Student story-Make every penny count at breakfast and lunch

By Anne-Marie Albracht

As the line of students snaked around the room, the occasional cling of the cash register turned into victorious rhythm.

Despite the ungodly hour -- by teenage standards anyway -- at 8 a.m. Monday the K-State Student Union cafeteria buzzed with activity. Young, caffeine deprived journalists frantically sought their fix of mocha choca latte whatever before beginning their first full day of camp. Miniature boxes of Cheerios in their signature banana yellow packaging and cups of warm cinnamon oatmeal filled their clumsy purple trays as they hurried to figure out where they should be and what they had to do next.

Heads bobbed up and down in line as students waited anxiously for their turn to swipe their card.

$5.67, $4.89, $6.23.

The numbers ran across the screen in kelly green as if laughing in the campers faces. Barely an hour into the first day and many were well on their way to blowing their first test of independence -- staying within the $9 daily budget for lunch and breakfast.

So now with more than 50 percent of many budgets exhausted, lunch became more than a meal, it became a test of number-crunching abilities. Some failed and had to dig into their own pockets. Feilisha Kutilike and Carly Blaufuss led the pack, spending $5 more than the allotted $9.

“With franchises like Starbucks and Caribou Coffee it was nearly impossible to stay on budget. Their prices were like, wow,” Kutilike said rolling her eyes. “But the caffeine was essential.”

Try these simple tips for filling your stomach without draining your wallet:

For breakfast buy a small steaming cup of coffee for $1.60 (upgrade to a medium on Mondays and pay $1 total) with a cinnamon sugar donut for $1.60 from Caribou Coffee to keep the bill low at $3.31.

At Taco Bell get three crunchy tacos or bean burritos (each 89 cents) for a grand total of $2.85 for lunch.

With the extra money, treat yourself to a chocolate chip cookie from Subway for 60 cents and a scoop of rich ice cream from Caribou Coffee for $1.45 to round out your dining experience at a cool $8.35, including tax.

Also, try to limit yourself to one non-water drink per day. These extra charges add up and can break the bank.

Counting pennies isn’t the most entertaining thing to do, but in this case it’s necessary. Senior Hailey Lapin brings out the positive side of the situation.

“I feel like I’m getting a taste of what college is like, you have to budget and set limits for yourself,” she said. “So tomorrow, I’m going to take the $5 footlong approach. This is making me look at finance in a creative way, and in the end, I see it more of a challenge than an inconvenience.”

Anne-Marie Albracht is a junior at Notre Dame de Sion and a student in the advanced writers class at the Flint Hills Publication Workshop.