Apparently my mama is concerned that I'm not spending enough on food. Now it is true I'm trying to live as cheaply as possible, partly because of a thrifty upbringing, partly because I'm horribly aware of the sheer cost of being at uni and it makes me feel martyrlike and undeserving - and partly because I'm suffering corset guilt. Not that I didn't do exactly the right thing by buying it, not that it doesn't look and feel brill - but it does make me unhappy in the brain-finance department.

So yes, I have been trying to live as cheaply as possible to compensate, at least in my own mind. But the comment has in turn made me worried about my eating habits. I'm not eating badly...am I? I'll be the first to admit my meals are irregular. I rarely have three big meals a day, and sometimes my appetite will swell or vanish entirely. You know what us absent minded geniuses are like, getting distracted and forgetting to eat - but I'm aware of that, and I was under the impression I was doing OK. So, for my own peace of mind even if not yours as well:

I always have breakfast, milk and cereal - and just last week I upgraded from "whatever Sainsburies have on offer" to looking for healthy cereal with oats and bits of fruit. Alternately, breakfast will be healthy, protein-filled homous on fattening, cheap crumpet. Until recently, this would be accompanied by a fruit smoothie comprising at least one, but normally two fruits, combined with fruit juice. I never miss breakfast.

Lunch depends on where I am, but I'm committed to cheap lunch because buying meals in Central London causes me miserly pain. If I have to eat in the city, then my first stop is Tescos - either I buy cheese and a loose roll, a box of strawberries/rasberries or if I'm feeling lazy, a cookie. Occasionally a pasta box, or if I've thought about it, Quorn sausage rolls. None of these are as expensive as, say, a wrap or packed sandwich or eating in a cafe. On Tuesdays, I eat courtesy of Graze, who send me a nice box of healthy fruits, nuts and organic oddities, both filling and healthy. If I eat at home, it's either a version of breakfast or of dinner - bread goes off too quickly for me to get it. If I spend more than £2 on lunch, it's a weird day. And now I'm worrying because Roxana always comments that I'm not eating enough when we eat out...

And then dinner - I tend to have a small snack dinner at 5ish, and then something cooked at 8 or 9. Usually, some combination of pasta/rice with tomato sauce, fake meat, and a piece of fruit. Pizza, sometimes. I worked out stir fry last week, and I've just discovered the joy of canned chickpeas. Sometimes there are carrot sticks with humous. If I'm lucky, Calypso or Sustenus will be cooking. Sometimes just cereal again. Dinner is where I get lazy, but it's OK because I'm the only one eating it - and I have great fortitude when it comes to eating the same thing every few days. And I don't tend to snack.

You only get to hear about my food when it gets weird - when breakfast is dark chocolate on weetabix soaked in Baileys, when I haven't eaten for two days, when I've slaughtered some of those who could not flee in time and roast them on skewers. The days you don't hear about me eating cereal with orange juice are the days on which I am eating normally. Honest.