Once you’ve learned about the True Costs of ASU Meal Plans, I’m sure you’re wondering what you can do about it. Here’s the post if you want to learn about the costs:
Otherwise, here’s how to save some money :)
1. Get an Exemption
This is the first option and the one you should try first.
For certain cases, ASU has a meal plan exemption process that allows you to be excused from paying for a meal plan in the first place. It’s definitely worth a shot.
If you get it, you’ll save thousands.
2: Live Off-Campus & Cook for Yourself
ASU only forces you to buy a meal plan if you live on-campus.
So if the exemption process is too tedious, then the next best option is to just live off-campus and you’ll automatically become exempt from meal plans.
But make sure you have your costs dialed in. You may actually end up spending more money.
“At first glance, off-campus housing can appear as the less-expensive option. But the additional expenses outside of rent like utilities, groceries, internet access, cable and furniture are often overlooked.
"I would encourage students to really read their contracts," says Lisa Ortiz, interim director of housing and residence life at Ferris State University in Michigan. "That is something that I've heard from students that they don't realize those hidden fees and the different aspects of what the contracts are truly telling them in terms of cleaning and other things as they move out of the apartment. So we definitely want our students to fully understand what they're committing to."
To reduce off-campus costs, some students choose to overpack houses or apartments, sometimes with four or five people in a two-bedroom house, experts say.
But unlike off-campus housing, the total cost of living on campus is typically all-inclusive – covering rent, utilities, furniture, Wi-Fi and a meal plan.” —Sarah Wood, US News
3: Buy the Cheapest Meal Plan & Use Cash
If you weren’t able to get exempt and living off-campus isn’t an option, then your next best option is to buy the absolute cheapest meal plan available to you and whenever you’re eating on-campus, pay with cash.
Traditional students on the Gold Plan:
$3,300 per academic year, $325 M&G, 7 meals/week, 210 total meal credits
Meal Price on Meal Plan: $14.17 per meal
Meal Price with Cash: ~$9.75
Barrett students on the Silver Plan:
$6,290 per academic year, $300 M&G, 10 meals/week, 300 total meal credits
Meal Price on Meal Plan: $19.97 per meal
Meal Price with Cash: ~$11.94
There are only disadvantages to using meal plan credits to pay for food.
The dining halls all accept cards, so the best bet is if you’re trying to eat at a dining hall and you’re out of meal swipes, just use your debit/credit card.
See the full breakdown: the True Costs of ASU Meal Plans
4: Use All Your Meal Swipes. Every Week.
If you didn’t know already, part of the reason the costs of ASU meal plans are so high is that unused meal credits don’t carry over to the next week.
Suppose you’re on the “Barrett Silver” plan (10 meals per week). And for some reason, by Wednesday evening, you only used 7 meals one week (parents are in town, eating out, traveling, etc.)
Well by Thursday afternoon, you will have lost ~$60 (3 meals x $19.98 per meal).
This is because meal swipes reset every Thursday.
That means you need to be sure to use all your credits up before the dining halls close on Wednesday evenings. Or else you’ll be losing money.
You can check the number of meal credits you have for that week every time you get a receipt.
“For the Unlimited meal plan, please ask the cashier for your guest meal balance.
The Weekly meal plans (14 Meals per Week, 8 Meals per Week and Barrett 12 Meals per Week) will show the allotted meals for the week plus the semester guest meals.
The Block meal plans (180 meal block and Barrett 150 meal block) will show the total meals available, since block plans do not have guest meals.”
See the full breakdown: the True Cost of ASU Meal Plans
5: Buy Tupperware & Meal Prep
Since meal swipes get you into the cafeteria for a certain amount of time. While you may not be able to eat more than one serving for the session, it doesn’t mean you can’t save the food in Tupperware.
Regarding this, ASU’s position is unclear:
Q: Can I take food out of the residential dining hall?
A: We feature all-you-care-to-eat dining halls where guests dine-in. For to-go options, feel free to use Meal Exchange at any campus market three times a day.
Regardless, you’ll have to be a little careful. In my experience, sometimes the cooks or staff will bar you from doing this if they see you come in often enough.
This is a strategy that my friends and I used when I went to ASU. I’ve heard that many current students still employ this as well.
It’s fairly straightforward:
Buy Tupperware
Hide them in your backpack when you walk into the cafeteria
Spend time going back for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc.
Put it all in your Tupperware
I used the cafeteria food for meal prep every weekend.
So I would often go to the dining hall before the lunch or dinner rush and focus on acquiring the most expensive food ingredients: dozens of beef patties, turkey burgers, sliced meats & cheeses.
Granted, they only give out ~2 patties at a time. So even though the cafeteria may be empty, I had to “get back in line” which means leaving the cafeteria, setting my plate down, and going back in.
It was ridiculous. But it was the most efficient by far. Every other station took too long.
That being said, that meant I spent 3+ hours in a dining hall just gathering food and putting it in Tupperware, not to mention cooking the rest of the other ingredients to prepare meals for the week.
Because I still had to prepare meals, this definitely fell on the back-burner as the school year became busier. It became harder and harder to keep up.
6: Buy Unlimited & Don’t Eat Off-Campus. At All.
If you can afford the upfront cost, you plan to ONLY eat on campus, and you plan to have 21+ meals a week, then getting the unlimited plan combined with other money-savers might be a great option.
If you eat 21+ meals a week, the unlimited meal plans are the only plans that actually save you some money.
But be careful with this one. 21+ meals is A LOT of food and you’ll have to do this every week for the entire semester.
And like I mentioned, you’ll likely use/eat far less than you plan to or think you will.
As soon as you start dipping below 21+ meals a week for ANY reason, you’ll start to lose money and overpay.
See the full breakdown: True Cost of ASU Meal Plans
7: Trade Your Meal Plan for Meals
Consider checking out our business, Sous.
Dollar for dollar, we’re a better deal than ASU Meal Plans.
Our credits never expire.
You can pause and change your order week to week.
Not to mention our food is locally prepared by your neighborhood chef.
Share with your Friends
If you thought this post was helpful, consider sharing it with your friends and community.
Really anyone who’s coming to school at ASU.
You could help them save thousands :)
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, please comment or reach out!
-Josh