<p>It was enlightening for me to learn (at orientation) that the only reason to get additional “dining dollars” is if parents want to control that the $ is spent ONLY on food. I previously thought there was some kind of discount or incentive to get the dining dollars rather than just add discretionary money. Nope- they do the same exact thing- pay for meals, except the discretionary money will carry over and can be used in bookstore, etc. My d is certainly not going to run around squandering discres money - so she’s on the basic plan and we’ll add discresh money to supplement if needed. Much better than trying to use up unused dining dollars at end of semester buying boxes of granola bars or Reese’s peanut butter cups!</p>