LS5 3RP

This is my go to supermarket. I love that they’ve just refurbed one side into a ‘market’ section where they cook all sorts of food – they have a chicken shack, a fresh pizza stall, vegan stall, soup, toasties etc etc you name it or want it, they’ve got it!

I’ve been shopping there for two years and for some reason it still surprises me every single time how cheap it is when you’re there for the right things. One thing that does really help is having the Morrisons Club Card which you can have as a physical card or more environmentally friendly you can have it on your phone. It gives you offers every week or so like ‘15% off all bread and bakery’ or ‘10% off the fish counter’ so I always make sure I check these out and activate them before I go. I just scan the card at checkout and get money off! It’s fairly close to uni too its only 1.5 miles from Headingley campus and roughly 3 miles out of city centre Leeds with a huge free car park and a B&M, Boots and Matalan too.

Sainsbury's Local, Headingley - LS6 3HU

I live in Headingley so this is a great small local that I go to for my ‘top up’ shops and for bits and bobs. This is one for convenience as it’s in the centre of Headingley, so it is easily walkable and you don’t have to take your car – there isn’t a lot of parking around it so it's easier to just walk anyway.

This ‘Saino’s’ is a really handy shop to have on your door step, with security guards that are normally always up for a chat (they’re maybe bored, I dunno?). They have a lot in such a little shop with all the essentials.

Leeds Kirkgate Market, Leeds Centre - LS2 7JL

Obviously, there are a lot of supermarkets in city centre so finding one is not tricky at all. But when I’m in centre I love to go to Kirkgate Market – it is the largest indoor market in Europe (so worth checking out anyway coz its huge!) There is a big butchers, fish market, fresh fruit and veg stalls, a big shop that has lots of dried fruit and nuts etc and so much more. Kirkgate is actually a very cheap way to shop (cheaper than most supermarkets, sorry Morrisons). It’s something I think everyone needs to experience because you can buy literally anything there, from a high-vis jacket to hot Chinese food out of a truck. It’s really close to bus routes and I would normally get the 56 or 19 from Headingley into centre as they are pretty direct and take about 20 mins – personally I would not take my car in to centre unless I really needed to because parking is pricey.

Top tips for eating well and saving money while doing it

1. Write a list

So, my first thing I’m going to say is look through your cupboards and write a shopping list! The amount of times I go in without a shopping list and come out with so much random stuff that I get back out of the bag at my house and say, ‘what…why did I buy that??’. Writing a list helps you to be able to roughly meal plan for the week of what your going to need and stops you getting stuff that you’ve already got or don’t need. I also have a rule of only one ‘treat’ per shop as often treat stuff is expensive anyway.

2. Don't shop when hungry

Second and possibly most simple tip; NEVER GO SHOPPING WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY! It sounds ridiculous but honestly when you are hungry walking round a supermarket you put all sorts of stuff in that trolley because you're ‘starving’ and that just makes you a bit grumpy and an entire pack of angel cakes or beef jerky just looked really good. And again, you get home, have something to eat then look at what you bought like ‘well that only seemed like a good idea when I was hungry’.

3. Check the reduced aisles

My other huge top tip for reducing your spending is to shop in the reduced aisles and sections. Just go and check if there’s something you can make for tea tonight that is reduced because the date on it is today. Or maybe there's a pack of sausages with today's date on that you can split it into packs of three and freeze them straight away when you get home so that on those days where you’ve got nothing in but potatoes and gravy granules you can go in the freezer and suddenly you’ve got bangers and mash. I always make sure my freezer has food in it other than pizza and chips, it’s cheaper to buy a huge pack of chicken and get home and freeze most of it than it is to buy a pack of two chicken breasts every three days.

4. Limit your takeaways

My last tip is give yourself a rule of only one takeaway a week! You do have to be pretty strict with yourself on this one because I know it is just so much easier to get onto Uber Eats when you're super hungry, but it is expensive and never very healthy anyway! I am fairly good at sticking to this rule unless I’m on my way back from the pub passing the kebab shop…but I can promise you now it will save you roughly £20-30 a week (on the basis that you spend a tenner on Uber Eats three times a week ish)