If you are in need of new clothing or just want to change your wardrobe up, you should start looking at thriftshops! Also known as “kringloop” or “tweedehands winkels” in Dutch, you can find them dotted around the city. Not only is it cheap to buy from such shops but thrifting is also a climate-friendly and sustainable way to do your shopping. Groningen has many thrift shops in different neighborhoods where you can buy clothes, furniture or home decor. Many of them can be found at the Oosterstraat or Oude Kijk in ‘t Jat. Do not hesitate to search for thrift shops in Groningen on the internet to be sure that you have not missed a gem. Especially since new thrift shops open on a regular basis lately! 

You can also make money with your own clothes. If you still have good quality clothes, you can sell them at thriftshops in Groningen such as Appel & Ei or Find. Otherwise, you can offcourse buy or sell clothes on Vinted or Marktplaats.

Cooking dinner can be a hassle when you have plans or obligations during the day. After a long day, you’d preferably just join someone for dinner. Well, some of the restaurants in Groningen have your back! Find ten different budgetproof restaurants in Groningen here. You can also get discounts as a student at different places by creating a Kneak account. From beers to burgers (or discount on clothing!).

Supermarkets

On the days you do feel like cooking or need to do groceries, you should start looking at the right supermarket. Supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi are significantly cheaper than Albert Heijn and Jumbo. Look online for the folders of supermarkets to find the best prices for products and create a customer account on their app. Often personalised deals will be shown in these accounts. For Albert Heijn it’s even the case that your store discounts online count when you scan your customer card, and if you’re a budget savvy person, you can even learn when the ‘bonus’ (or discount) days are in each supermarket. 

Too Good to Go

Another way to get the cheapest groceries is by getting leftovers from shops. This you can do through ‘Too good to go”, an app that shows which restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets or cafes have leftovers. You select the companies you want to buy the leftover bag from (it’s a mystery what’s inside) and go there at the selected time. However, supply is limited, so make sure to be quick when it comes to selecting a leftover bag via the app. 

For local, fresh and sometimes cheap products, you can also go to one of the many markets Groningen has to offer. For a weekly food market you can go to the Vismarkt on a tuesday, friday or saturday. This is the biggest market of Groningen with plenty of food and excess charm.  Other food markets that take place on a weekly basis are in Haren, Vinkhuizen, Ten Boer or another district of Groningen. Find the days and times on which they take place on this page. For Provincial food and goods you can go to the Ommelander market that takes place every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Clothing, vintage and other markets also regularly take place in Groningen and are rarely fixed in date or time. To know when these markets take place you can have a look at the event calendar of the municipality! If you want to go to a market for the best prices and the least crowds: try the end of the day, there could be nice bargains on vegetables or fruit

In your free time you can also entertain yourself on a budget! With your student discount, go watch a good film with some snacksat the Kinepolis cinema. You do have to create a student account on their website to get the discount of 25%. Or play all kinds of sports for a student price at the ACLO, which is only possible for (ex)students or employees of the Hanze or Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Another way to get discounts on all kinds of events is to keep an eye on the Social Deal website or Voordeeluitjes.nl. Last but not least, stroll around the city or one of the nice parks in Groningen and really take the view in. A little tip: the secrets and gems of the city can be found when partaking in the Anwb city walk, walk past all the historic ‘hofjes’ of the city or choose another walk here.