I love having other people cooking my food, not because I’m a bad cook, but because I’m a total snob.
Sofia Capel
“You go girl!” That was my initial reaction when I read the study conducted on the shopping website VoucherCodes.co.uk which revealed that students spend an average of £100 a month on takeaway or restaurant food.
Cooking at home is time cosuming
When I get home from uni I don’t want to spend time and effort on making dinner or washing up. I want to tell a professional cook that I’m hungry and I then want him to make me a delicious meal without any hassle or further questions asked (except for “Would you like a drink with that?”)
While some would consider it laziness and a waste of money, I am all for young people splashing out on food rather than alcohol and drugs.
Spending money more efficiently
Some spend £60 on a gram of coke, but I would rather treat my friends to a beautiful three-course meal for the same amount.
But the main reason why people should spend their student loan on non-homemade food is the cultural diversity they wouldn’t get at home.
Why make the same dishes your parents served you as a child? Just make a quick phone call and get anything from Spanish tortilla to Cambodian amok delivered to your doorstep.
To consider takeaways unhealthy is stereotyping
“Take aways” have got such a negative reputation and make us think of greasy kebabs or KFC. The term only means that the food is made by professionals rather than amateurs.
A Japanese sushi chef has to train with a master for five years before he can even prepare the rice that goes in my Bento box. I don’t stick my nose up at that lightly.
In first year at uni I tried living on instant ramen and leftovers, but it ended up depressing my taste buds. After a long day at the library I think I deserve a Pizza Express calzone to add a bit of spice to my life.
There are worse things that students waste their dough on, such as entry to Oceana and clothes that will go out of fashion the next week.
During my three years at Kingston I have saved a significant amount of time on having other people making my dinner. Having a private chef would be ideal, but unlikely. Living over a curry house comes close, anyway.
Frugal living is merely an oxymoron. Some eat to live, but I live to eat. And to this day I have never heard of anyone lying on their deathbed, saying they wish they had eaten more instant ramen.