<p>I think I’m starting to get the difference now, but I was wondering, do you usually use PennCash more or Dining Dollars more?</p>
<p>It depends what establishments you eat in. Basically it also depends whether you are purchasing a meal plan.....I mean most folks use their dining dollars where possible and then use Penn Cash....but if you don't have to have a meal plan you can go straight to Penn Cash.</p>
<p>I'll be a freshman so I'm signed up for the Liberty Plan. Can you recommend about how much I should have as PennCash and as dining dollars?</p>
<p>PennCash I've found to be generally useless as a rule, as it functions in exactly the same way realy money does, but you can only use it at a limitied number of locations. This is the same case with dining dollars, but those you are forced to have as a freshman with a mealplan; you are in complete control as to whether you have any penncash at all. The only realy use penncash has that i've seen is for laundry, if you don't feel like saving up quarters or running to a change machine all the time, but then again only some of the machines accept penncash.</p>
<p>I use PennCash a lot. Firstly I go to the gym with just my ID card and want to get food/drink on the way back......slide the card and use PennCash. Secondly there are food vendors who take PennCash but not dining dollars. As to the Dining Dollars to meals ratio: I always take the greatest number of dining dollars available. Think of your own needs though. A semester is about 15 weeks and I doubt if you will eat 3 meals in dining hall per day. I take the greatest amount of dining dollars and I still run out sometimes!!</p>
<p>Regardless of what meal plan you are on or whether or not you change your meal plan, all Dining Dollar$ carry over from the Fall semester to the Spring semester and expire on Commencement Day and all meals expire at the end of the Fall semester and on the last day of finals in the Spring semester.</p>