So I’m entering UT next fall and plan to live on campus. From what I understand, all on campus housing students receive $1500 Dine In Dollars and $300 BevoBucks. Working on an academic calender of approximately 180 days, and having breakfast lunch and dinner everyday, this works out to $2430. Considering weekends and what not, I’m absolutely screwed in terms of sustenance. Any way to be frugal and make it out alive? Any reasonable cutbacks or tips? Easy and cheap breakfast I can maybe prepare in my dorm? Also, where and how to dine on weekends?
You can always pick up food from local grocery stores - UT bus system has routes that go by these all the time. Free for UT Students. So you can pickup breakfast items or anything easier and more cost effective. HEB is right up Red River Route. (The markets closer to campus will charge you way more).
So think yogurts, apples, granola bars, pb sandwiches, bagels, frozen breakfast sandwiches, cereal.
Ramen, easy mac, oatmeal, cheap frozen dinners, crackers, can soup, fruits
If you wanna eat unhealthy ^^^
The cheapest/easiest way to actually eat at UT: GET A JOB. you need money to eat obv.
Spend your bevo bucks/DID at places that offer large meals for relatively cheaper cost.
Rice, buy bulk or by the lb (there’s a whole foods near campus where you can buy by the lb). veggies are actually alot cheaper than you think: stir fry, add to quick ramen. eggs. if you have a functional freezer you can store alot of stuff longterm.
I worried about the same thing with my son his first year and he ended up having leftover money at the end of the year. We sent him snacks and things via ups. He always was such a big eater at home but only eats 1-2 meals per day at college. He typically eats at the reduced meal rate at kinsolving or J2 buffet. Just watch where you spend your $ to be sure to get the best rate. You will be fine and won’t starve. My son would buy 1-2 fast food meals outside his meal ticket on the weekends that would cost $7-8 each. You may find the same thing that 2 meals per day is enough. They make all new students sit through financial Ed class in orientation and they talk about this. You’ll be fine. Best of luck to you
@colaudrey WE MEET AGAIN (first reddit, now here).
Anyway… How do y’all eat rice? I read that we’re not allowed to bring a rice cooker, and cooking rice on a stove seems sort of inconvenient.
You hide the rice cooker in the drawers of your room, like 1/4 of the asians living in the dorms.
@OhSorryYo Great! I was planning on bringing a rice cooker anyway lol. I will live in unity with my rice cooker-smuggling people.
Most of the time we didn’t even need to cook rice because it was more convenient to pay for prepared meals with dine-in dollars. But it was still nice to be able to cook rice whenever we wanted because the rice served on campus is crap.
I just want a rice cooker for the purpose of eating good rice (not really to save money, lol). I think I’ll bring one then, haha. Thanks for the heads up on the crappiness of the rice 
This kind reminds me of what I was talking to my friends the other day… we were just saying that nobody should be starving at UT because this school has so many events every day and many of them provide free food, so I would say don’t worry ;
Besides, the buffets at Jester and Kinsolving are pretty affordable