How I Make 1 $7 Chipotle Bowl Last 3 Meals

Hello and welcome to my first post in what I hope will become a series- The Chronicles of a Broke College Student. Now regardless of whether or not this title applies to you, I highly recommend trying to see how far you can make your money go because not only can it be somewhat of a fun puzzle, but at the end of the day it's rewarding too. I hope to bring you many more tips in the future but for now, let's talk about Chipotle. 

Why Chipotle?

Several reasons. Firstly I can usually get 3 meals out of a bowl which works out to be about $2.50 per meal (and yes that's including tax this time). It is hard to think of a healthier and, in my opinion, yummier meal to get at that price. Also, they're a pretty large chain so there's usually one nearby, particularly when you're in a college town. Their app also makes ordering super convenient and you get points added to your account that can lead to discounts later on.

My Order: 

I get a veggie burrito bowl (more on this later) with-

White rice

Black beans

Fresh tomato salsa

Roasted chili-corn salsa

Sour cream 

Cheese (extra)

Lettuce

Guacamole

Most of these ingredients I choose purely out of preference and I recently discovered that when I order extra cheese through the app they don't charge me extra (and maybe they don't charge extra in store?? I'm not sure I've always been too scared to ask). I get a burrito bowl because I think it gets you the most bang for your buck and I get a veggie bowl namely because I am vegetarian, but I certainly enjoy getting guac without being charged extra as well. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who can spare eating
meat for a meal (or 3?).

Meal 1:

The trick to making the bowl last for three meals is definitely not over-indulging on day one. My day one go-to is usually requires either a tortilla of my own (side note: tortillas are a super convenient food to keep in college; they last much longer than bread, are relativley filling, and pretty inexpensive) or order one from Chipotle (they have recent started charging an extra 25 cents for this so I usually use my own but if you don't have any on hand, I do believe it is well worth the extra expense. They're pretty large tortillas and kept nice & warm). Day one is burrito day; I take a few scoops out of my bowl (make sure you get some protein in those scoops though) and make myself a burrito. Thanks to the tortilla (I usually use mini ones though so in my case 3 tortillas) I get a pretty scrumptious meal without actually having to dig that far into my bowl.

Meal 2:

In my experience, meal two is the trickiest. I usually either repeat burrito day (but that'd be no fun to share with you all) or have dip day. This is where I eat the burrito bowls pretty much in the traditional, you know, how you were meant to style but to make it last a little longer I throw in some chips and use the bowl as a sort of dip. I like to use Tostitos chips because I stock up when they're on sale at Publix but whatever's best for you will likely do the trick (if Tostitos aren't all sale you'll probably get a very similar product for less with the non-name brand options and there's also options lighter on the salt if you're worried about sodium intake). To be clear, not every bite of the burrito bowl I eat on this day is on top of a chip (that would be a lot of chips) but a few thrown in their definitely help a little bit of the bowl last until meal 3. Having said that, I usually do finish up the rice at this meal.

Meal 3:

Ah, the homestretch. Meal 3 consists of taking whatever left (corn, tomato, beans, a bit of cheese, hopefully some guac) and throwing it all on top of some lettuce making, that's right, a salad. It's a classic and, thanks to the bit of left over protein, pretty filling too. 

As always, I hope you all enjoyed and let me know if you have any requests :)