You are going to university this autumn and have landed yourself in self-catered accommodation, or maybe you are moving into your first student house - either way, feeding yourself without the help of Mum is unlikely to be a prospect that appeals.

Yet your diet does not have to be about omelettes, microwave meals for one, or takeaways. If you are worried about fending for yourself and keeping the spending down, here are some top cooking tips, recipes and store cupboard essentials to give you a kick start.

Top Cooking Tips:

- Freeze: a great way of saving money and making food go a long way is to use the freezer. If you have cooked too much, do not throw anything away. Taking small, one or two portion size freezable boxes is invaluable. Put sliced bread in the freezer and take what you need when you need it.

- Bulk buy: supermarkets are great for bulk buy food opportunities, whether it is buy-one-get-one-free or a frozen packet of all the chicken breasts you could ever dream of, using these offers is always the cheapest way to go. Even if it feels like you could feed an army with all that food, remember you can freeze it.

- Communal meals: if you are living in a student house the chances are there will be three or more of you. Buying food in bulk and taking it in turn to cook for the house is cheap and hassle-free.

- Keep an eye out for deals: your first port of call in a supermarket should always be the discounted shelves. Often bread, dairy products and other short-life products will be on the shelf towards the end of the day. Once again, do not forget that most of these products do not have to be eaten that day if they can be frozen. Tinned and packaged products are also often discounted if damaged (a dent in the tin doesn’t change the taste of the food). Some supermarkets with hot food will discount products after a certain period.

- Allotments: it may sound like a shot in the dark, but more and more students are pitching together to rent an allotment for a year at only £10. Allotments give you the ability to grow your own fruit and veg without too much hassle. Take it in turn to spend half an hour every few days looking after it, it will save you hundreds of pounds and the food will taste phenomenally better than the stuff in the supermarket.

- Only buy what you need: if renting an allotment does not take your fancy then you will have to resort to buying your fresh fruit and vegetables from your local. When doing this make sure you only buy what you need and items which will keep better than others. For example, an Iceberg or Cos lettuce will last infinitely longer than a prepared and bagged salad.

What’s in your cupboard?

By the end of your first year of cooking for yourself you will undoubtedly find some rather strange things at the back of your kitchen cupboard, all of which you thought were a good idea to buy at the time, most of which were not. Here is a handy guide on what should, rather than what should not, be in your cupboard.

- Bulk foods: taking lots of pasta, rice, risotto, noodles and couscous means you will never go wanting. These essential foods are not only easy to cook and cheap, but they also go with nearly everything (plus they fill up big hungry boys who eat for ten).

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