Do you really save any money by taking a meal plan?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I go to Penn, and the meal plan is usually well over a thousand dollars per year. They are required freshman year. Meals generally come out to around $10/meal, and can get as high as $12 for dinner. However, there are also Dining Dollars which can be used pretty much like real dollars, only they're derived from your student account. In general though, the meal plan's really expensive. So, in response, I've been buying food out of pocket for the past two years (I'm going to be a senior this year). Sometimes I actually wonder if it was a good idea.</p>

<p>Buying food out of pocket can sometimes be rough compared to simply putting a more expensive meal plan on your student bill that you'll simply pay off later anyway. I'd spend money getting random food from Wawa or Fresh Grocer and occasionally go out to a restaurant, but the problem is that unless you're being given money, working on campus isn't usually enough money to sustain food costs unless you eat very little. I usually would rather purchase healthier foods, but I find that it's much more expensive to do so. </p>

<p>A meal plan is quite limiting food-wise, but I don't want the huge dip in spending money, either. However, this obviously doesn't mean I can't spend money on food still, but at least I'll have more leftover. So, I think I will take the meal plan next year.</p>

<p>The way I see it, a meal plan isn't a bad idea if you want to simply worry about it later when you have the financial muscle and income to pay it off more comfortably. As a student, earning potential is relatively crappy. I figure that spending an extra thousand or two later on in life won't be as painful as spending a bit less than that in the present.</p>

<p>Besides, I seriously see nothing wrong with living off meal-plan chicken every day. It's not bad for me and I think it's tasty. Much better than stocking up on a bunch of unhealthy food from Wawa.</p>

<p>In short, getting a meal plan won't save you any money, but the convenience of not being required to cook, the convenience of having more present-term spending money, and the ability to pay the meal plan off later when earning potential is greater is a plus</p>

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<p>If you get need-based financial aid -- would it decrease if you scaled down on the dining plan?</p>

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<p>I think meals plans definitely save you money. I know that the dining hall food isn't always that great and sometimes you just lose your appetite by looking at what's being served. But, it certainly can get expensive going out to eat every day. What I would suggest doing is, if it's possible, get a meal plan that lets you pay as you go. Rather than getting the meal plans that give you whatever amount each semester. For example, if you want to balance eating at dining halls and going out to eat, you can put in like $100. Whenever that money is gone, you can decide whether you want to add more money or not. Basically, you just have more freedom.</p>

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<p>@ USC its 12 dollars ish for dinner at a buffet cafeteria. It's not worth 12 dollars, I rather make something at home for closer to 2-5 dollars or buy food elsewhere for much cheaper. (even when i eat out, I usually eat two meals with one meal so i only spend around 8 dollars for the whole day since I only eat twice a day) Meal plans make you waste money pretty much. You should probably not be eating 2000+ dollars worth of food every semester anyhow...</p>

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<p>Yea, the meal plan at my school, although nice in theory, is a total ripoff. We pay over $2000 to get $1800/semester to spend at any of the random places on campus or Domino's. Would work lovely except the grocery store on-campus and Domino's jack up their prices for us. Still, people have so much money left over by the end of the semester. And that's with buying Starbucks coffee and Vitamin Water with our meal plan money all semester.</p>

<p>It's required for everyone who lives on campus, including fraternity housing, so I'm stuck with it for another year.</p>