If you have a Braum’s nearby you can get a bomb-ass burger with two quarter pound patties, crinkle cut fries, and drink or shake for about $9.
But you probably don’t have a Braum’s around unless you are in the US and in one of like two shithole states.
Not cheap, not convenient, not fast, and, let’s be real: It’s barely food.
Me when I go to my local hangry chicken and order the chicken + fries nachos only for them to give me dark meat.
In my days, you got a week’s worth of calories for $3.50
In my days you could buy 420 chickens for $0.69.
Buy frozen chicken nuggies/pizza and bake it in the oven
$18 of that $25 was delivery fees and tip
So true lol
It’s been a long time since fast food was any good. It’s addictive, maybe comfortable, but definitely not good. Break your addiction, especially now that you could save so much money
It’s comfortable, but also the salt they sprinkle on there must be a narcotic substance of some kind.
That said, McDonald’s vs an OK sit-down restaurant are roughly the same price here. The latter is going to have better food - generally - but Mickey D will be more consistent, have the ability to order without talking to anyone, has a drive-thru, can order home (SOME restaurants don’t do it here for some reason, most do luckily)… Basically, the fast food will win in all factors of convenience, but you won’t feel as satisfied after eating it.
Yeah… I only do fast food using apps and only go if there’s a good enough “discount”(quotes because it’s really what the prices should be anyway, obvs.).
The Jimmy Johns app is atrocious in this regard.
“Buy 16 sandwiches this month for free cookie!”
Fucken nerds.
Screw that. Last month I got free burgers with minimum $1 purchase at burger king. Two cookies =$1 exactly.
Pack soda can and go, lol. I thinkI added cheese for 30¢
Lmao wtf is a brk bcntr
You don’t know what a brk bcntr is?! What is this world coming to when people can’t figure out the POS POS’ extremely shortened words?!
Breakfast Baconator. 670 calories of greasy bacon sausage and cheese on a bun.
Not even even an egg on it? I kinda want an egg on my breakfast sandwich
In my industry, there’s a saying along the lines of “Good, fast, cheap. Pick two.”
I think the fast food industry version is “Good, fast, cheap? No, no. And believe it or not, also no.”
I don’t eat fast food very often, so this is entirely anecdotal. Of the fast food chains I’ve eaten at in recent history, Taco Bell is by far the worst. Against my better judgment, I even broke down and gave them a second chance at a different location thinking maybe my first terrible experience was a fluke. Didn’t work out. Makes me think it’s bad everywhere. Wendy’s has held up the best of the places I’ve eaten. It’s definitely not cheap anymore, fast depends on the location as well as other factors, and good is relative, but overall it hasn’t gone down hill as bad as the others.
What is your industry? That saying is awesome.
Software development. I certainly didn’t coin the phrase, but it’s well-known and I agree, pretty fitting even outside of the IT industry.
I’ve heard it in engineering and software both
Pretty common saying in the business world.
taco bell definitely has one of the widest ranges in quality. one near my house is fucking awful and never gets the substitutions right, but the one 20 minutes away is great
To me it’s McDonalds, how something using the exact same ingredients and prep can taste so different and have vastly different delivery times in everyone you go to boggles the mind
This sums up my experience as well. It’s never been healthy, but at least it used to be cheap and tasty. But nowadays mcdonalds is so expensive I almost consider it a luxury, and the plastic-looking sauces and mystery meat are in no way appetizing (tho that might just be me getting older and changing preferences as opposed to the actual food getting worse)
I switched to mostly cooking for myself sometime last year, really just trying to save money, but I feel significantly less fatigued day to day and more focused and don’t wake up with random stomach pain anymore.
I’ve done that most of my adult life and yeah even just pasta with jarred sauce is so much cheaper, better, and healthier than fast food.
Your next big level up may be realizing that exercise doesn’t suck nearly as much as the feeling of being out of shape
Honestly, it’s been a great help reducing take out. It’s such a gamble, I’d rather spent nothing on a sure thing (even if it’s boring) than nearly $40 for a meal I may not even finish.
When I can buy like a large 5 top pizza for as much as a single fast food combo, i know which I’ll choose.
Pizza is also ridiculously expensive where I live. For something that is comprised of almost entirely dough, cheese, and tomato sauce, it’s kind of criminal that some places are charging $20 or more for a large pie. It probably cost them $1.50 worth of ingredients to make when you factor in bulk pricing.
