<p>The dorm’s dining hall buffet costs $8.00 (no tax) and saves the time of cooking/preparation/transportation. </p>
<p>Would this be cheaper than buying groceries at a local supermarket in the Los Angeles area? Any food price-savvy parents out there? The supermarket I’m referring to is Ralphs. This is for a male college student with an average build.</p>
<p>You can prepare your own meals for much less than $8 each if you are willing buy basic ingredients and do your own cooking.</p>
<p>If you are going to rely on prepared food from the grocery store, the cost will be closer to the dining hall cost. </p>
<p>If you are not interested doing much cooking, maybe you could buy groceries for simple breakfasts and lunches, and then eat at the dining hall for dinner. </p>
<p>Check into the dining hall pricing structure. Often you can buy a quantity of meal points in advance and get a discount price. This may allow you to reduce that $8 per meal cost.</p>
<p>It’s not just the cost of food; it’s access to a kitchen and it’s the equipment of a kitchen (pots, pans, etc.).</p>
<p>But moreover, there’s a social aspect to being in a dorm and being able to eat with your newfound friends that would be missing if a student were to decide not to take a dorm meal plan. Probably a bad idea unless there is some REALLY extenuating circumstance, such as a food allergy that the dorm cafeteria cannot accommodate.</p>
<p>Analgesia…is your son living in the dorms, or off campus? Does he have easy access to the grocery store for shopping? Does he LIKE to cook or will he be buying all prepared foods? </p>
<p>Has he eaten in the dining hall already and does he like the variety of foods served there? One reason both of my kids wanted to live off campus was so they COULD cook their own meals. But both like to cook, shop and plan meals.</p>
<p>I think it’s nice for freshman to eat in the cafeteria and get to know people. After that they can figure out if they’d rather cook or not. In most dorms, cooking is feasible, but not that easy.</p>
<p>Posting history would imply that this student will be a sophomore at UCLA this year. Is that right, OP?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your posts. So buying prepared food (e.g. microwaveable, frozen) at the supermarket would be able nearly the same as eating from the dining hall?</p>
<p>Commercial microwaveable, frozen food is loaded with salt, fat and preservatives. Once in a while is okay but a daily diet of the stuff isn’t desirable. Nutritionally you’d probably be better off at the dining hall or cooking yourself.</p>
<p>Personally, I think those prepared foods would cost your son MORE if he were to buy the same quantity he would likely eat in the dining hall. Those prepared foods are expensive.</p>
<p>Most college dining halls have good and healthy choices…things like salad bars, and fruit. If your son buys a prepared food entree…and then the ingredients for salads, etc…he will likely spend more than $8 for a meal.</p>
<p>If he were cooking from scratch, and then could use the leftovers for lunch or the following day dinner, he could maybe pay less.</p>
<p>If he is living in the dorm, I would suggest he eat in the dining hall. </p>
<p>If he is living off campus…he can still eat at least some meals on campus. Your son’s college probably has a meal points option. Perhaps you could get him some meal points for eating in the dining halls.</p>
<p>But back to my questions…does your son live in the dorms or off campus? Does he want to and like to cook? Is going to the grocery store easy? Would he prefer the ease of just showing up in the dining hall and eating? Does he LIKE the food selection in the dining hall?</p>
<p>Does he have a kitchen to prepare foods, or are you thinking just a microwave will suffice? As PG stated, it’s not just the food, but the items you need to own to prepare them.</p>
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<p>Do we really know it’s “most dorms”? My sample-of-one experience would lead me to say no way - I never heard of a dorm that had a kitchen available to students. But then at D’s school, the dorms she’s lived in – which are far older buildings – do have a small kitchen on each floor. So I guess what I’m saying is – is it really “most” dorms that offer a kitchen for student access? I have no idea.</p>
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<p>Is he going to sit and eat this by himself, while all of his friends are in the dorm cafeteria having dinner together? Really, I would not underplay the importance of socializing at dinner.</p>
<p>Can he do meal at the dining hall ala carte (w/o a plan). If so, $8 is a decent deal as a break to home cooking.</p>
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<p>Some undergrads could be so inventive that the absence of a kitchen is no barrier to being able to cook up a meal. One example was from a visit to a friend’s dorm where his RA took us and some other folks on the floor to a tour of a dormroom where there was apparently some remnants from an attempted campfire bbq. </p>
<p>This included burned firewood/ashes, roasted hot dogs/sausages & marshmellows on sticks, and beer. And yes, it set off fire alarms and there was some smoke damage to the ceiling.</p>
<p>Well, let’s hope that the OP’s son isn’t as stupid as the person you describe.</p>
<p>Reed has kitchens on every floor in the dorms D stayed in.
Most students did not have mini fridges, none had microwaves.
She used the main fridge, & used stickers to delineate if food was for sharing or not.
She also had an electric hot pot if she wanted cocoa or something without leaving her room.
She also had the smallest board plan.
Her sister really wanted to be able to cook so she moved off campus as soon as she could.
Can’t say it saves much money over board but she is learning a lot.</p>
<p>I for one don’t get why anyone would want to take on the hassle of cooking if they didn’t have to. (But then again, I dislike cooking.) I don’t get the appeal of living off campus at all, and would strongly discourage my children from doing so unless there was a really compelling reason. They have the rest of their lives to have to deal with cooking their own food.</p>
<p>While I like to cook, I agree with Pizzagirl as to why cook if you don’t have to. One of the things that OP and others may be forgetting about is the value on your time (grocery shopping, prep, cooking and cleanup). There are going to be times, when it is just not conducive to cooking; finals, papers, studying and times when you know that you have to eat on the run between classes. As a person who now cooks for one, there are many occasions where it is less expensive to eat out than to cook the same meal at home.</p>
<p>I sure wish the OP would answer the question about WHERE her son is residing. If he is in an apartment with other students, and a fully equipped kitchen, and wants to and likes to cook…my answer would be very different than if he lived in a dorm and planned to cook prepared foods in a microwave every night.</p>
<p>Many students my kids knew moved out of the dorms SO they could cook. </p>
<p>We don’t know what the son wants to do.</p>
<p>It sounds like the mom wants to save money on the food costs…but we really don’t know anything about her son.</p>
<p>If he isn’t inclined to cook, and would be using prepared foods for dinners, I would suggest the dining hall…those prepared foods are not particularly healthy…and they can end up costing a LOT. The better ones are frozen…does her kid have a freezer?</p>
<p>At BOTH of my kids’ colleges when they were there…if you lived in the dorm, you were REQUIRED to have a meal plan.</p>
<p>^^Same here. Both my kids’ state u’s. required a meal plan if living in dorms.
Both my kids moved off campus after freshman year and handled their own meals from then own.<br>
S2 had three roommates in an off campus house. One of them had the school dining plan. S2 said it was a big waste of money. The roommate w/ the dining plan rarely used it because the other guys weren’t eating there. They had a grill in the backyard and used it several times a week.
So if the OP’s son is living on campus, he should have a meal plan. If he’s living off campus, chances of getting the most out of a meal plan are low.</p>
<p>I’m with those who say a small meal plan is well worth the price. Prepared foods aren’t usually that healthy (salt, preservatives, fat, etc), and when they are, they aren’t that tasty/satisfying (yes, personal opinion). They are also costly. </p>
<p>Even when kitchenettes are available to a dorming student, there’s an issue of food storage. Staples take up space and you can’t really buy single serving sizes. So, in your small dorm room, you now have to store food, too. </p>
<p>I have a kid who can’t always safely eat in the dining hall (gluten allergy), so she’s had to learn to make her own meals in the dorm. It’s doable, but kind of a pain.</p>