I sincerely hope someone out there in the internet world is appreciating my God-awful puns right about now, but probably not. Moving on from my devastating wit, in college there are two elements that bring every student together – food and drink. Although we covered how to save money on booze, food is another story altogether. College is not the time to be a foodie. College is the time to acquire a taste for delicacies like Ramen and 3 course meals that come in a box and can be microwaved in under 10 minutes. If you are like me and have a rapidly depleting wallet and a taste for good food, there are loopholes, my friend. This article is going to focus on social dining, rather than grocery shopping and day-to-day. Curb the cravings! Save the wallet! Cure cancer! Ok, maybe not that last part, but maybe next time..
1. Dinner Party – I know what you’re thinking; your friends are a particular collegiate breed that only drink alcohol out of plastic bottles and think soap and water is sufficient supplement for Dawn – not exactly domestic, Martha Stewart types. Dinner parties can be a great way to feed a number of people at once. You can even make it a weekly event and rotate who hosts in order to distribute the responsibilities. If you want to spice it up even more, you can theme each evening to a certain type of food – think about it…taco night, sushi Sundays, a night in Paris, etc. I promise you, no matter what food theme you choose, there are doable and affordable recipes. All it takes is a simple Google search with the keywords “easy”, “cheap”, “affordable”, or “beginners”.
2. Groupon/Living Social/Purchase Gift Cards – In the case of attending local restaurants, subscribing to free services like Living Social and Groupon, which alert you to local deals. A lot of the time restaurant wagers for 50% off are available for purchase…perfect for a date night, girl’s night, eating by yourself and crying about finals week! If you have a particular chain restaurant you like, you can purchase gift cards offline at a fraction of the price…$30 gift cards for $20, etc. If you dine out at a particular place already, the savings will rack up.
3. Lunchtime is Funtime – Most nice restaurants have a lull during the afternoon, so to combat this, they slash dining prices in the afternoon. By dining during the afternoon, rather than evening, you can cut your bill in half and still enjoy the same dishes from the uppity café you’ve been meaning to try.
1. Dinner Party – I know what you’re thinking; your friends are a particular collegiate breed that only drink alcohol out of plastic bottles and think soap and water is sufficient supplement for Dawn – not exactly domestic, Martha Stewart types. Dinner parties can be a great way to feed a number of people at once. You can even make it a weekly event and rotate who hosts in order to distribute the responsibilities. If you want to spice it up even more, you can theme each evening to a certain type of food – think about it…taco night, sushi Sundays, a night in Paris, etc. I promise you, no matter what food theme you choose, there are doable and affordable recipes. All it takes is a simple Google search with the keywords “easy”, “cheap”, “affordable”, or “beginners”.
2. Groupon/Living Social/Purchase Gift Cards – In the case of attending local restaurants, subscribing to free services like Living Social and Groupon, which alert you to local deals. A lot of the time restaurant wagers for 50% off are available for purchase…perfect for a date night, girl’s night, eating by yourself and crying about finals week! If you have a particular chain restaurant you like, you can purchase gift cards offline at a fraction of the price…$30 gift cards for $20, etc. If you dine out at a particular place already, the savings will rack up.
3. Lunchtime is Funtime – Most nice restaurants have a lull during the afternoon, so to combat this, they slash dining prices in the afternoon. By dining during the afternoon, rather than evening, you can cut your bill in half and still enjoy the same dishes from the uppity café you’ve been meaning to try.
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