<p>Female living in a Keeney single, one floor above the kitchen. I’m debating about going off meal plan next year, but the problem is that I have a busy semester/year ahead of me. I feel like I gained a little bit of weight from meal plan this year because I’m cheap and I try to eat my money’s worth. LOL. One goal for next year is a healthier sviola!</p>
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<li>I could go off meal plan completely and eat on Thayer/eat really easy meals (sandwiches?). Even if I eat at the Ivy Room every weekday lunch, I would be saving money. But still uneasy about time-commitment in cooking and cleaning.</li>
<li>I could stay on a really reduced meal plan and use the dining halls as my “grocery store”. Maybe the smallest Flex 240 (~$13/meal)? Hopefully, I’ll smuggle a bunch of produce and soymilk to make it worth it. </li>
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<p>Anybody with experiences being off meal plan/reduced meal plan, please reply.</p>
<p>My daughter was off meal plan and survived. It was only toward the end of the semester, during finals, that she resorted to Thayer St. food. She had a rice cooker, a George Forman grill and a microwave. She only ate in the Ratty as a guest of friends, who used their meal credits for her food. </p>
<p>If you are a sophomore, most of your friends will be on meal plan, which means meals are social time that you will be missing out on. Consider that.</p>
<p>Being off meal plan is definitely cheaper (unless you are an athlete who needs to eat prodigious amounts of food). The reduced meal plans are still so expensive that I don’t see how you would save any money. The difference between the plans is minimal.</p>
<p>I’m a rising soph who will be going off meal plan as well. Freshman year I started with Flex460 in Fall and downgraded to the lowest Flex in Spring, and still had about 90 credits left at the end of the year (I used up all my points though). I would have gone on a lower plan if not for the fact that you are only paying slightly less money for way fewer meals. </p>
<p>Thing is I don’t even intend to cook all that much. Whole of last year, I usually skipped breakfast and just grabbed a sandwich/bagel/wrap from one of the cafe carts for lunch. So on a typically day I only visit the dining halls once (for dinner). So that considered, eating out everyday (once a day) would still be cheaper than being on the meal plan for me. Also I intend to get the 20/20 card thing which gives substantial (20%) discounts on select Thayer St establishments on weekdays.</p>
<p>If spending the least amount of money on food is your ultimately aim, then cooking is probably the way to go. But personally I just think it’s too much of a hassle.</p>
<p>Daughter reduced meal plan during her third year mostly because she didn’t need the extra stress of shopping, preparing, and cleaning up. She lived off campus third and fourth years, but found she missed the Ratty. Fourth year she was off meal plan and off campus, which made sense for a senior in college. I would say it’s hard for sophs, a bit easier for juniors, and fine for seniors.</p>
<p>Well, you’ll have to be on meal plan your first year. For sophomore year, most people tend to stay on meal plan, especially as sophomore housing usually doesn’t have the greatest kitchen access. Caswell’s got a nice kitchen, but you’d still need all of your own equipment.</p>
<p>Junior and senior year, you can definitely be off meal plan. It’s easier if you’re off-campus or have a private kitchen (Young O apartments, etc), but can be done by anyone. Market Shares is a great resource.</p>
<p>Pros: cheaper food, you make what you like (may be healthier), flexible.
Cons: takes time, don’t get to eat with friends as often, difficult if you live far away (for lunch).</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your experiences, everyone.</p>
<p>So today we learned that you can’t change you meal plan at this point in the year. How hard and fast a rule is that? What arguments – if any – would be accepted? My second semester sophomore lives in an interest house with a great kitchen (and has also done all of the number crunching to see that she’d save a lot of money going off meal plan).</p>
<p>Once tuition has been paid, I doubt you have much recourse, and you are set for the year. For my D, we opted for the minimal meal plan - she typically does take out from the Blue Room. Meals with friends tend to be at restaurants, not in the dining hall.</p>
<p>She should be able to go down on her meal plan via selfservice.brown.edu. She can’t entirely cancel it, though. I think that the only arguments that would work for that would be about severe food allergies or something of the sort.</p>
<p>I’d suggest that she go down to the lowest plan and mostly use the cafeterias to get ingredients. Alternatively, she could just wait until next year, especially if she’s living in the same house.</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone. She’s decided to stick with her 14 meals per week this semester (7 meals per week feels too expensive per meal, plus the grand total will likely be more with other food added in) and go off next year.</p>
<p>I went to Brown (years ago) and managed with 7 meals/week. Breakfast on your own is easy; most people just do coffee & cereal & piece of fruit if that. Lunch can trickier. I made a lot of PB & J sandwiches or cheese sandwiches & took them to campus with me–I generally spent the entire day away from “home.” It’s true, 7 meal plan is expensive “per meal” but it is still less than 14, and also less than buying the 14 but not eating all of them. I am a small-built woman & I found I was just not eating that much, and trying to squeeze in 7 lunches was not working with my schedule. You can use the meal credits at the late-night snack spots, but if you aren’t in the mood for them or don’t want that kind of food, you feel compelled to eat just to eat. Or then you are “giving away” your credits to friends, which is fine if you can afford to feed your friends on your student loans or Work Study earnings, but I could not!</p>
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