Graphic by Mary Evans
With the end of the semester approaching, many University of Mississippi students are thinking about how and where they are going to spend their Flex Dollars and allocate their meal swipes.
While students have the option to purchase a meal plan that consists of meal swipes worth $8.50 each, all students are billed for Flex Dollars at the beginning of each semester. Flex Dollars are depreciating funds that roll over semester-to-semester and can be used at campus dining locations, campus drink and snack vending machines and for sporting event concessions.
All first-year freshmen and full-time degree seeking undergraduate students at the university are billed $300 that goes toward their Flex balance, while all other students under the age of 25 are billed $250 that will go into their Flex balance
Paige Taunton, a freshman biology major, has $250 in Flex and does not plan to spend much more of it this semester.
“I know I have more schooling after this. It makes it easier to save,” Taunton said.
Taunton uses her plus one meal swipe as a part of her Rebel Unlimited meal plan for any non-dining hall purchase and only dips into Flex by a few cents when her meal exceeds $8.50 — the amount a single meal swipe covers. Taunton said she is hoping to save most of her Flex for future semesters.
Sarah Kassel, a freshman studies major, has 74 cents left in her Flex account. At the beginning of the semester, Kassel did not realize she could use meal swipes instead of Flex, so her Flex ran out quickly.
“I went to the sushi place, and I spent four meal swipes once because I didn’t have any Flex,” Kassel said.
As the semester nears the end, Kassel said she tries to stick to Rebel Market for meals or use meal swipes.
“Flex runs out fast. You think $300 is a lot, but it’s not,” Kassel said.
Madelene Dersam, a freshman theater design major, lives off campus. She began budgeting her Flex earlier this semester by eating ramen for a week and a half to save.
“I’m at Rebel Market nearly every day,” Dersam said. “I have not bought anything in the union for a good few weeks. Having a kitchen allows me to use less Flex, honestly. I know I can go home and make pasta and have shelf stable stuff.”
Students like Jackson Stanford have a slightly different reason for budgeting their Flex.
“If I want to decrease what plan I am doing next semester, I have extra Flex Dollars that’ll roll over,” Stanford said.
Stanford, a junior mathematics major, has 200 Flex Dollars left. Stanford said he has budgeted by only buying meals with meal swipes and staying under $8.50. Stanford also transferred to UM from Southwest Mississippi Community College, which did not have a Flex Dollar system. Stanford said he likes the freedom Flex Dollars provide.
Ava Gee, a freshman film production major, reloaded her Flex recently. She added $100 to her account, so she could continue to purchase snacks and meals.
Olivia Loving, a senior allied health major, uses her Flex Dollars mainly on coffee and lunch, and she has $45 remaining. After living in her sorority house for two years, Loving said she saved a lot of her Flex Dollars. However, now that she is living elsewhere, she has found it more difficult to budget her Flex.
“I’ve now found myself about to run out before the end of the semester,” Loving said. “I’m probably not going to get coffee as much, remembering I have food at home.”
Nathan Morris, a junior biology major, shared Loving’s struggles with budgeting Flex while living off campus. Morris has around $70 of Flex left.
“Sometimes, when you’re getting back late, it’s hard to cook, so you might as well go to the union or Jimmy John’s,” Morris said.
