Hello
So this is my second week in Zurich and I am noticing that food is much more expensive than it was in the US. Also I'm a student so I hate spending money. I was wondering what peoples secrets were to eating cheaply and if you guys had any filling, balanced meals that you eat regularly that don't break the bank.
(by cheap i'm thinking under 5 francs for dinner)
Thanks!
-William

5chf for dinner is going to be tough. But you can do things like cook up a nice tomato based spaghetti sauce and have it with pasta.

Look at the specials at Migro and Coop. They'll usually have some deals on some sort of meat. This week, for example, you can pick up a couple of Bratwurst for 3.60.

You can make pizza yourself quite cheap from scratch.

Good luck.

Another idea. Polenta is great if you make up a fresh pico di gallo to put atop of it. It's really easy to make in a pressure cooker.

Hi and welcome to Switzerland.

The secret is that costs are high but earnings as well. So most students have a part time job in order to live well. The hourly rates you can earn here on "stupid" jobs is easily twice as high as in the rest of Europe.

When I was at college, I worked for the equivalent of ten Francs an hour in Germany. The same types of jobs can bring you 25 CHF in Zurich.

Hate to tell you this, but its pretty much impossible.... In australia 200 bucks will get you 2 weeks groceries. Here its about half that. Meat is very expensive if you like beef and lamb, but pork is relatively ok. Frozen meals would be a suggestion, but ALDI is very cheap. I normally save about 40 CHF when I shop there....

Good luck!

The trick is to go shopping about 1 hour before it closes and you often get veg and such reduced. For example I got a box of mushrooms for reduced from 2.50 to 1.25 chf. 1 onion and some bouillion later and hey presto a really filling soup for 2.

Try this thread http://www.englishforum.ch/other-gen...iscussion.html for even more good ideas.

Get yourself a bag of compost (around 3 chf) and grow yourself some quick salad. I have some on the window that is ready to eat within 3 weeks of planting.

You really can live rather cheaply here. A bag of risotto rice and a few veggies can really produce a pleasant and filling meal too!

Good Luck

Beans are a staple for me. Lentil soup, beans and rice, chili, beans in soup. Very filling and inexpensive. You can get the canned ones or the dry ones.

In the evenings (like after 6 or 7pm) the restaurant in Ikea charges 5chf for dinner

One tip we use (amongst a few) is instead of buying blocks of cheese to grate over things, use parmesan. It's a lot cheaper.
Also, cutting out meat saves a lot. Mushroom and onion curries with egg fried rice come in at about ~10 CHF for the pair of us. Or at least they used to until Co-op stopped selling the Maggi Bombay curry mix...
I'll make a list of the stuff we do that's cheap.

shhhhhhhhhhh, it seems that COOP reduces prices on a Tuesday morning, but keep it to yourself

Instead of parmesan, use grana padano. It tastes quite similar, and it is a good bit cheaper.

To eat well and consistently under CHF 5 at a time and place that suits you then you probably have to cook your own. It is a tough budget and easier on the wallet if you have a freezer so you can make sauces in bulk and freeze in individual portions in ziplock bags. That way you can really eke out meat and vegetable sauces for pasta and rice since a bit of sauce can go a long way on rice and pasta. Here are some cheap meal ideas:
Vegetables - Supermarket special offers are good value. Frozen are also good because there is no waste and you can add small amounts economically- you use what you want and put the rest in the fridge. if you don’t have a fridge buy tinned. They still count. Dried fruits also count and can be added to porridge oats or rice whilst cooking. Don’t scrimp on apples - buy fresh and have one a day. Tinned tomatoes are great value and cheap. You can make pasta sauce or heat them up on their own for a soup - just add a bit of olive oil to season and eat with a bread roll.
Carbs - complex starchy carbs add bulk and are filling and nutritious. Cheap sources are:
1. Rice - white and wholemeal. Goes with salads, curries and chilli. Add a few onions and you have risotto. You can fry up left overs with and egg and a few frozen vegetables/diced carrot for fried rice. A tiny amount of meat or fish in a bowl of rice with soy sauce/ fish sauce goes a long way. Crack an egg into it if you can afford it.
2. Pasta/dried noodles - as GregV says just add tomatoes, parmesan, olive oil and few dried chilli flakes if you like spicy. Or after cooking toss in a little oilve oil and add a few frozen or tinned vegetables.
3. Potato - bake a potato and add baked beans or cheese to add protein. Or boil a few potatoes and mash them with a bit of milk and eat with a couple of cheap veal sausages GregV mentioned. Or make a potato salad.
4. Bread - Pizza is cheap or fresh baguette cut in slices, rub in a bit of garlic and spread with tomato paste and drizzle with olive oil and salt - grill.
5. Porridge Oats - healthy filling breakfast hot or cold as birchermuesli. Add some dried fruit.
6. Polenta. Not my favourite but maybe you can figure something out.
Protein:
As alternative to costly meat use cheese, eggs or tofu. Eggs are especially good. Egg on toast, egg and beans, poached egg on salad, egg fried rice, omelette with any leftovers.
Tofu is good and cheap. A pack of coconut milk, a banana, a few onions and good curry powder make a cheap veggie curry - just add tofu. More economical if you have a freezer to keep left overs.
Tinned fish is good, cheaper protein - tuna, sardines etc on toast.

