<p>Hey everyone. I'm asking, how do people budget their meals? I'm find with eating cold breakfast (i.e cereal) from the store so that's where the bucks go.
That leaves about 200$/3 weeks which is actually under 10 dollars a freakin' day!</p>
<p>Now, I was kind of hoping to have a "real"-ish dinner - for example, a 7$ Clucker's chicken meal. That leaves 2.50 for lunch? I don't think that works out to be enough :/</p>
<p>So what I'm asking is, how have YOU budgeted your meals?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone here have experience with the Hillel meal plan?</p>
<p>You can’t eat three full meals a day on the meal plan. You can barely eat two.
What basically happens is guys blow through it all with a month still left, then beg girls to feed them.
Girls feed anywhere from 0-4 male friends on their plans for the last month to get their food plan down, because you have to spend about 200 dollars in the last 3 weeks and most people don’t even want to see the diner by that point.</p>
<p>I’d say the dining plan covers 10ish normal sized meals a week. You make up the rest with take-out, terp bucks, and just plain not eating. Because chances are you won’t eat breakfast. You might eat two meals a day one at ten or eleven and one at seven or eight.
You might not eat lunch until 4:30 and then get hungry again by 11. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been with friends who are standing there trying to figure out if they had eaten yet today.</p>
<p>Personally I budgeted it with dehiblitating digestive issues that don’t agree with diner food and very hungry guy friends. And the sixth college park food group: DP Doughs.</p>
<p>While in the dorm, both of my D’s sometimes kept cold cereal and milk in the refrigerator. They probably used it more for snacks than breakfast, but neither of them wanted to “waste” time in the morning going to eat before class. One D kept peanut butter and bread in her room too. Both tended to order out, too, and were also in the position of feeding other people near focus dates. (Last year, at least D2 was able to feed her sister!) This year, she’s also in an apt, and she has put out the word to her friends in the dorms that she’s available at any time if they need to use up points!</p>
<p>Our DS never had a problem, however, he too was not a breakfast eater. I recall in the end of one semester he had so many points left he fed 9 guys one day to use it up. You really have to decide how much you eat. If you are cheeseburger and fries kind of guy you will be fine. If you are feed me steak and potatoes with a milkshake, probably not.</p>
<p>The other thing that floats into the equation is like Astro said, it also depends on how often you and your buds order take out or go to the student union for McD’s. If you are doing each once a week, then you probably will be fine.</p>
<p>However, that being said, it is true, in the end most of the girls land up feeding the guys.</p>
<p>Also if you opt for Hillel, you may find yourself facing the problem is your dorm is all the way across campus, so logistically, you say screw it, I’ll skip breakfast. DS’s freshman roommate was Kosher and due to the distance to the cafeteria, he basically only ate there for dinner.</p>
<p>What happens if you don’t reach the amount for focus points? I’m definitely not going to spend enough in the next week or so to get down to what I’m supposed to be at for the first focus date. Do they just take away any extra points left?</p>
<p>Yes. That’s why you go find people who are out of points to feed them. You’ll also find that the lounges on your floor will be overflowing with entire pies, cakes, etc. Use them or lose them.</p>
<p>Up the creek or on the path to befriend all of the girls in the dorm!</p>
<p>DS is a meat and potatoes guy too, but again he didn’t eat breakfast, he had a standing lunch date with his buds every Thursday at the Stamp, and he attended all of the football games*, plus, ordered in Ratsies once a week, which is why he never went through all of his points.</p>
<ul>
<li>Football games, meant woke up in enough time to tailgate with friends, thus no lunch, plus, ate through the game so need to eat dinner either.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Additionally, you will be IS, do you plan to go home often? That will make a difference too. Think about it, if you go home 1x a month, that is 2 days you will not be eating, add in ordering out, and you can quickly live within the system.</p>
<p>if you’re sick of dorm food, need blow some points before the focus date and can’t find anyone who needs food, go to adele’s during dinner. they’re really expensive. lol</p>
<p>Yeah, but make sure that whoever you take thinks you are going there because you think that they are special (not that you have to get rid of excess points)! Ha ha.</p>
<p>D and her friends went there just for dessert several times to use up points, too!</p>
<p>Haha, just noticed that Euroazn said, “Feed me steak and potatoes.” At Adele’s you can get a steak…at the diners…uh, not so much!!!</p>
<p>I didn’t mean actual steak I was just quoting (without the milkshake, if that’s important ) bulletandpima.</p>
<p>Honestly, I would be just fine with a Clucker’s meal - it’s just that as I’ve suspected (and everyone here is confirming) that basically means I won’t have lunch everyday ■■■■■.</p>
<p>No breakfast = no problem because honestly cereal is something I can take from home. It’s cheaper there, and it doesn’t spoil.</p>
<p>Some ways to save money at the diner are to not buy large sodas/juices/etc. Just drink water. Also, remember that the value meal is not always the best value. And, to not ever give away any of your points, and instead look for people who are willing to give away THEIR points. Mooch.</p>
<p>Terp bucks can also be used as “points” - and they’re equivalent to points - so try to work out what is cheaper. Buying cereal from the store, or buying it in the diner. My hunch is it’s cheaper in the diner but that may not be true. Bringing it from home is probably the best option :P</p>
<p>And, I hate to advocate this, but they usually don’t notice if you just walk out the way you came in, without paying. You didn’t hear it from me.</p>
<p>I think it would be cheaper at the shops unless you have an all-campus plan, because you’re buying in bulk there.</p>
<p>And yeah, drink water. Don’t overload salads with heavy stuff. And if no, they never notice if you just walk out the way you came in. The turnstiles even go both ways.</p>
<p>You can also hide smaller foods under larger foods sometimes. Sometimes they notice, sometimes they don’t. </p>
<p>But instead of buying milk from the incon or commons shop, you can always fill a water bottle with it and walk out.</p>
<p>It does feel wrong to give tips on this, but they charge us so much more money than we get to spend because they expect us to steal food.
It’s a vicious cycle, and students aren’t going to be the one’s to break it because the school would not stop overcharging if we stopped stealing.</p>
<p>Don’t feel alone, Goodday…DS hates Diner food too. He also hates not being able to eat breakfast until 11 a.m. so he never eats breakfast at the Diners. He had tons of points left over at the end of both semesters last year.</p>
or on the path to befriend all of the girls in the dorm!</p>
I was just quoting (without the milkshake, if that’s important 
) bulletandpima.</p>