<p>This is really just a simple practical question. My school next year has a commuter meal plan option that is $650, giving you $400 spending money with no tax plus discounts, and anything extra you put in after is completely yours to spend, no more operating costs. I’m wondering if I should get this because I’m really bad about forgetting to carry cash, but on the other hand, I don’t know if the savings on tax and the discounts might possibly make up most of the operating costs that I’m paying for by getting the meal plan, aside from the convenience.</p>
<p>I’d just really like to know whether it is worth it to get a commuter meal plan, usually. I know that I can bring a bagged lunch and that it is easily the most cost effective option I have, but I tend to tire of eating the same foods very quickly and I’m afraid that if I don’t have some sort of meal plan, I won’t be able to make friends/spend time with existing friends during the day. At my previous school, I really didn’t have many friends (and I lived on campus), but the one lasting friendship I actually did make happened because we started getting lunch after a class we had together. </p>
<p>Also, while I’m at it, are there any magical strategies for making friends as a commuter, or am I pretty much hopeless? I’m really not sure how much I’ll be able to get involved because I have a pretty long commute by bus. In theory I’d love to do choir or theater but I just don’t know if it’s realistic, especially since I’m taking the engineering core next semester (calc, physics, chemistry, plus intro to engineering courses).</p>
Then why don’t you just add extra money to your account instead of buying a meal plan? You can save $250 that way.</p>
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Then you’ll get tired of the food available on campus pretty quickly…I’m a commuter as well and bought a similar meal plan because I was forced to, but this year I’m going to take my lunch every day instead.</p>
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Try joining some clubs. People meet most of their friends through others in their residence halls or clubs. Even if you aren’t living on campus, you can still join clubs and make friends.</p>
<p>Why does $650 only get you $400 of spending money? I think my school’s commuter plan is like $10 to sign up, and after that, you can put as little or as much money as you want to use on it (as to not pay sales tax).</p>
<p>Wow, that makes my school’s plan sound like a ripoff in comparison.</p>
<p>Another thing I’ve just found out about is apparently they have campus cash accounts that you can access through your school ID. The only thing is that with that is I still need to pay tax on my purchases. Does this sound like a better option?</p>
<p>Ah, at my school, there’s 2 cash systems both run through our school ID. The meal plan is through a magnetic strip, and there’s a copper chip that works on vending machines, laundry, etc.</p>
<p>I suppose you should try and estimate how much food you’ll eat, and calculate if the tax would be more than the $250 it appears to cost to sign up.</p>
<p>Huh, playing with a calculator for a second, it seems like I’d have to spend over $3000 to spend that much in tax. If I say a meal is about $7, that’s 14 meals per week or more, or in other words, enough for me to eat twice a day on campus.</p>
<p>Cash card it is, I guess, if I decide to eat on campus.</p>