Top 4: Managing your Food Budget
Navigating college can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Top 4 provides helpful tips from current college students to make the best of your college experience. The following is a list compiled by first-year student, Gabriela Perez Jordan.
GW is an urban campus, and we don’t have traditional dorms or dining halls. We live in dorms that look like apartments and we walk or take public transportation everywhere we go. On the one hand we have a lot of flexibility and we can be more independent with our meals, but on the other it also means our money has a higher chance of running out more quickly. We have a set amount of money each semester to spend on restaurants and grocery stores around campus. Here are my top 4 tips for managing your food budget:
- Stick to a Budget
When adulting, budgeting is your new best friend! A monthly food budget will help you manage your money appropriately. Based on the amount of money you have to spend each month, calculate how much money you can spend per day. Most students at GW are able to spend around $20 to $22 per day. That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything in between! Because it is so easy to lose track of the cost of each meal, a budget is necessary to help keep you in check.
2. Plan (Some of) Your Meals
I always eat at least one meal a day in my dorm. It helps my monthly budget stretch even further. Every week, I go to the grocery store, either Whole Foods or Safeway, and purchase snacks, breakfast items or easy prep meals that I can eat in a hurry. Doing this helps me enjoy the restaurants on campus, like Toryumon, &Pizza, and Chick-fil-a, while also making sure I don’t overspend.
3. Check your Balance Periodically
It is way easier to address a problem when you are aware of it. I recommend checking your GWorld account periodically to make sure you’re sticking to your budget. I try to check my balance every 2 to 3 weeks. There are two apps you can download on your phone to do this. The first is the GET app, which lists your account balance and also gives you a list of restaurants in D.C. that accept GWorld. GW app is another option, and has a subsection under “Dining” that lists your account balance and tells you how much money you can spend on food per day based on how much money you have left in your account.
4. Attend events on Campus (and Eat for Free!)
Pro tip: GW events are great for free food! And in the first few weeks of classes, they happen almost every day. I always recommend checking out the MSSC Block Party and the Welcome Party in the U-Yard. These events are great to get to know the campus and meet new people while also getting a chance to eat for free. Bring your Tupperware or a container with you because you there is usually extra food you can take home!
Making your meal plan last is good practice for budgeting your money after college and a great first step towards independence. By sticking to a budget, planning accordingly, checking your account balance periodically, and attending events on campus you will hopefully see that eating on a college budget can be done!
