Top Tips for Backpackers to eat cheap
The majority of backpackers are on a tight budget and need cheap eats when they travel, so when it comes to cooking a meal in the communal kitchen at the hostel, inspiration flies out the window and most meals are basic and bland. But this doesn’t have to be the way! Just because you’re trying to save money, doesn’t mean that all your meals need to be boring! Here are a few tips to make some great, tasty and more importantly, delicious meals!
- Take a walk by the local bakerys in the afternoon – often bread is sold cheap or even given away! Score!
- Hunt through the ‘Free Food’ shelves of your hostel – on a good day, you can make an entire meal from what someone else can’t carry with them. Be careful to read the use by dates!
- Take advantage of being in a hostel and all the friends you’ve met – Each person throws in $5 then writes their nationality onto a piece of paper. Draw out a nationality and cook from that country! A great way to experience another culture, get a great meal for cheap and have fun in the kitchen with your new friends!
- Homebrand/Black&Gold can taste good! For a simple pasta, chop up and onion, garlic, throw in a can of tomatoes, salt&pepper, a bunch of fresh basil and toss through some pasta. This is great cold the next day, or re-heated on toast for breaky!
- Find out when and where the local markets are on – you can get fresh, local grown produce for a lot cheaper than the big supermarkets, and you can often test them before buying – free lunch! Only buy what you will eat that night as you don’t want to spend money on food that will just go off if you need to move on the next day and you have nowhere to store your leftovers.
- Fruit is good!!! its cheap, healthy and if you’ve added on a few holiday kilos, it can help you lose weight! It can also keep your ‘regular’.
- Have a bag of almonds in your day pack – they can fill you up until you get back to the hostel for dinner and stop you from spending $8 on a greasy kebab!
- Instant noodles/pasta aren’t the most healthy options but they are cheap – make them more nutritious by adding some fresh choppped veggies – frozen veggies can also be quite tasty.
The above are just a few ideas to keep you satiated on a budget while you have fun on your travels and so you don’t have to succumb to the usual backpacker eating and drinking habits!
Need a place to stay? Book now at Nomads Byron Bay Backpackers Hostel! We’ve also got a great kitchen for you to test out our top tips for backpackers to eat cheap.
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