Come to me for dinner, i always cook too much in case my hubby wants 2nds, or 3rds so i always have enough to feed an army, and it will not cost you a rap.

Other than that you can get some ready meals very cheap

If you want meals for less than 5 chf - beans, lentils and chickpeas are all cheap - even when organic. Get a hold of some good vegetarian recipes or cookbooks.

Frozen fruit and veg are also worth investigating.

But seriously, get used to the idea that meals are going to cost you more than 5 bucks. 10 bucks is a bit more realistic. I learnt that quickly when I first arrived. Back home I could buy a week's groceries for around 20 - 40 chf. There is no way I could survive on that now. I can get by on about 80 chf a week if I am really strict about what I buy - but normally I end up buying all kinds of things I don't need but look oh so delicious.

That's good advice. Beans and lentil are high in protein. Get as much protein as you can. Don't do the starch/sugar path.

If you want to go hippie, my recommendation is bean sprouts. I love stir-fried bean sprouts with shredded carrots and green onions over rice. You can find a a large bag for a very good price at larger asian stores. You can also buy a 20kg bag of rice there for a good price. Tofu is also high in protein.

Ask around for a friend who has a membership to C&C Prodega, or some wholesale stores. You can buy large quantities of products there.

Don't worry. You'll survive.

Avoid anything pre-: precooked, premixed, prespiced etc and you should be able to reduced your expenses drastically. Plan your meal based on what is on offer and what is in season and use potatoes, rise and legumes (beans, lentiles etc) as bulk.

Sainbury's in the UK are currently running a feed a family of four for £5 ad campaign: recipes here: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/family/t...ue_recipes.htm

Hi
Try the Ikea breakfast for Sfr 1.95.
OJ, Tea/Coffee, Gipfeli, Breadroll, small Yoghurt, Butter and Jam. 8.30-10.30am.

You get quite a lot for a small price but of course you have to travel to Dietlkon (12mins from Zurich main train station then bus to Ikea) or Spreitenbach.
Cheers

Get bread too. Butterzopf is especially good. Aldi is also a good place to shop. Otherwise, walk by Coop/Migros everyday as they have salves on different items. Stock up on things on sale.

There are a few secrets I know to student eating in ZH:

1) Avoid meat unless it has a nice red sticker with "25%" or "50%" on it. They do this late in the day on what will expire and also before holidays and Sunday. Coop is better for this. At some stores they have a specific discount area.

2) Migro Budget Products - ok, finding something in the fridge becomes like a lion picking out one zebra from the herd, but the stuff is cheap and great quality for the price.

3) Tuna Pesto. Fantastic meal. Need canned pesto (the coop brand is pretty good and not so expensive, about 3Fr), 1 can tuna (1Fr, packed in water), pasta (Migro Budget Penne are the choice here - 1.10Fr I think). Cook pasta, mix tuna and half a jar of pesto in a bowl, add pasta (it will heat up the pesto). total cost: < 3Fr.

4) The chinese supermarket near Kalbreite tramstop (from the stop walk away from town and take the first right, it is one builting in on the right) - You can get big bags of shrimp for 15-20Fr that will last quite a few stir frys and curries. Also they have these "Gelatenous Rice Balls" filled with either peanut (my favorite) or something else which are relatviely cheap, super tasty and surprisingly filling (see the frozen foods near the cash).

5) I you do want to eat out, go for a kebab!