Information checked on: 18 September 2026
Meals out and takeaway food in Australia rose 4.5% in the 12 months to July 2026, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics — the single biggest driver behind the latest food inflation figures. Groceries went up too, but by less: 3.2% over the same period. That gap is the whole argument for learning to cook a handful of simple meals well. It is not about becoming a chef. It is about knowing five or six dishes cold, buying the right basics, and not wasting what you buy.
This guide is written for students in Melbourne and Brisbane who are cooking for themselves — often for the first time, often in a share-house kitchen with limited pantry space and a fridge shelf that isn’t really “yours.” It builds on Evantaa Institute’s guide to cheaper grocery shopping in Melbourne and Brisbane, which covers where to buy. This one covers what to do once you’re home with the bags.
Why cooking at home makes the biggest difference
Evantaa’s own Arriving & Living in Australia guide estimates typical weekly grocery costs of $80–$120 in Melbourne and $70–$100 in Brisbane, against $15–$25 per casual meal out in Melbourne and $12–$22 in Brisbane. Put simply: a week’s groceries can cost roughly the same as four or five takeaway meals. Cooking at home doesn’t mean giving up eating well — it means most of that money goes further, across more meals.
None of this requires elaborate meal kits or a full spice cupboard on day one. It comes down to three habits: planning before you shop, building meals around a small set of cheap, versatile staples, and cooking in batches that survive a busy week.
Start with a plan, not a supermarket aisle
According to LiveLighter, the Victorian Government’s healthy-eating program, the biggest cost leak for most households is shopping without a plan. Before you go anywhere near a trolley or a basket:
- Check what you already have. Look through the pantry, fridge and freezer and write down what needs using up first.
- Plan around 3–4 meals, not 7. You don’t need a different dinner every night — most students eat the same 5–6 reliable meals on rotation, which also cuts decision fatigue.
- Write a list and stick to it. Impulse items are where budgets blow out.
- Never shop hungry. LiveLighter notes that shopping on an empty stomach reliably leads to buying more processed, expensive food.
- Compare unit prices, not just shelf price — the small “$ per 100g” or “$ per litre” label lets you compare different pack sizes properly.
The pantry basics that stretch furthest
A small set of ingredients does most of the work in a student kitchen. LiveLighter specifically flags these as some of the cheapest, most versatile options available in an ordinary Australian supermarket:
| Staple | Why it works | Rough use |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | Affordable, quick, high in protein | Fried rice, omelettes, on toast, in fried noodles |
| Canned beans and lentils | “Just over $1 a can” and endlessly versatile | Curries, chilli, soups, bulking out mince |
| Rolled oats | Very cheap, filling, long shelf life | Breakfast, baking, adding to smoothies |
| Rice and pasta | Cheap per serve, long shelf life | The base for almost any stir-fry, bake or bowl |
| Frozen vegetables | No waste, often cheaper than fresh, keep indefinitely | Stir-fries, curries, soups, pasta bakes |
| Canned tomatoes | Long shelf life, base for sauces | Pasta sauce, curry base, soup base |
Buying home-brand versions of single-ingredient staples (rice, oats, canned tomatoes, flour) rather than branded versions is one of the simplest savings available, since the product itself is usually near-identical.
Meals that don’t get boring after week two
These are the kinds of dishes that repeatedly show up in Australian budget-cooking guidance because they’re cheap, forgiving of substitutions, and freeze well:
- Egg fried rice — day-old rice, frozen peas and carrots, a couple of eggs, soy sauce. Ready in 10 minutes and a good way to use leftover rice.
- Lentil or bean curry — canned lentils or chickpeas, a jar or tin of curry paste/tomatoes, frozen vegetables, rice. Freezes well in individual portions.
- Pasta bake — pasta, canned tomatoes, whatever vegetables need using, a small amount of cheese on top. Scales up easily to feed a share house.
- Vegetable and bean chilli — canned beans, canned tomatoes, onion, whatever spices you have, served with rice or in a wrap.
