<p>Hey everyone, I'm a transfer student from out of state and the school I attended prior to UNC had unlimited meals offered in its meal plan. After taking a look at UNC's meal plan offers, I'm having trouble discerning which would be the best meal plan for me. I'm 6ft, 170lb, male and would prefer to eat 3 meals a day but even the most expensive one, the "Value Meal Plan-14 Meals per Week", still totals out to be 2 meals a day. That seems a bit insufficient. Does anyone have any suggestions on which one to select??</p>
<p>get a block plan because you can eat whenever you want without worrying about how many meals you have left and your unused meals don't disappear at the end of the week because you don't have weekly limits at all.</p>
<p>you'll find that some days you'll eat at the dining hall for lunch and dinner and some days you won't eat there at all, since there are tons of other options like the food court at the bottom of lenoir, alpine bagel, and the entirety of franklin street. i rarely, if ever, eat breakfast at the dining hall, and that's the case for most people. i'll grab something quick in my room or at alpine.</p>
<p>most people end up frantically trying to share their meals by swiping in everyone they know at the end of the semester when they realize they have like 45 left and a week and a half to finish them--i don't think i know a single soul who didn't end up doing that.</p>
<p>moral is: get a block plan (the 150 block plan is a nice number if you're planning on eating in the dining hall a lot) + flex $$ so you can change it up a little.</p>
<p>I'm not even getting a meal plan this year. I've calculated it will be a lot cheaper to pay the at the door price for the meals I do eat at the dining hall considering I've had so many meals left over previous semesters, even using the smallest block plan available.</p>
<p>As others have said-- there are tons of other options, from the food court, franklin street, etc.</p>
<p>You can also always add more flex money later. (But with flex, if you don't use it, you do eventually lose it... so I think it makes complete sense to only add it in modest increments at a time.)</p>
<p>flex is just for dining (like at the bottom of lenoir, alpine, rams market, the new starbucks, etc.) & it's nice because there's no tax on whatever you buy. expense can be used for all of the food things above along with laundry (you have to have an expense account to do laundry--the machines don't take quarters), stuff from the bookstore, and pretty much anything else you'd buy on campus, but it'll be taxed.</p>
<p>i had $500 flex and i used it up by the end of april i think, so it was a perfect amount for me. i spent a lot more of it second semester than first, though, because i got in the bad habit of buying a bagel & orange juice for breakfast at alpine most mornings instead of grabbing something in my room!</p>
<p>If you are going to get a meal plan at all, I'd strongly recommend getting the smallest block plan, which I believe is 105 meals. That way you can use them whenever you want and you won't lose them (until the end of the semester).</p>
<p>That may not seem like enough -- but you'll eat other places, and if at the end of the semester you're running out that's perfectly fine because there will be dozens of people with meals left over trying to give them away.</p>
<p>yeah i had the 150 block and i had extras both semesters..this year i'm getting the 105 block plan + $500 flex. that's probably still more meals than is ideal, but i don't want a weekly plan because it's not as flexible. haha basically, you don't need as many meals as you think you will..</p>
<p>For those of you that don't have meal plans, is it a pain when you want to eat in one of the dining halls? I know with the meal plan you just slide your one card through, and want to make sure that if you don't have a meal plan it does not take much longer, as in you don't have to sit there signing receipts, etc.</p>
<p>You cannot bring leftovers to your dorm after eating at the dining hall (at least, you're not supposed to . . .).</p>
<p>However, you can get a "to go" meal where you get a little box you can fill with food and take all of it with you to go--- you just can't sit down, have a meal, and then take another meal home with you.</p>
<p>um..TECHNICALLY you can't.
buttt there are so many containers in this world! and they all fit in bags! and they can be brought to dining halls and filled with all of your very favorites and then brought back to your dorm room..</p>
<p>
[quote]
um..TECHNICALLY you can't.
buttt there are so many containers in this world! and they all fit in bags! and they can be brought to dining halls and filled with all of your very favorites and then brought back to your dorm room..
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But no one would ever, ever do such a thing... not! haha</p>