If you are going to college and live on campus you probably either have to have a meal plan or have the option of having one.

Chances are if you are a freshman and live on campus you have to have a meal plan. If you have no choice but to have one I'm so sorry. But, if you can pick if you have one or don't have one I advise that you don't get one and here is why.

1. They are expensive

When I had a meal plan I was paying almost $4000 a year for it.

2. You don't get as much food as you are paying for.

I don't know what $4000 in food looks like but I know that it looks like more than what I got out of my meal plan.

3. The food isn't that good for the price you pay.

I'm not saying that dining hall food isn't good it's just not as good as I would have hoped for $4000 a year.

4. You can cut your food cost down to a quarter or less by not having a meal plan.

By going to Walmart, Meijer, or Kroger you can buy food for $800 to $1000 for the entire year. You save way more money by not having that meal plan. By buying groceries you can spend between $3200 and $5000 the entire time you are going to school.

5. You will thank yourself when you see how much you have in student loan debt.

Chances are if you get a meal plan you make sure that your student loans cover it. But when you start having to pay that money back and you realize that you had a meal plan through all of college you realize that $1600 to $20,000 of what you owe was for food.