This week I wanted to blog about different food options in and around Lancaster University, covering food shops, fast food outlets and different food discounts available to students.
The largest and most local supermarket is the Sainsbury’s located in the centre of town only a short bus ride away from Lancaster University campus. The University operates a free bus service to Sainsbury’s and back, departing from the University underpass every Wednesday. As long as you show your receipt to the bus driver and show that you have spent £10 minimum you can travel for free. This is a really useful and helpful service for those students who live on campus and haven’t bought a termly bus pass.
In addition to Sainsbury’s, Lancaster has a Booths (a Northern upmarket supermarket chain, for those who haven’t come across one before) which is perfect if you are wanting to put on a nice dinner for friends and if you aren’t so concerned about budgeting. If, however, you are worried about the expense of food bills cutting into your student maintenance loan, there is an Aldi and an Asda located slightly further away (in the direction of Morecambe). These are great if you’re looking to save some cash- particularly as the end of term approaches and you realise your funds are dwindling!
Lancaster also has a market on a Wednesday and a Saturday in the centre of town, which is a good opportunity to bag yourself some food bargains; cheap fruit and veg stalls, a fresh fish stall and an American sweets stall all feature. There are many little bakery shops dotted around town which offer reasonably priced freshly baked bread too. Bowerham butchers is particularly good at offering bulk discounts. If you are willing to splurge £9.99 or £14.99 on a collective deal, it can work out relatively inexpensive per item and is guaranteed to last a long time, especially if you freeze meat once you return home from your shopping trip!
On campus, Spar is indispensable as a place to pick up last minute items. If you don’t fancy journeying into town you can buy most necessities here. Campus also has an ice cream shop, juice bar, Costa, and Greggs as well as a few fast food outlets, such as a kebab shop and Subway. In addition to this, there are cafes and college bars which often serve food, some at discounted prices.
The best advice concerning food is to shop around! I would definitely recommend signing up for a nectar card and using points coupons whenever possible- all the little savings can really add up over the course of a few years.