The McMaster Meal Plans shouldn't be so confusing! We've tried our best to explain them in this simple guide, as well as go through some money-saving tips to help you in September!
*FOR STUDENTS ENTERING MCMASTER 2014/15*
Yummy... look at that cheese burger. Delicious. You're never going to get tired of eating burgers right? Think again! Your thoughts about burgers, pizza, and french fries are going to change quite quickly once you come to university. There are plenty of other choices to eat on and off campus
If you're a first year student going into residence you're going to have to choose a meal plan that best suites your needs. A meal plan is MANDATORY for students living in residence. If you're not living in res in September, and are living off-campus, you still have the choice of getting a meal plan if you want (at least getting a freedom plan which lets you save 5% on food you buy!). More on that later. There are different pros and cons depending on your eating habits, and this MacInsiders Guide will hopefully answer all those questions you have running through your mind about meal plans!
Overview of Meal Plans At McMaster
The Meal Plan system at McMaster has three 'tiers'. I'll try and briefly explain the three types:
BASIC: This is your 'base' amount of money you have to spend during the school year. It is non refundable. Also, the BASIC and FLEX portions of the Residence Meal Plan are non-taxable, saving you the sales tax (up to 13%) on all your food purchases on campus. This is the huge advantage of Basic and Flex... you save 13%!
CONS: This portion of the meal plan can only be used for food purchases on campus only. Not off-campus. Also note: the Basic account must be used by the end of the academic term, May 1, 2015. If you don't spend it by then, you lose the money you put in.
FLEX:
FLEX is the account you would use to purchase food on campus after your BASIC account is emptied out. FLEX allows you to also avoid tax. There's no point buying FLEX dollars until you've used up the BASIC since they'll take from your BASIC until its all used up. Money spend from here gets you a 13% discount on food. The FLEX account is an optional and refundable portion of the Residence Meal Plan and it is initially set at $0 value. So basically you'll only get it when your BASIC account is exhausted and you still want to benefit from the non-taxable food purchases at the Hospitality Services dining locations on campus.
FREEDOM:
This is the best option since it can be used on AND off campusat the restaurants that have partnered up with Hospitality Services (TwelvEighty - the bar/pub on campus, Eastside Marios, Boston Pizza, Pizza Pizza, Pita Pit, Kelsey's, Basilique, Gino's Pizza). Plus you can add money to this easily via the web, it is refundable at any time, and you only have to put and initial $100 on it to start.
The only negative thing about this is that you only get a 5% discount instead of 13% with the basic/flex money. You can freely transfer between your FLEX and FREEDOM account though, so if you are planning on buying more food from campus after you exhaust your BASIC account, make sure to transfer some money from FREEDOM to FLEX in order to continue not paying taxes.
If you're living off campus and want to save 5% you CAN put money on this plan.
I'll repeat that... OFF-CAMPUS students CAN put 'FREEDOM' dollars on their student card and save 5% on all the food purchased at locations on campus that accept the meal plans!! You just swipe your student card to pay for your meal, and it deducts it from the amount on your card and you save 5%. Think of it like having a pre-paid meal card.
The FREEDOM account is a fully taxable and fully refundable portion of your meal plan and it can be used to purchase non-food items at Hospitality Services facilities (eg. recyclable containers, seasonal novelties, hygienic items, etc.) or to dine at participating Off-Campus Vendors.
Advantages to buying a meal plan include the fact that you no longer have to carry as much cash around with you. All you need is to swipe your student card! Easy. But be sure to keep extra cash on you as well, we'll get more into that later.
Where To Eat On Campus
On campus, there are a lot of places to eat that are run by Hospitality Services. Now note that while there are a lot of food outlets, most of them offer the exact same things (most have Pizza Pizza, Tim Hortons, Pillars, and misc food like candy and packaged sandwiches). Your choices therefore usually consist of pizza, burgers, soups, pitas, sandwiches, subs, salads, donuts, candy, coffee, pop, juices, and all the other PEPSI brand beverages. You can, however, break out of that mold by visiting some of the more unique dining spots on campus (click here for map), plus there's also two restaurants on campus - The Pheonix, and TwelveEighty (aka. 1280).
Off-campus here are also a lot of locations that you can use your meal card. REMEMBER... these locations ONLY accept the FREEDOM dollars and not BASIC/FLEX dollars.
