<p>Nope. It’s much more cost effective to put money on your BruinCard if you’re swiping at the dining halls. Also, you can’t use dining hall/restaurant swipes on-campus (there’s “The Hill” and “On-Campus”, two separate designations in terms of food.).</p>
<p>O I see. Well how would I pay for meals at a dining hall if I had money on my bruin card? Do they charge you per swipe at the dining hall and how much is it per swipe?</p>
<p>[Dining</a> at the Residence Halls - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Tours/dining.htm]Dining”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Tours/dining.htm)</p>
<p>If you get that 5 meal plan, and my math is correct, it comes out to being under 9 bucks per swipe (5 meals a week, 11 weeks of class w/ finals week), which is cheaper than putting money on your card. The issue with that is, as Deuces mentioned, you have to eat at the dorm areas and no where else. </p>
<p>While the plan is cheaper per swipe, overall you are spending about $44 dollars on food to feed yourself 5 times. You have to eat more, which means you’ll be spending 44 and whatever more you need to live. That’s pretty expensive! </p>
<p>Deuces - This may sound sick and some people dont agree with doing this, but I cooked my food a week in advanced (usually on Sunday), so I never had an issue with lunch. I would just pack a lunch with the things I cooked.</p>
<p>As I remember, dining hall pricing is different by meal and a few years ago when I was a first year, I believe dinner was $8/swipe, nearly equivalent to a full swipe so there was no reason to go for the plan. Also, at the hill restaurants, you can just pay for individual items and save a bit there. </p>
<p>Yeah, cooking for the entire week is the ideal plan, but I’m a bit picky about my grub and I enjoy cooking/eating freshly cooked food. I typically did sandwiches here and there for lunch and other things (TJ’s fajitas, pasta & meatballs, burgers, tuna melts, paninis) for dinner.</p>
<p>My friend goes to UCLA and he says people in his apartment blaze daily.</p>