In many places a cooking-first student budget lands between $50 and $100 a week, with bought meals a few times a week. The range depends heavily on where you study — the honest benchmark is your own tracked spending compared with what cooking most meals would cost you.

Only if you use what you pay for. A meal plan's value is the same maths as this calculator: compare the plan's weekly cost with what you would actually spend buying those meals separately. Students who skip included meals are paying twice, and that is the part to check before you sign.

Cook in batches, buy staples in bulk and plan two or three cheap meals a week before cutting anything else. The biggest single saving is swapping bought meals for packed ones — a $12 campus lunch becomes a $3 packed one without any drop in quality.