- Stir-fried noodles — instant or dried noodles, frozen stir-fry vegetables, egg, soy sauce, and any leftover protein.
- Soup from what’s left in the fridge — stock cube, canned beans or lentils, whatever vegetables are about to turn. Genuinely hard to get wrong.
A useful trick for share houses: cook one of these in a large batch on a Sunday and portion it into containers for the week, rather than cooking from scratch each night. It also means one shared shop and one shared cooking session can cover several people, which is often cheaper again.
Batch cooking safely in a share-house kitchen
Cooking in bulk only saves money if the food stays safe to eat. Food Safety Information Council guidance is worth following closely when you’re keeping meals for several days:
- Refrigerate leftovers promptly. Food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours should go straight in the fridge; after 4 hours in that “danger zone,” it should be thrown out.
- Cool food quickly. Split a large pot into smaller containers so it cools faster, rather than leaving one big pot to cool slowly in the fridge.
- Eat fridge leftovers within 2–3 days. If you won’t get through a batch that quickly, freeze portions instead.
- Reheat until steaming hot all the way through — the guidance sets this at a minimum of 75°C in the centre if you have a food thermometer.
- Label shared fridge containers with your name and the date, especially in a group house — it avoids food being thrown out (or eaten) by someone else and helps you track how long something has been sitting there.
If money is genuinely tight
If groceries are becoming difficult to afford, that’s worth acting on early rather than skipping meals. Evantaa Institute doesn’t provide personalised financial advice, but there are established, free Australian services that do:
- Foodbank Australia and OzHarvest both run food relief programs and can help connect people to food support services close to where they live — see Foodbank Australia and OzHarvest.
- Study Melbourne’s budgeting resources set out a simple 50/30/20 budgeting framework (needs/wants/savings) that can help identify where a food budget is being squeezed — see Study Melbourne: Budgeting.
- Evantaa’s own Student Services team can point current students toward the right local support — reach out if things feel tight rather than waiting until it becomes a bigger problem.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I budget for groceries per week in Melbourne or Brisbane?
Evantaa’s own cost-of-living guide estimates around $80–$120 a week in Melbourne and $70–$100 a week in Brisbane for a typical student, though this varies with diet, household size and how much you cook from scratch. See the full Arriving & Living in Australia breakdown.
Is it actually cheaper to cook than to order takeaway?
Generally, yes, and increasingly so — ABS data shows takeaway and eating-out prices rising faster (4.5% over the year to July 2026) than grocery prices (3.2% over the same period).
What if I don’t have much kitchen equipment?
Most of the meals above only need a pot, a pan and a chopping board. A rice cooker is a worthwhile shared purchase for a share house if you eat rice often, but it isn’t essential to get started.
How do I stop food going to waste?
Plan meals before you shop, buy frozen vegetables where possible (they don’t spoil on a bad week), and freeze batch-cooked portions you won’t eat within 2–3 days rather than letting them sit in the fridge.
A final word
None of this requires a big weekly shop or a complicated system — just a short list, a few reliable dishes, and a habit of using what you’ve already bought before it goes off. Combined with knowing where to shop (covered in our grocery shopping guide) and where to buy fresh produce cheaply (see our Queen Victoria Market guide for Melbourne students), it’s one of the simplest ways to make a student budget go further without cutting corners on eating properly.
Sources
- Australian Bureau of Statistics — Consumer Price Index, Australia, July 2026 — food and non-alcoholic beverages +3.2% annual; meals out and takeaway +4.5% annual, released 26 August 2026
- LiveLighter (Victorian Government) — Eating well on a budget
- Food Safety Information Council — Leftovers
- Study Melbourne — Budgeting — checked 18 September 2026, last updated 14 September 2026
- Evantaa Institute — Arriving & Living in Australia
- Foodbank Australia
- OzHarvest
Readers should confirm current prices and program details directly with the relevant organisation, as costs and services can change.