Staying Positive: Seven Thrifty Dining Solutions to Your DBA Crisis
If you’re anything like me, you seldom reach the end of the term with a positive DBA balance. It could be because you eat a hearty breakfast every day…
Or simply because DDS food is absurdly overpriced.
Regardless of the reason, a lot of people seem to be running on fumes by the term’s end. Here are some ways to make the most of those precious remaining dining dollars:
1. Get caffeinated for free at One Wheelock
One Wheelock has a smooth, indie soundtrack and the cozy atmosphere of a trendy coffee shop — for no cost! If you find yourself regularly shelling out DBA on KAF coffee, tea and hot chocolate, making the switch to One Wheelock could be a real game-changer. And if it’s Monday, you can stay there until Microbrews starts and get free beer! Can’t buy that with DBA.
2. BYOM – Bring Your Own Mug
If you’re desperate for locally-sourced gourmet KAF coffee, bring a reusable cup with you to get 25 percent off any brewed coffee or tea. This should knock the price down to a cool five or six bucks.
3. Develop a sudden interest in clubs with catered events
Remember all those organizations you signed up for at the orientation activities fair? Of course you do – it’s been two years, and you still haven’t mustered up the courage to ask them to remove you from their blitz lists. Well, this is their time to shine. A quick keyword search of “free dinner” should produce a plethora of invitations from groups that blitz out to the listserv – Tucker and Rocky blitz out pretty much every other day. Pick your favorite and enjoy free EBAs or Jewel of India with some thought-provoking conversation on the side.
4. Scavenge
If you want to capitalize on all that free food but don’t have time to commit to the actual events, try lingering around Collis Common Ground. Organizers often place leftovers up for grabs on the table outside, and you can shamelessly feast on as much Orient as you want in a fraction of the time. The same procedure applies to Novack – just stake out a bake sale, and snag the free food when it ends.
5.B(eat) the system
Get a day’s worth of food for one meal-swipe by camping out in FoCo for the day. It’s the logical extension of the “all you can eat” concept, and the quiet hours between meal times are clutch for getting work done. Just make sure to sit somewhere secluded upstairs to avoid detection.
6.Schmooze with a prof
Blitz Student Assembly to snag a classy, all-expenses-paid lunch date with a professor. Week eight bonus – this service doubles as a last-minute opportunity to sweet-talk said professor before turning in your final paper or exam.
7. Treat. Yo. Self.
Meals in town (or in West Leb if you’re feeling ambitious) can be a refreshing change of pace from your typical DDS routine. If you’re going negative in DBA, you might as well use it as an excuse to indulge yourself. Ramunto’s, Boloco and The Orient all deliver, so you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your room (or if it’s finals week, the hell that is 1902).