Can You REALLY Save Money Living Off Campus

Deepee89
Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:39:49 +0000

For the mealplan… last year I would have said its not worth it for anyone. You were forced to get a full mealplan as a freshman if living on campus.

Which was unlimited dining hall meals and a few hundred flex dollars per term which can be used at a few of the alternative on-campus dining places.

However this year freshman have the option of getting a fixed number of dining hall meals…like 12 or something…and getting double the ammount of flex dollars…which is the better option imo.

You rarely eat at the dining hall 3 times per day, so for what you’re paying its not worth it to get unlimited. Especially during the winter when its cold and you won’t want to hike down there from the dorms and you’ll use all your flex dollars at the places closer. 12 dininghall meals per week is more than enough.

After freshman year most people just get partial meal-plans if anything. As upperclassmen you can choose to just get a few dining hall meals per week at varying degrees. Since you’ll probably have a place with a full-kitchen its usually more cost efficient to just go shopping and make your own meals. Maybe pack some lunches for between classes.