Are Meal Plans Worth It?

msmom94
Fri, 02 Aug 2013 21:09:56 +0000

“Are meal plans worth it?” IMHO in a word, NO!

My daughter was a freshman at UF last year, and we chose the Declining Balance (DB) option. This worked out great for her, because she could use it for Chick-fil-A, coffee at Starbucks in the libraries, or grabbing a salad or sandwich at the grill in her dorm to take back to her room when she was studying…She lived in Trusler (in the Graham complex). There’s a little convenience store on the first floor that has a deli and grill, where they make sandwiches and burgers - very convenient!

A DB account allows you to eat anyplace on campus, including the dining halls - where you just pay per visit if you don’t have a meal plan. The prices at the dining halls vary according to time of day (i.e. breakfast is the least expensive, and dinner is most expensive). I don’t think she went in to Broward (Fresh Food Company) or Gator Dining more than a handful of times the whole year, but she could’ve done that if she chose to. It just so happened that her group of friends liked to hang out in the Hub between classes, not in the dining halls.

I kept up with what we spent for meals vs what a meal plan would’ve cost, and we spent MUCH less than half the price of a meal plan! We spent less than $1000/semester on meals, vs over $2000 the meal plan would’ve cost! Plus she wasn’t limited in her choices. She could also go off-campus; most places in Gainesville accept Gator 1 cards, but this only works if you have actual money on the card (i.e. declining balance), not a meal plan.

In fairness, the full access meal plans include a fixed number of “Flex Bucks” that allow you to eat at other places on campus besides the dining halls. The problem is that you buy these dollars in addition to the cost of the meal plan, and they expire at the end of each semester. DB dollars never expire; they carry over from semester to semester until you graduate, at which time any remaining balance is refunded to you. There are also special times throughout the year, during which any money you deposit in your DB account is boosted by 10%, so I always put in money during those times… For instance, I deposited $300, and she was credited with $330.

I’ll be happy to discuss our experience more if anyone has questions. But IMHO, a DB account is the only way to go!