I’m a spreadsheet nerd. Not a guru by any stretch, but I love to make spreadsheets. They help me plan and organize things in a way nothing else does. Despite all the websites and apps out there that make budgeting simple, I do ALL of my budgeting and spend tracking in an odt file. It’s been a rolling development for the last five years and I think I’ve got it to its ultimate stage. I’m really proud of my work.
I think what’s really helping me stay on top of it this year is the fact that in December, I spent about a week planning the year in painstaking detail. I built a whole paycheck estimation tool that automatically calculates tax withholding. I cross-referenced employee handbooks to determine pre-tax withholdings like retirement and insurance. I found the 2025 tax brackets and standard deduction. I understand now how our taxes are withheld for the state side. I actually determined my wife is taking out way too little for tax. January is an awesome time to make that catch. By the time I was done, I determined four paycheck numbers we might experience in the year based on various circumstances. I planned out how much I think each of our 26 paychecks will be, when they will occur, and how we will spend them with a high degree of confidence. I gave us a set amount of fun money each time. Most importantly, I found a way for us to make regular deposits into our savings account. I have a plan in place to save $2,000 and pay off a couple of credit cards this year. It ain’t much, but it’ll be a start. And if something goes wrong, having some money stashed away will be a huge help.
So far, I’ve squirrelled away 300 bucks. I feel really good about that.
I also track all of our spending in that file. I spend 5 minutes each night before bed reconciling it to the bank. That’s been a major step forward, too.
More to your point, eating out is hella expensive. I opened a second checking account to give us that kind of money. We buy books and music and games and makeup and food from out on that. If that card runs out of money, it ends. Full stop. At least, it should. I got lazy the last few months of last year and we spent way too much on takeout. But I’m motivated to be better this year. I make myself go grocery shopping. And then I make myself cook even when I don’t wanna. And I put the dishes away and clean the laundry, even when I don’t wanna.
I know that’s just regular adult shit, but I’ve been a hot mess for a while lol
I’m trying to get myself together too (though not nearly as impressive as your method). I’m writing down everything I spend, from a soda, or groceries, to rent. I quickly saw I was spending, like, to the penny of my check, and saw I wasted a good $200 on just bullshit. I’m trying to put on my big girl panties and get it together. Whenever I saw no to something, I’ve been putting it in a savings account. Like, “eh, I can make dinner at home.” Okay, then that $15 for the cheeseburger that you were okay with is now going into savings.
My goal is to end this year without debt. School, credit card, all of it. Tired of it lol
That’s an impressive level of financial responsibility, nice job
Hey now, those poor businesses need to make up for their profit situation! Even though they have all made record profits year after year… After year…
We will be in a recession once they decide it’s time for one.deleted by creator
Oh yeah.
It’s become prohibitively expensive, so I only have it occasionally. My parents made the unfortunate choice to raise me on McDonald’s, so unfortunately, I happen to like it a fair bit. For me it’s just a treat, or if I mess up cooking my dinner I might order some to replace that, but it’s pretty rare as I can cook up some delicious chicken and veggies, or if I really want fries/tots, pop some in the air fryer, and it’s infinitely cheaper and just as good as ordering fast food. (And healthier.)
Then there’s the calories. That alone is enough reason for me to only have it occasionally.
I got a double cheeseburger platter from a BBQ place with 2 sides for $10. Better burger than fast food and I got fries and collards.
I got a double cheeseburger platter from a BBQ place
Are you even allowed to do that?
That’s a great find!
BBQ places in my area have gotten really expensive. Sides are like $5 each now for a small container.
my bombass lunch today for ¥616 (~US$3.94)
Well, university coop cafes are always gonna be comparatively cheap, but yeah, Japan’s prepared food is generally cheap on a different level. Stuff in grocery stores for one thing, but I still can’t quite figure out how sukiya or yoshinoya puts a beef set meal in front of you in 5 mins for less than 1000 yen
Japan is a cheat code for healthy cheap meals.
I wish I could move to Japan…
If you have a college degree it’s pretty easy to move to Japan. You just have to enjoy working for peanuts and singing songs to classes of little kids.
Looks very soupy.
Well spotted
3.94? lies /s, at least $30 USD here
That’s not gonna work in the US.
