Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Dec. 1, 2021 for clarification. 

Now that the semester is nearing its end, students may be starting to run low on their Cub Cash for the fall. 

Whether living on or off campus, many students have had their run-in with getting low on their Cub Cash funds. Since SLU does not really accept cash anymore for dining services here, the only way to really pay for things on campus is through your personal card, Cub Cash or Lion’s Lagniappe. 

Cub Cash can be a lot more convenient if you are low in your personal funds and need an easy way to pay for things while you are at school. Lion’s Lagniappe can also be used on campus, as well as on several off-campus locations for food and non-food needs. 

Robin Parker, the director of marketing and strategic initiatives, stated that cub cash helps widen a student’s food options with a meal plan and that Lion’s Lagniappe broadens a student’s purchase variety in general since it can be used for non-food items as well. 

“While the meal portion of a meal plan is consumed at the Mane Dish, Cub Cash can be used at all dining locations including Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Panda Express, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Subway, Java City, Union Market, Mane Market, Ascension Market, Mane Market Too and North Campus Market.  Thus, the student can use their meal plan to choose from a variety of campus dining locations,” Parker said. 

Sophomore elementary education major Lanie LeFranc said she believes that Cub Cash is beneficial specifically for this reason, since she doesn’t have to spend any of her own money if she does not want something from the Mane Dish. 

Sophomore communication major Lauren Price also expressed her love for Cub Cash. She enjoyed the convenience of having Cub Cash when starting at SLU last fall, given that all you need to utilize it is your school ID.

For her freshman year, Price went with the housing meal plan that is 150 meals and $400 in Cub Cash. She found in her first semester that her funding started to get low near the last few weeks of last fall. 

When Price’s second semester began, she started to use some tips she learned from that first semester.

“My tips are to keep track of what and how much you actually spend. Even though you could be making very small purchases, a coffee here, a Chick-Fil-A meal there, it really does add up fast,” Price explained. 

LeFranc has come up with strategies of her own as well when trying to save her Cub Cash. 

“I start to use Cub Cash more sparingly during November and March of each semester. I budget more, watch what I spend and eat at the Mane Dish more,” LeFranc added.

Additionally, sophomore elementary education major Molly Walter also found that she would run low on Cub Cash near the end of the semester and was able to come up with some budgeting strategies. 

Walter said, “I try to keep a limit on how much I can spend for the week, say $25-30 and that works pretty well.”  

She also added that if any students are stress eaters, like herself, then buying a good amount of snacks and drinks at the beginning of the week is an easy way to budget your Cub Cash. Just make sure not to go over your set weekly budget. 

Parker suggests that before even buying a meal plan, students should ask themselves how many  meals they eat in a day and how much of these meals will be on campus. 

When it comes to helpful additions that students think campus dining could add, Price thought of an idea that other students have mentioned before. 

“I think the university should put in a Cub Cash initiative where if you get the meal plan for the full year, your Cub Cash from the remaining Spring semester transfers to your new Fall one. That way you don’t have to try to spend all of it before you leave for summer break. Especially since you paid for that Cub Cash,” Price stated. 

Cub cash does roll over from the Fall to the Spring semester according to Parker, but not from the Spring to the following Fall semester. 

Meal plan and Cub Cash information can be found at southeastern.edu/admin/dining if you are thinking about getting Cub Cash for next semester.