Whether you’re a certified health nut, a picky eater, a money saver or just a collegiette™ who’s tired of the school cafeteria, many girls choose to abandon their school’s meal plans after freshman year and feed themselves instead. However, while it may be cheaper and healthier to cook in your own kitchen, it can be hard to find the time or the money to construct elaborate meals on busy college weeknights. But have no fear, collegiettes™ — Her Campus has got you covered! Here are four ways to survive without a meal plan!
Attend Free Food Events on Your Campus
Attending club events isn’t just something you do to learn new things or meet new people – you can get free food too! Pay attention to your school’s daily bulletinand you’re guaranteed to find at least a few events per week that will leave you feeling full and happy (and you won’t have to spend a thing!).
Elizabeth Carey, a UC Berkeley collegiette™, is a pro when it comes to finding free food. “Often companies will have free food events during lunch time, so I head down to the center of campus anywhere from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and there usually is a student group or organization promoting their product,” she says.
Kate Kivel, a Western Michigan University student, also has advice for students on the lookout for a free meal. “I’d say attend as many campus events as possible,” she says. “Our student government has been known to randomly provide subs, tacos, and the like.”
So hop online, take a look at your school’s calendar and make a schedule of free food eventsso you’ll know what events you simply can’t miss. You could even start a list-serv or Facebook group with your friends to make sure that whenever you or anyone else hears about a food event, you’ll all be in the know! You may not be itching to join the juggling club or the Asian Gala, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stop by to enjoy those free ice cream sandwiches or egg rolls!
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Get Discounts to Restaurants Online
The internet is a big, big place, but there are some websites out there that can save you a ton of money on your next dinner out. And don’t worry, we have them right here, so you won’t even have to weed through thousands of Google results!
We love Savored, a website which helps you find where to eat, make a reservation and which even gets you 30 to 40 percent off your meal! Savored is located in select large cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, LA, Miami, NYC, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.), and it can save you time, effort and money when deciding where to take friends out to dinner. Each recommendation comes with a description of the restaurant, open reservation times and a listing of the money you are likely to save. If you live in a big city, Savored is your new best friend.
If you’re a West Coaster (and especially if you live in Seattle or California), you’ll love Munch On Me, a website that tempts you with pictures of the delicious meals being offered at the restaurants in your city. You can spend as little as $1.00 to get a coupon for 60 percent off a meal at the featured establishments. If you aren’t feeling a dinner out on the town now, you will be after checking out the drool-inducing graphicson Munch on Me!
ScoutMob is another money-saver, giving you a deal each day in most major cities. A perk of this site? You can send the coupon you just purchased to your phone and use it when you walk into the restaurant — no printing necessary! Plus, ScoutMob has an app for your iPhone. Saving money on your meals just got a whole lot more tech-friendly.
Restaurant.com is another variation of the same — pay $10 for a coupon and get 50 percent off your check — but its ultimate perk is that it gives deals to restaurants everywhere (even in a middle-of-nowhere, tiny college towns!), not just big cities.
Last, but certainly not least, is Groupon, a website that offers you great deals on travel, shopping and of course, meals. Sign up for your region and you’ll receive daily emails about the featured deals!
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Join a Store Where You Can Buy in Bulk
Costco, Sam’s Club and other grocery stores where you can buy in bulk are great money savers, as long as you head into the store with a plan! Buying too much produce or other perishable items can actually make you lose money — the food will go bad before you can eat it — but buying bulk items like rice, cereal and other non-perishables will really help you in the long run!
As long as you are over 18, you can purchase memberships to these bulk stores, which also give you additional savings coupons when you join. Sign up on your own or talk to your parents about joining their membership plans.
Teach Yourself to Cook
Elizabeth has learned to love spending time with her roommates and friends in the kitchen. “By choosing to make my own meals, I know what goes in them and can choose to use organic and local products,” she says. “Making dinners doesn’t have to be a chore — I turn them into social events! I love to go grocery shopping with my roommates and often times, we will choose a night to cook dinner together — it’s a perfect way to wind down from a stressful week at school.”
The kitchen can be a scary place when you don’t know your way around, but luckily there are websites and cookbooks out there to lend you a hand! And once you have the basicsdown (like grilling chicken, boiling pasta and adding spices), you’ll be well on your way to becoming an impressive chef! Check out Her Campus’s beginner guide to cooking for some quick tips and tricks.
You’ve got to start somewhere, and there are plenty of resources (both in cookbooks and online) to help you get going. It’s hard to get motivated to cook for yourself after a long day in class — ordering in for the fifth time in a week may sound tempting, but cooking can be fun, healthy and rewarding. Though you aren’t looking to whip up five course meals, these sites will get your creative juices flowing.
Gojee lets you enter the ingredient that you’re craving. Then, after processing your results, you are given recipes (and mouth-watering pictures) that match your craving! This thing is guaranteed to get you inspired in seconds.
Food Porn Daily is a site built for food photographers, but also contains links to blogs where you can find a recipe for the food featured in the photo. The site features one photo and one recipe per day.
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Foodgawker is also guaranteed to get your stomach rumbling. New food photos are added every day, and the accompanying recipe is only a click away. From desserts to burgers to sandwiches, Foodgawker has easy recipes, gourmet masterpieces and everything in between. Bon appétit!
So… Get Cookin’!
Elizabeth swears by her decision to abandon UC Berkeley’s meal plan. “I think it is better to opt out of the meal plan,” she asserts. “The dining commons can be convenient to go to, but often times the buffet dinners can be too much of a temptation and I always end up overeating. Not to mention, no one can really be sure what all the ingredients are that the kitchen service includes in the meal.”
And other collegiettes™ seem to share Elizabeth’s sentiments. Nicole Ro, a USC sophomore, has decided to tackle independent cooking this year, and she is hopeful about the development of her cooking skills. “I like the freedom to either go shopping for groceries (whether or not I have time to turn those groceries into actual meals) or to eat on campus if I really have to! As a freshman it was better to have a meal plan, but now as a sophomore I’m sort of digging going on my own.”
So get online, get to the grocery store and get to your kitchen, collegiettes™! Abandoning your meal plan and jumping feet first into the real world of feeding yourself may just be the best decision you ever made.
Sources:
Elizabeth Carey, UC Berkeley
Kate Kivel, Western Michigan University
Nicole Ro, USC
http://savored.com/?a=hercampus
munchonme.com
scoutmob.com
restaurant.com
groupon.com
http://ssa.gov/pubs/10101.html
http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/cooking-tips-for-college-kids
http://www.myrecipes.com/quick-and-easy/college-cooking-recipes-00420000000219/
gojee.com
foodporndaily.com
foodgawker.com