<p>Its been awhile since Ive asked for help but a few of my sons friends have elected not to get a full or partial meal plan( they are all moving off campus) because the fees are not worth the discounts. I know it costs $800 for a minor meal plan but the student gets approx. $400 to spend on discounted food. Is it better to not get a plan and pay more for the food? My S eats a lot and I want to encourage him to eat on campus due to cost. He is moving to an apartment this school year. What's your advice?</p>
<p>There are a bunch of threads on a different VT student forum and usually the consensus is that unless you have to spend about $1400 for any meal plan to be a value.</p>
<p>I lived off-campus last year and I bought a meal plan. It really comes in handy. </p>
<p>I have a job that covers all my bills and still leaves me with some spending money, but I would prefer to not spend a ton of money out of pocket on food. Yes, buying and preparing your own is great, but it’s truly nice to go on campus and eat food that’s already paid for. Especially since so many of my friends still want to eat on-campus. I don’t have to worry about saying,“I’m too broke to buy anything.”</p>
<p>If you’re son doesn’t spend time on campus outside of classes, then maybe buying a meal plan isn’t worth it. But if he is then he should definitely get a plan. </p>
<p>My first year off campus was last year and I remember thinking to myself that I had all my finances in check. My mother, being the wise woman that she is, advised me to buy a meal plan to give myself a little cushion room just in case my spending habits in theory weren’t exactly my spending habits in practice. I argued it a bit but she eventually forced me to buy the major meal plan. On of the best things she’s ever forced me to do. I was able to spend less per month on food and was able to do other things with my extra money.</p>
<p>Actually now that I think about, I’d strong advise him to get a meal plan haha. At least for his first year.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech has some GREAT food, according to my sons, food in quantity and quality and variety that they would never come up with themselves. The convenience and fun of eating on campus cannot be matched. Also, for my guys, it helps that they don’t have to deal with the shopping, in part because they don’t have a car but also because shopping is expensive. If a semester is 16 weeks, it’s going to be expensive to eat during that time. Will it be $1,500 (around $100/week and the cost of a meal plan), who knows?, but money will be spent for eating. Lastly, the less you eat at home, the less dishes there are to wash! This is huge, because dirty dishes are a major gripe among roommates. Nothing at college will help kids appreciate mom’s good habit of cleaning up the kitchen than living with roommates. I say buy the meal plan, enjoy the food and food options at Virginia Tech, work hard on your GPA, and keep the peace with your roommates.</p>
<p>I didn’t get a meal plan once I moved off campus and I never really regretted it. I still ate on campus occasionally but it forced me to learn how to cook, which is a very important thing to learn. It’s also much cheaper to buy your own food and cook it, as long as you’re buying real food and cooking it and not microwavable whatever.</p>
<p>I tried to convince my DD to buy a plan once she moved off campus but she did some math and figured out that it wasn’t going to be cost effective for her. Her roommates all came to the same conclusion. I have no idea if this has turned out to be true or not but I do know she is cooking a fair amount based on the number of times she has called home for recipes.</p>
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