Being a college student equates to being broke. To be honest, we don’t have a lot of money to spend, so we are always looking for ways to cut back. An area that we can save some money on is food. Here are some ways for you, a typical college student living on campus, to make the most out of campus food.
1. Camp out in the dining halls.
To my knowledge, there is no limit as to how long you can stay in one of the dining halls on campus. Either that or the workers have never noticed that my friends and I used to make the dining hall our home for the day, especially during midterms. Just bring your laptop and your books and you are set. You can just study and eat the whole day for the price of one meal swipe.
2. Make one meal into two.
This is more directed towards the retail places on campus. Usually, the portions are big enough that it can last for another meal for the day. All you’ve got to do is heat it up when you’re hungry again. We all know when you’re getting down to the last bit of your dining dollars, you’ve got to make meals last as long as possible.
3. Stock up on snacks.
Telling from experience, replacing meals with a bunch of snacks is a feasible alternative, even though it may not be the healthiest. Sometimes you just don’t want campus food and just want to delve into a bag of chips or a box of cookies instead. It’ll probably fill you up just as well and snacks are a bit cheaper. This shouldn’t be a regular alternative, but we all know it happens.
4. Get a fridge (or a roommate who has one).
A fridge is magnificent in that it preserves your meals for you. Whether you purchase one yourself or have a roommate that is nice enough to let you fill up theirs, it’s a way to store your food. You can fit a lot in a mini fridge!
5. Eat less.
This is not the most glamorous alternative to saving money on food, but it is the more practical solution to a low budget diet. Even though it’s very hard to stay away from food, it’s something we have to eventually struggle through. The hard truth is that we have to learn how to ration! It’s something that we will have to think about in the future when we are not living on campus anymore and are out in the real world.
Overall, it is clear that us college students are not living a luxurious lifestyle. We tend to spend money on things we don’t need, so finding other ways to save our bank accounts is a must. Campus food is something that we can get around spending $$$ on. This way, we can make the most out of our meal swipes and dining dollars.
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