College Tip 3: Food

College Tip 3: Food

As a college age male, it is pretty certain that you will be eating a lot of food. You need a lot of food. If you watched my last video about dorm life, you’ll remember I mentioned that getting groceries can be a pain. Also, dorm food isn’t the greatest, so you need to look to other options to get some decent meals in. You have a few options.

As a freshman there are plenty of events and opportunities being thrown at you to get you involved around campus as well as to help you meet people and just have fun. It is one of the main goals of a university to get freshman acclimated to college life as easily and as quickly as possible so they want you to actually go to these events. Most of them will be really lame. However, when you see a flyer for one of these gatherings you’ll probably notice in very large print the words: FREE FOOD. This is an opportunity to stuff your face with high quality foods such as pizza, wings, burgers and hot dogs, etc. for free! My freshman year, I didn’t take full advantage of these situations, but you’ll find as you start to run low on funds in your food account you’ll wish you had attended the squirrel club’s freshman barbeque.

Now if you’re going to an in state school, it’s very probable that you know someone at that school who is a year or two older than you. These people most likely live in off campus housing because that’s just what you do after freshman year. This means that they probably have cars – i.e. access to grocery stores and they have kitchens in which that can cook food. This food can be for you. Try and find someone you know pretty well and see if they’re willing to give you a ride next time they go grocery shopping. If you know them really well hang out with them and they’ll probably let you bum a meal or two off of them. Their cooking won’t be like moms but compared to dorm food, hamburger helper can sometimes seem like Thanksgiving dinner.

There are other ways to get some good meals too. There are usually lots of clubs on campus that you can join or at least go to their information sessions. These clubs typically provide free food at a lot of their events. Fraternities typically offer free food during rush too. I’m not saying to mooch off of frats or clubs, but when you’re desperate for food, you sometimes have to stoop to new lows.

Getting groceries is an alright option, but this obviously costs money and without a deep pocket, it can be hard to keep food stocked up. Also, in a dorm room you’re usually pretty limited as to what you can or can’t make. You probably have a microwave and a mini fridge or you should have these things. This opens up for Easy Mac or soups and such for snacks, but those are nothing like a nice chicken and mashed potato meal. Restaurants on campus are therefore your last option. This also costs money, but if you have friends you can find ways to get some good meals for cheap. Splitting meals or having everyone pitch in for pizza can help you get away with cheap food for those desperate late night munchies moments. Plus, you then get to experience the campus food specialties. Every campus has some restaurants that attribute to the history of the school and you can find that your favorite burger place is right around the corner with daily deals by just trying places. Definitely take advantage of coupons you can get for free on campus or in the mail as well. Coupons become your best friend when it comes to eating for the cheapest price possible.

 
Hopefully you can eat well for a low cost now! Good luck!