<p>Counting the days til living on grounds and my to do list is still pretty long. Right now I am working on my Cav Advantage account for books and laundry but wasn't sure how much to ask my parents for.</p>
<p>I got a my Bio and Stat book on line but decided to get the Spanish bundle at the book store because I couldn't find all of the ISBN's for that and the IR book that is still being determined. Laundry money, I will double Cav's estimate of 15.00 per semester, some dry cleaning money, if that is possible. I have no idea what an average person spends on retail food/stuff outside of plus dollars, so estimates would be appreciated.</p>
<p>The website suggests 100-200 bucks. With the cost of books that seems way low.</p>
<p>Can someone please help me determine what is a good amount to put on CavAd card for first semester?
Thanks.</p>
<p>I didn't put money on my cav advantage to buy books, and I think most people don't. I can't see the advantage there over just using cash or debit/credit card.</p>
<p>Which mealplan did you get? If you have a lot of plus dollars, you aren't going to be spending any cav around crossroads or pav11. I don't think are any dry cleaners that accept cav, and very few restaurants take it... so I don't see the point of having a ton of money on it. $50 got me through the whole year.</p>
<ol>
<li>For books, you can "charge home" or whatever (don't know the key word). That means they give you a little slip, you enter your name, sign, and they send a bill home to mom and pops. No CavAd needed.</li>
<li>CavAd can be used on stupid stuff in the bookstore, food, coffee, vending machines (!!), library fees, etc. Lots of stuff besides laundry.</li>
<li>CavAd rolls over between years, so if you put $100 on, only use half, the rest stays on your card and you can use it anytime, even over the summer.</li>
<li>If you leave, you can get the remaining balance back, minus like 2% or something really dumb.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, my suggestion? Add more than you think you'll use, because that probably won't be enough. I would add $100 and see how you are around Fall Break, then again Thanksgiving (you DO NOT want to run out of CavAd/plus dollars around here because you'll be wanting snacks and coffee for finals). If you run low, add more.</p>
<p>What's the point Cav Advantage? Just get a credit card and pay it off every month. There are plenty of good ones with decent rewards programs out there that you might qualify for.</p>
<p>Also, in the bookstore, you can simply charge books/candy/whatever to your student account. Sometimes I do that when I need to make a purchase there. It's billed to you later on along with your tuition, so you can settle the costs then without dealing with Cav Advantage. </p>
<p>Also, the bookstore has a dropoff point for a local drycleaning service. The turnaround time is about two days and you can charge that to your student account as well.</p>
<p>edit: You probably should keep some money in your Cav Advantage account in case you ever want to use printers in the library.</p>
<p>Actually I have a credit card and a debit card but the web site said that cash checks and CavAd is all that is accepted on Grounds so as usual I drank the Kool Aide. It also said that if you don't have money you state "student charge" when making a purchase to your tuition bill?</p>
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the bookstore has a dropoff point for a local drycleaning service. The turnaround time is about two days and you can charge that to your student account as well.
<p>Personally, for the sake of convenience, I don't see much advantage of using Cav Advantage over a credit or debit card. If you pay off the credit card each month, it makes things simpler with having your money in one place. No sense in having multiple bank accounts either unless you're over the $100,000 insured by the FDIC. </p>
<p>I'll be using Cav Advantage for printing (if needed) and laundry (I plan on spending more than $15/sem ;))</p>
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laundry (I plan on spending more than $15/sem )
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<p>Funny you should mention that. Friends came in to visit last weekend and they were looking at my pile of college stuff that is in a corner. The first question they asked me was "where is your drying rack". They actually made me go online to look at them.</p>
<p>When I explained I was planning on letting things dry on the floor, like I do now, they heaped a ton of crap on me about wet towels and stuff. Cav help me out here. What do you do with your stuff? I don't want that big freakin thing in my room.</p>
<p>I always did my towel with my regular laundry, and just threw it in the dryer with the other stuff. Same with my sheets. The dryers are really high powered, they dry stuff pretty well. Sometimes my towel or jeans wouldn't be totally dry, at which point I just threw them over chairs/doors, but I had to really pack the dryer and have a bunch of jeans and the towel in there to do so.</p>
<p>There are benefits to using Cav Ad:
No tax on food at places like the Pav, etc
25% discount on parking at the bookstore
You can't use a credit/debit card on vending machines
Basically, it's the benefits of a credit card for things like: food, student health (I get allergy shots and cav ad those), etc (bookstore I always student charge), but also the benefit of not carrying around cash for things like laundry, vending machines... It's a personal choice of what you want to do. If you're skeptical that you'll use it, don't put too much on; at worst, you start using it a lot and make another deposit in the middle of the year (you can make a deposit online at any time of day).</p>
<p>For sure don't dry your towel on a drying rack, have you ever tried air drying towels? They come out feeling like cardboard. </p>
<p>Things don't dry on the floor either, just get a nice small drying rack that folds up, and only dry what absolutely can't go in the dryer on the drying rack. Things with Lycra, Spandex, etc or Polo shirts will shrink or be destroyed in the dryer on the same cycle as towels and sheets.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm a fan of spandex, totally not-fan of laundry (which is why my laundry from two weeks ago is still sitting in my basket on my floor...i'm going to pack it in a week, so what's the point?). So, I throw everything in (under armour included). I throw it in the dryer all the time, I just take it out after 20-30min and let it air dry the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Dryers don't kill clothes. Over-drying does. Don't be lazy about the dryer and it will save you a ton of work.</p>
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Don't be lazy about the dryer and it will save you a ton of work.
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<p>LOL, speaking of lazy, I have visions of forgetting my stuff in the dryer. What happens then? Ppl take it out for you for clogging the machine? </p>
<p>Also, I am configuring my laptop in an effort to be as ready as a person who didn't buy from CavComp can be. My plan was to buy office 2007 from the bookstore, is there any other software you recommend?</p>
<p>It's not taking it seriously. It's just that people often plan their day around doing laundry, and they don't want to come down to see everything full and then have that screw up their day.
I've never heard of people stealing laundry, but they'll often just move it to a convienent location, and that location can be dirty, they can drop stuff on the floor, whatever. My suggestion is to set an alarm on your cell phone or something for a few minutes before it's supposed to be done, and head over.<br>
Also, often there's more dryers than washers available, so stuff tends to get backed up in the washers. If there are washers done and you're pressed to move stuff, at least move it to a dryer. And move dried stuff to a clean location. You know, be nice.</p>