Have you ever tried to purchase something with your meal money and gotten an "insufficient funds" error, even though you know there is enough money on your account?

A House Officer may have two separate Blue Bucks accounts tied to their M-Card. The House Officer Account (non-taxed funds), where meal money gets loaded, and a Regular Account. The Regular Account (after-tax funds) is where you can put your own money to spend, and is also where things like student dining plans are loaded.

If you have a non-zero balance on your Regular Account, it will be used before your House Officer Account at places with no cashier. If the regular balance is too low to cover your purchase, you will receive an "insufficient funds” error, and the transaction will be canceled instead of checking your House Officer Account. This is a quirk of the system's programming, which cannot be resolved without causing additional issues.

The solution is to zero out your Regular Account. One method of doing this is to make a small purchase at a location where your card is not working until your balance is minimal (under a dollar). Then ask a cashier to charge you for the exact amount left on your Regular Account, they may need to call a manager to do this. Utilize balance checks before and after to verify. Once your Regular Account balance is zeroed out, your House Officer Account will begin to work at locations without a cashier.