PLACES OFF-CAMPUS THAT ACCEPT THE MCMASTER MEAL PLAN:
East Side Marios, Kelseys, Basilique, Boston Pizza, Mahal, Pizza Pizza, Gino’s Pizza, and Pita Pit.
GREAT THING ABOUT FREEDOM DOLLARS IS YOU CAN TOP UP ONLINE! You can go to https://mealcard.mcmaster.ca/and top up right from your res room via credit card, etc. so if you end up running out for the month just add more freedom dollars. You can also check your balance online to see what you have left.
Think about it for a second. You're in residence... you do have the ability to cook your own meals if you wanted to (there's even clubs on campus that help teach you how to cook!) and cooking your own meals is much cheaper. Most residences have a common area with a kitchen, and some of the suite style residences have kitchens you share. Second, you are going to get tired of campus food very quickly. Eating pizza and burgers each day has it's toll on you and after realizing that there's more to life than junk food, you'll start to want to eat more healthy choices and you'll want more variety. To do this, you'll want to eat off campus such as going to SUBWAY, Tally Ho, Pancake House, the new places across the street from McMaster like PINKS burgers, or Burrito Bandito, etc. with your friends. When you go to those places, you'll be spending your own out-of-pocket... money that isn't locked into a meal plan.
Keep in mind that you will want spending money that is NOT locked into the meal card to spend in places that don't accept it! Union Market does NOT ACCEPT STUDENT CARDS/MEAL PLAN. A lot of students forget this and end up not buying from there since they want to use just their meal plan. But UNION MARKET HAS AMAZING PRICES AND DEALS! Cheap chocolate milk, cheap cheap bagels / cream cheese, cheap deals on bottled water and cans of pop, etc. Everything is cheaper at Union Market, since it is run by the McMaster Student Union). So you'll want to have pocket money to buy things from there that isn't locked into a meal plan.
You can also see answers to commonly asked questions about the Meal Plan on the Hospitality website here.
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2014-2015 COSTS FOR MEAL PLANS
There are two meal plan groups, Group-A and Group-B, and within these groups there are five meal plan sizes. Any student living in a traditional residence must choose a meal plan from Group-A. Students living in Bates or Mary E. Keyes Residence must choose a meal plan from either Group-A or Group-B.
Which 'size' of plan should you get?
LIGHT - The light meal plan is designed for students who are not usually on campus on weekends and have a light appetite or those who sometimes wish to have the flexibility to periodically buy non-food items or dine at Off-Campus Vendors from Freedom account.
SMALL - This plan is designed for students occasionally on campus on weekends and with a small appetite or those who wish to have the freedom to periodically purchase non-food items or dine at Off-Campus Vendors through a Freedom account.
REGULAR- Designed for students on campus on alternate weekends and those with an average appetite, who also wish to have the flexibility to purchase non-food items or dine at Off-Campus Vendors through a Freedom account.
LARGE - This plan is designed for students on campus most weekends and those with a healthy appetite, who wish to have the flexibility to purchase non-food items or dine at Off-Campus Vendors through a Freedom account.
X-LARGE - This plan is designed for students who want to enjoy the flexibility of the LARGE plan, but spend more time on campus, want to dine at Off-Campus Vendors frequently through a Freedom account, or want the security of more spending power with the meal plan.
NEED TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT WHICH MEAL PLAN YOU SELECTED?
You can make changes to your initial Meal Plan Selection through the Housing Application Portal until June 2, 2014 at 4 p.m. After that date any meal plan change requests should be submitted in writing to the Mac Express Centre at [email protected]. The deadline for all meal plan change requests is August 13, 2014 at 4 p.m.
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SHOULD OFF-CAMPUS STUDENTS GET A MEAL PLAN?
As an off-campus student, it is really smart to at least put $100 on your student card with the 'FREEDOM' option. You immediately start saving 5% on everything you buy from the hospitality services locations on campus, and that 5% can add up to a lot of savings over the year! Plus you can top it up at any time like a pre-paid card, it's really flexible.
However, as an off-campus student would I recommend getting one of the fixed meal plans? Probably not. Unless you plan on dining on campus and buying just about all your lunches and dinners on campus... then yes... it would make sense since you save 13% with the BASIC/FLEX meal plans.
