How easy/hard is it to use all your basic money? If all plans get the same basic money isnt there no point in gettin a smaller plan just go get ur money back? If the basic plan has roughly 2500 how much money should one spend in a day and how can they do this without over eating just to spend the money?

Vaishnavie,

http://hospitality.mcmaster. ca/mea...ce/budget.html
(It doesn't work yet) but it'll tell you how much money you should have at the end of each week and also how much you should spend per day depending on the size (it assumes you use all your money) but generally you divide by 225 school days. (so about $10 a day)

As for the difficulty to use your money, it really depends on how much you eat/what you eat/if you only eat on campus. Generally, I find it pretty easy to finish the basic portion. I spend my money on lunch & dinner about 5/7 days a week (I make my own breakfast). I rarely buy drinks on campus (1-2 times a week), and rarely will cook my own food/bring in something from home. I usually finish my basic on the exact last day. I also sometimes buy treats (chocolate, cupcakes, cake etc.) which tends to be pretty expensive (about once a week and more during exam time/midterm time)

Just a reminder that you need to request to get the $ back, it doesn't just end up in your account at the end of the year.

Honestly it depends on what and how much you eat and if you go home. I had the regular plan and in the beginning of the year, I really didn't like the food at commons and other places, so I didn't spend too much and by January I still had almost 2000 dollars left. And I didn't go home, so basically I was eating on campus every day. So then I hadda stepped it up.. bought lots of drinks from william's and went to bridges tons.... I ended up with money left on the freedom portion nonetheless.

You should plan on spending 13-15 dollars a day with the regular plan. The only difference between the plans is the freedom aspect. The freedom portion CAN roll over to the next year, and you can also withdraw the money. You'll have to spend out the basic portion though.

This was just me, though. I know a lot of people who ran out of money, so as long as you keep track of things, you should be able to plan on finishing (maybe by buying more fruit, drinks and snacks that often are quite costly)

Its VERY easy to use all your money.
If you find that you've got some extra money, here are a couple helpful tips:

1. JUNK FOOD
2. ICE CREAM in the spring months
3. MORE JUNK FOOD
4. Roll-up-the-rim-to-win. (i heard rumors that somebody this year won $10k)
5. Trade food for favours.
6. Buy some more junk food or iCoke points.

Originally Posted by djRAIN

Its VERY easy to use all your money.
If you find that you've got some extra money, here are a couple helpful tips:

1. JUNK FOOD
2. ICE CREAM in the spring months
3. MORE JUNK FOOD
4. Roll-up-the-rim-to-win. (i heard rumors that somebody this year won $10k)
5. Trade food for favours.
6. Buy some more junk food or iCoke points.

Lol @ 5. That reminds me of "Can you go down and buy me ______, you can also buy yourself something" XD