PennyBiteGuide · Students
The ultimate budget meal plan for students
A full week of breakfast, lunch, and dinner for under 500 NOK — built around live grocery deals, cheap protein staples, and batch cooking that survives real student schedules.
The short version
One shopping trip. Around ~520 NOK at typical Norwegian supermarket prices. Seven dinners, seven lunches, seven breakfasts. Batch-cook rice, one tray bake, and one pot of lentils on Sunday; the rest of the week is 10-minute assembly.
The 5 rules that keep it under 500 NOK
Cap the week at 500 NOK
Set the number before you shop. If a candidate ingredient pushes the list over, swap it — don't ‘just this once' it.
Build the menu around this week's deals
Chicken thighs cheaper than mince this week? The plan uses chicken. Never the other way around.
Batch once, remix all week
Cook a big pot of rice, a tray of vegetables, and one protein on Sunday. Weekday meals become 10-minute assembly.
Lean on cheap protein staples
Eggs, lentils, chickpeas, and peanut butter carry the plan. Meat becomes a flavor bump, not the whole meal.
One shopping trip, one list
Every extra trip to the store is a chance to overspend. Combine the whole week into one deduplicated list, ordered by aisle.
The shopping list
Prices are typical Norwegian supermarket levels — hit a live grocery deal on any of these and the whole week drops another 30–70 NOK.
- Oats (1 kg)25 NOK
- Eggs (12)40 NOK
- Bananas (6)20 NOK
- Whole-grain bread (2 loaves)40 NOK
- Peanut butter (500 g)35 NOK
- Rice (2 kg)40 NOK
- Pasta (1 kg)20 NOK
- Dried lentils (500 g)25 NOK
- Canned chickpeas (2 tins)30 NOK
- Canned tomatoes (3 tins)30 NOK
- Frozen mixed vegetables (1 kg)30 NOK
- Onions (1 kg)15 NOK
- Carrots (1 kg)15 NOK
- Potatoes (2 kg)25 NOK
- Cabbage (1 head)20 NOK
- Chicken thighs on deal (~800 g)55 NOK
- Cheddar / block cheese (200 g)30 NOK
- Yogurt (1 L)25 NOK
The 7-day plan
Monday
- Breakfast: Oats + banana + peanut butter
- Lunch: Chickpea sandwiches on whole-grain bread
- Dinner: Chicken & vegetable rice bowl (batch-cooked base)
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on toast
- Lunch: Leftover chicken rice bowl
- Dinner: Lentil & tomato pasta
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Oats + yogurt + banana
- Lunch: Peanut butter + banana sandwich, carrots on the side
- Dinner: Chicken, potato & carrot tray bake
Thursday
- Breakfast: Egg + cheese toast
- Lunch: Leftover tray bake
- Dinner: Cabbage & chickpea fried rice
Friday
- Breakfast: Oats + peanut butter
- Lunch: Grilled cheese + tomato soup (from canned tomatoes)
- Dinner: Loaded lentil bowl (rice + lentils + veg + yogurt)
Saturday
- Breakfast: Big brunch: eggs, toast, potatoes
- Lunch: Chickpea & cabbage salad
- Dinner: Pasta with tomato + frozen veg
Sunday
- Breakfast: Yogurt + oats + banana
- Lunch: Leftovers cleanup bowl
- Dinner: Chicken soup with carrots, potato & cabbage
Let PennyBite build next week's plan for you
The 500 NOK example above is a template — the real savings come from running the same loop every week against this week's actual grocery deals in your city. That's what PennyBite does: scans local prices daily, and Penny — your AI cooking assistant — builds a plan that fits your budget, equipment, and dietary preferences, then hands you one shopping list.
Also useful: How to plan weekly meals to save money — the general 7-step system this student plan is built on.