Keep in mind, the average price for a basic meal is $8-11. If you are buying food every single day from the locations on campus that accept meal plan like Commons, La Piazza, etc. then that adds up really quick. It's convenient, since you can get food while on campus easily, but if you're off-campus there are a lot of food places in Westdale and the surrounding McMaster area you can easily go to, most of which are lower cost or a good alternative to change it up a bit when you get bored of campus food. Remember, if you get a meal plan then that money you invest into the meal plan is LOCKED into buying food only from the on-campus locations. If you want to for example go and buy groceries, stop at Wendy's/McDonalds/Tally Ho/Burrito Banditos down the street.. etc. you'd have to spend out of pocket since they don't accept the meal card. The only off-campus places that accept it are East Side Marios, Kelseys, Basilique, Boston Pizza, Mahal, Pizza Pizza, Gino’s Pizza, and Pita Pit. So you're basically limiting yourself to spend $2300-3800 at the places on campus.
However, if you like those places and can see yourself eating there every day for an entire year, then go for it! The advantage is that the meal plan does give you up to 13% discount on food. So if you plan to eat out at those places all the time, you can save some money that way.
If you don't see yourself locking in that $2300+ to those places, and want more flexibility, then you can get the flex plan which lets you just refill your card throughout the year. So you don't have to lock yourself into that high price.
Before you decide, I'd take a trip to McMaster and try out some of the food places on campus to get an idea of if you can see yourself eating there every day.
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TIPS FOR MEAL PLAN STUDENTS
Keep up to date with your spending!
One of the most important ways to cut down on your spending is to always be aware of just how much you are dishing out for those scrumptious campus dinners! Before you pay for something, know ahead of time how much it’s going to cost you. The special beef dip sandwich on Thursday evenings in Commons sounds great, however it’s one of the most expensive meals on campus! It’s easy to forget that you’re paying money when all you have to do is swipe the card at the cash register. So don’t get too carried away with meal card swiping.
Another tip is that every time the card is used, the cost of the items as well as your remaining balance is shown on the register screen. Let the cashier know ahead of time to give you a second to check your balance, because they tend to clear the screen quickly in order to facilitate the line-ups. To keep up to date with your spending and financial history, log on to http://mealcard.mcmaster.ca. /. This website is a great tool to help you manage meal card finances as it keeps a record of how much you’ve spent each day. Finally, there are postings all over the walls of restaurants around campus which provide an estimate of how much money you should have left at different times throughout the year. Use that guide to try and determine if you should be spending more or less of your BASIC account, because all of it has to go by the end of the academic year!
Cook your own food frequently!
The easiest way to conserve meal funds is to eat food that you make and prepare yourself. Go grocery shopping often and pick up food to store in your residence. Some options include the Fortinos on Main Street west of the university, and various places in Westdale east of the university. I’ve found that packages of bottled water, pop, canned items, and frozen dinners are all important things to have in residence. If you like to cook, you can also buy foods to make using the oven, microwave, stove, and other appliances in the common rooms. Obviously don’t buy too much food or else your meal plan will be a waste of money. I would say that these kind of foods should constitute approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of your meals at university. Plus, they’re much healthier than the usual stuff on campus!
Get a fridge!
There are a couple of items that every meal plan conserving student should know to bring to residence. One is a fridge, whether it’s large or small. NOTE: There is a new policy at McMaster that if you want a fridge in your room you NEED TO RENT IT FROM A COMPANY CALLED COLDEX. You are NOT allowed to bring your own mini fridge. It can be ordered online, or will be available on campus during “Refrigerator Rental Day” during Welcome Week. Go here for more details on pricing.
Remember to bring some cutlery, microwavable bowls, and microwavable plates. Restaurants on campus provide all of your basic food needs, just try not to depend on them for stocking up on forks. If you’re going to cook, bring some pots and pans, although most residences provide some cooking items in the common rooms.
For information regarding applying to residence visit the Housing web page at http://housing.mcmaster.ca/ or contact Residence Admissions, Commons Building, Room 101, telephone (905) 525 9140, ext. 24342, email [email protected].
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I would say that these kind of foods should constitute approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of your meals at university. Plus, they’re much healthier than the usual stuff on campus!
