If anyone should know how to eat on a strict budget, it’s people who are in college. The stereotype of the “broke college student” is real, but it emphasizes the importance of budgeting and meal planning strategies. 

Eating Out

Eating out often is usually expensive, but there are ways to manage costs and eat cheaply. One way to do this is to visit a local restaurant that offers complimentary bread or chips and salsa as a starter.

When eating out with friends, you can all split a large queso and split the larger entrees, ensuring a cost-effective dinner and yummy leftovers to enjoy together. Most people get full on the appetizer of chips and salsa/queso, which means the actual entree is often taken to go, allowing your meal to spread across two days. And, who doesn’t love leftovers?

Most local restaurants have dinnertime deals. For example, Tacos and Beer offers “Taco Tuesdays,” during which all street tacos are priced at one dollar each. Although the wait can be long, the food and the cheap cost are worth it. 

“I love going to Tacos and Beer on Tuesdays because I can have a fun dinner with my friends with a bill of $5 or less,” said freshman nursing major Avery Sale. 

Another Hammond favorite is La Carreta’s, which offers daily specials such as its all-day lunch menu on Mondays and $8 taco salads on Tuesdays. Coop DeVille offers 75-cent boneless wings on Wednesdays and one-dollar wings in-house after 5 p.m. on Mondays. 

Downloading fast food apps, such as those for McDonald’s, Taco Bell or Sonic, is another key way to save money. The majority of fast food restaurants have online apps that encourage online orders by rewarding points that users can exchange for free meals. Upside is also an app that gives users cash back rewards for food orders made through its platform. 

Student Union

Whether someone commutes or lives on campus, the Student Union is open to everyone to sit, study, eat and hang out.

With the commuter meal plan, although you have limited swipes at the Mane Dish, there is $25 on your student ID that can be used at any of the restaurants on the first floor of the Student Union or in Starbucks.

Meal Planning

Grocery shopping could be intimidating when you don’t know what to buy for weekly meals, but creating a list based on the coupon catalogs provided by stores could help. 

Basing meal prep on coupons ensures cost-effectiveness when buying groceries, so you can get more “bang for your buck.” Another good option is purchasing frozen meals as a cheaper alternative to cooking your own version of the same dinner. Pre-made salads and reheatable dinners are easy to store in small dorm fridges. 

Roomie’s Pride Pantry

Southeastern has its own food pantry, stocked with non-perishable items, available to all students. While surveying students, many have often expressed how much they wish they had used this resource sooner. 

The food pantry is located in McGehee Hall, Room 109. All students must present their student ID to obtain up to 10 goods per trip, with a maximum of 20 goods allowed per week. Students are allowed to visit the pantry twice a week. The hours of operation are as follows:

• Monday 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday-Wednesday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Thursday 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The pantry is closed Friday-Sunday. Students can drop off donations on Friday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Whether you dine in the union or dine in a local restaurant, there are several ways to eat cheaply and save money in college.