As a first-year student, living alone can be a new world, especially when managing money. One way that Auburn helps incoming students manage this is with a meal plan.

Auburn automatically assigns freshmen with:

5 meal swipes per week
$450 dining dollars

They also allow upgrade options, which include:

10 meal swipes per week and $500 dining dollars
All Access (unlimited swipes) and $150 dining dollars
All Access and $425 dining dollars

Maximizing Meal Swipes

Look at the menus.
- Figure out when the dining halls are serving your favorite things. You don't want to waste a meal swipe if there is no food you like or want. The Campus Dining Website has menus for dining halls for each day, week, and month.
Use a to-go box to its fullest capacity.
- If you ever know you won't have time to use a swipe or are running low on swipes for the week, get a to-go box. Go ahead and get your meal for that time in the box and put your next one in there, too. An example could be getting a salad in the box's big section for lunch and putting a sandwich and fries in the other section for dinner. By doing this, you're still using a swipe and getting food, but not using any money or dining dollars.
Foy on the Fly.
- Foy on the Fly has good food that you can use a meal swipe for, and their menu does not change. They have chicken fingers, burgers, chicken wraps and sandwiches. All orders come with fries, a cookie, and a drink. Order on Grubhub to use a meal swipe and return the reusable container after you finish.
- This is one of my favorites when I do not want to spend dining dollars.

Stretching Dining Dollars

Plan Ahead
- One thing I found super helpful is planning how much I can spend to make my dining dollars last.
- For example, I had $450 in dining dollars this semester, so I divided that number by how many weeks there are. This number will give you a rough amount of how much you can spend each week. Doing this helps you manage it responsibly.
Try to get gift cards.
- Getting Starbucks 2-3 times a week will make you run out instantly. Ask for gift cards to save your dining dollars for food, not coffee.
Supply Store over Vending Machines.
- A Reign energy drink in a vending machine costs $5.75, while one at the War Eagle Supply Store costs $4.13. Figure out where you can get stuff at the cheapest to stretch your money.

Most Important: Plan your meals.

Something I found very helpful is planning your meals. This could include when you could go to the dining hall or grab your Chick-fil-A between classes. It will keep you from the urge to spend freely.

Pro Tip: Combine your Swipe and Dollars

Breakfast at home: cheap and easy
Lunch: Swipe at the Edge or Village Dining
Dinner: Use your dining dollars at places like Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, or Toro Sushi.

Your college meal plan is free money once it's paid for—so don't let it go to waste. With a little strategy, you can keep your stomach (and wallet) full all semester long.

Be Well, Auburn.