Living on your own for the first time could get pretty expensive. But your appetite shouldn’t have to suffer. Because most apartments near UCF are located by the main campus that intersects Alafaya Trail and University Boulevard, finding your nearest grocery store is easy. Not only that, UCF is also near East Colonial Drive, which is a popular street with tons of businesses.
In the proximity to your UCF apartment there are multiple grocery stores. Just 6 minutes from UCF there’s a Super Wal-Mart on E. Colonial Drive and a Publix down University Blvd. Not to mention, in the Waterford Lakes Town Center off of Alafaya Trail there’s a Super Target.
If you’re looking for more food specific markets, there’s also the Asian Market at UCF on Collegiate Way and the Indian Food Market on University. Each store offers smart and cost effective grocery shopping options while staying close to home.
If perhaps you don’t own a car or are still relatively new to the area check out our resource guide and find out how to get where you need to go the best. If not each grocery store mentioned has a website.
Here’s a few ways to stay cost effective while shopping for groceries:
- Set a budget and stick to it. Albeit a daunting task sometimes, setting a budget for your groceries along with your rent, utilities (if not already included in your rent), and other monthly expenses is always smart.
- Check your local coupons and weekly specials and deals. “Extreme couponing” isn’t just a trend, it really helps save money!
- Buy what you need. If you make a list, finalize it and don’t stray from it.
- Don’ always turn down buying house brand products. Oftentimes those products are made and packaged in the same factories as the same brand name products. Publix has a great in-house brand and so does Target at a fraction of the price of big company items.
- Going grocery shopping while you’re hungry is a common mistake by college students make in their first year away from home. The hunger can push you to overspend and ignore your list. Shop around for the best prices. Wal-Mart does price matching and so does Target.
Some helpful websites for finding weekly coupons or specials are: