Updated Points Spreadsheet

I've updated the points spreadsheet for this fall.

For those of you who are new to this, the points spreadsheet is a way to tell if you're spending too many or too few points to end the semester with a zero balance. You can also use it to ration out your remaining points from now to the rest of the semester.

New this year is that everything you can do with points, you can also do with meals!

The way it works to track your "ideal" usage since the beginning of the semester: Enter the number of points and meals that correspond to your meal plan in the two boxed cells. Leave the "enter the current date" field alone.

To track your "real" usage based on what you have right now, enter your current point and meal balances in the two boxed cells, and today's date in the cell next to "enter the current date."

Note that for those of you using the "ideal" option, you may want to deduct your starting point value for certain large, initial purchases, like the Fruit and Veggie co-op, or a meal contract at the S&C, or something.

Also, the spreadsheet assumes that you use the same number of meals each day of the week, but rounds all the totals to whole numbers.

Post comments with bugs, problems, questions or whatever.

I'm hungry

Bon Appetit has apparently decided to listen to us and make breakfast and lunch "All You Care to Eat." This means that meals will now be usable for lunch and dinner at the Usdan Marketplace. Breakfast will be priced at $5.50, and lunch at $7.50 (Dinner stays at $9.25). This also apparently means that the Cafe downstairs will offer a bit more variety in the way of food.

Also, Bon Appetit is asking everyone to return all of the dishes and silverware we've borrowed throughout the semester in an effort to reduce the quantity of disposable plastic utensils in an event they're calling 'Plate Amnesty Week'. There should be bins scattered around dorm halls and near the entrance to the Marketplace from the 17th to the 21st (right now).

Spring Points Spreadsheet

In the midst of Bon Appetit's "power of the spoon" campaign, I have updated the points spreadsheet for the spring semester.  Suprisingly, I found that it is theoretically possible to eat 14 meals a week at Usdan and not run out of points.  In fact, you'll have a whopping $2.05 per week to spend on late night, cereal for breakfast at weshop, yummy drinks at pi cafe, and other essentials.

A disclaimer: I am a math major, so I've made this rather complicated, but I've tried to also make it super user-friendly.  Please, give me suggestions on how to improve it.

To do the magic 14-meals-at-usdan, you sign up for the 8-meals plan, pay for 7 dinners and 1 brunch a week with meals, and all the other lunches and one brunch with points.  This will require a lot of telling the cashier how you want to pay for your meal, because otherwise you'll spend your meals early in the week on lunch and end up paying for the more expensive dinners with points.  

As far as the spreadsheet, there are quite a few options, not all of which are necessary to use.  The only thing you really have to do is put in your starting number of points in the appropriate cell.  As last semester, the starting point values for each meal plan are listed on the right.  

If you want to get into some fancier calculations, you can tell the spreadsheet that you want to keep spending points at the same rate over spring break (the default is to assume that you don't spend any), or you can tell it how many meals per week you want to buy with points, and it'll tell you how much you can afford to spend on each meal.  If it's halfway through the semester and you want to figure out how to ration your remaining points, just change the date at the top of the spreadsheet.  

At any rate, the only things you should edit are the cells that are outlined in black.  Everything else will adjust itself automagically.  

And yes, I do realize that this is a bit early; I plan on re-posting it next semester.  

PS: It's really gross outside.  See tags.

PPS: already I've encountered a problem.  If you try to adjust the date and don't specify a year, then it assumes that you're talking about 2007, and then acts all weird.  So make sure to put in a year, until 2008 starts, when this will no longer be a problem.

Pooooints

Ok, a while back someone on Wesconfess posted a list of where you should be point-wise.

Basically, here you go:

6-Apr 593
13-Apr 492
20-Apr 390
27-Apr 289
4-May 188
11-May 87
16-May 14