Thrifty Tuesday 1: Use your college's dining halls!
One of the most valuable resources at a college that many students fail to utilize properly is collegiate dining halls. While some colleges have much better dining halls than others, most all college meal plans are set up in a similar manner. As a freshman at NC State I have the everyday meal plan, which allows me a full access pass to the dining halls as well as 12 meal swipes a week. NCSU has a couple other meal plans which offer unlimited dining hall access as well with more or less weekly meal swipes. Now what I mean when I say students are using their meal plans wrong is that many people I know rely on their meal swipes to feed them for the week, which can be used to get a medium sized meal at Chick-fil-A, Jason's Deli, or one of the other restaurants on campus.On top of this, a lot of people end up eating out several times during the week and blowing their hard earned money for food they could be getting for free at the dining halls.
Personally, I eat 3 meals everyday and always end up hungry in between. Last semester I would end up using a bunch of meal swipes and would often run out mid-week because I thought the food at the restaurants on campus were better than the food I would be eating in the dining halls. I continued doing this until I actually gave our dining halls a chance. Now, I eat breakfast at the dining halls every morning where I typically get a custom made omelette, biscuits and gravy, and sausage or bacon. In addition, I usually get some fruit and yogurt to balance out the meal. This keeps me from being super hungry in my first classes of the day. I always eat at the dining halls at least twice a day, and sometimes 3 times. I have realized that they have a great variety of food there which changes out every meal, so I always end up eating something new. Believe it or not, the restaurants on campus got boring and repetitive much quicker than the dining halls because their food does not change out - ever. You can always get something new at dining halls, as they have a fruit and salad bar as well as interchanging sections of entrees and sides. Today for lunch, I had yogurt with cantaloupe and mango as well as marinated pork loin and some fresh turkey. Yesterday I had fried chicken. They always have different pizzas and soups, as well as a sandwich bar. There are so many different meal options at the dining halls that you cannot really get tired of them.
Many people have excuses for why they spend money instead of going to dining halls. Personally, I can get any food or drink that I need there so I don't see any reason to waste my money on overpriced restaurants that might taste a little bit better. If you don't have much time in your day, you can still get food from the dining halls. NCSU has a to go box rental program, which costs $3 to buy the first time. Every time after that, you simply return your old to-go box and grab a new one for no fee. They also have to go coffee cups in the halls, which I use all the time instead of buying a $5 coffee from Starbucks. Also, they will set out fruit and sometimes snacks like chex-mix for the taking as you walk out. I always grab something for when I get hungry later in the day.
Personally, I eat 3 meals everyday and always end up hungry in between. Last semester I would end up using a bunch of meal swipes and would often run out mid-week because I thought the food at the restaurants on campus were better than the food I would be eating in the dining halls. I continued doing this until I actually gave our dining halls a chance. Now, I eat breakfast at the dining halls every morning where I typically get a custom made omelette, biscuits and gravy, and sausage or bacon. In addition, I usually get some fruit and yogurt to balance out the meal. This keeps me from being super hungry in my first classes of the day. I always eat at the dining halls at least twice a day, and sometimes 3 times. I have realized that they have a great variety of food there which changes out every meal, so I always end up eating something new. Believe it or not, the restaurants on campus got boring and repetitive much quicker than the dining halls because their food does not change out - ever. You can always get something new at dining halls, as they have a fruit and salad bar as well as interchanging sections of entrees and sides. Today for lunch, I had yogurt with cantaloupe and mango as well as marinated pork loin and some fresh turkey. Yesterday I had fried chicken. They always have different pizzas and soups, as well as a sandwich bar. There are so many different meal options at the dining halls that you cannot really get tired of them.
Many people have excuses for why they spend money instead of going to dining halls. Personally, I can get any food or drink that I need there so I don't see any reason to waste my money on overpriced restaurants that might taste a little bit better. If you don't have much time in your day, you can still get food from the dining halls. NCSU has a to go box rental program, which costs $3 to buy the first time. Every time after that, you simply return your old to-go box and grab a new one for no fee. They also have to go coffee cups in the halls, which I use all the time instead of buying a $5 coffee from Starbucks. Also, they will set out fruit and sometimes snacks like chex-mix for the taking as you walk out. I always grab something for when I get hungry later in the day.
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