<p>Ok I know I have seen this in the past, but I have searched and cannot find the info anywhere…We are looking at Dining plans and we are looking for the cash price for the dining halls. We are looking at meal budgets and trying to decide which if any meal plan to go with. Will probably be the Bama 55, but based on cash prices we might go with none.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I think last year it was $9.29 for dinner, $9.00 for lunch and maybe six something for breakfast (D never ate breakfast in the dining halls). There are specials on occasion - I think every other Friday lunches are a few dollars less.</p>
<p>I will share our experience for what it’s worth. Freshman year, with the unlimited plan, my D ate frequently in the dining halls. She actually liked the food at Lakeside. She wanted to get a large meal plan for sophomore year as well. I talked her down to the 55, telling her that while she always had friends to eat with in the dining halls freshman year because the all-access meal plan was required, that would not be the case after freshman year and she might want to eat elsewhere with friends instead of at the dining halls. We did the math, and realized that it wouldn’t take many unused mealsfrom that 55 meal plan to negate what little savings there was over the cash price. D swore that she’d use her 55 meals and more. Guess what? At the end of the year, there were a few meals left unused, and she was treating others to guest meals to use some of what she did use. If I had it to do over again, D would not have a meal plan. And this was a kid who really enjoyed the dining hall food - not all kids do.</p>
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talked her down to the 55, telling her that while she always had friends to eat with in the dining halls freshman year because the all-access meal plan was required, that would not be the case after freshman year and she might want to eat elsewhere with friends instead of at the dining halls. </p>
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<p>Excellent point. Once a student is a soph, the friends are eating everywhere…especially since many pals have moved off-campus.</p>
<p>after it became apparent that older son started wandering off-campus to eat with friends during Fall of frosh year (about midway in first semester), we insisted that he get a part time job to pay for those extra off campus meals.</p>
<pre><code> NO MEAL PLAN!
</code></pre>
<p>NO MEAL PLAN! </p>
<p>NO MEAL PLAN! I was the mother who did not listen to the experienced parents on CC and bought my son a meal plan for his sophomore year…and not just any meal plan, but the unlimited meal plan! BIG MISTAKE! I will not make that mistake with my daughter. NO MEAL PLAN. $9 for lunch or dinner? That is crazy! That $9 will go along way elsewhere and taste better! :)</p>
<p>Cash prices for dining hall meals have not increased like the prices of meal plans. Unless one is going to use every meal at dinner or lunch and not on $5 Fridays, it’s often a better deal to simply pay the cash price (Dining Dollars, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover are also accepted).</p>
<p>$9 is actually a fair price for a buffet meal, assuming that one is going to eat a fair amount of food. The cost of a sandwich and drink at Jimmy John’s is almost as much money and potentially a lot less food. Old Country Buffet and Golden Corral often charge $10.99 or more, plus tax, for dinner, drinks not included (Golden Corral does offer free coffee if one asks politely).</p>