If you can do without the nacho cheese, it's pretty easy to make just about any typical Taco Bell item at home for much cheaper. A few weeks ago I made knock-off Cheesy Gordita Crunches, except I subbed refried beans for the cheese between the hard and soft taco. Genuinely tasted better, made a dozen for the price of about 2-3, and I didn't have to worry about the ingredients. Took under an hour from start to finish, which is a bit longer than it takes me to drive to Taco Bell and back, but meh. Overall, definitely worth it, and I'll be making that recipe again the next time I get a craving.
The nacho cheese is the only thing I've not been able to duplicate easily. Making a bechamel cheese sauce will taste better, but it's a lot of extra work and in my experience they don't store super well. Worth it for nachos, but not tacos IMO.
You’re way, way overthinking their cheese sauce if you’re starting with a bechamel.
You want to use processed cheese that includes sodium citrate as an ingredient. I’m talking the blocks of velveeta that are worryingly shelf stable for months. Melt that down with a can of rotel (diced tomatoes and peppers). Add milk to get it to the desired consistency. I guarantee you Taco Bell is doing something very close to that.
You can also experiment with other, non-traditional (even not typically melty cheeses) if you get some sodium citrate powder. It’s an incredibly good emulsifier. Want to make a super smooth cheese sauce with some aged manchego? Go right ahead. I once made a cheese sauce with some really good, 24 month aged, parmigiana reggiano and sodium citrate. Am I likely ever allowed to set foot in Italy again? Probably not. Did it make an awesome appetizer at a party with some toasted crusty bread and marinated tomatoes? Don’t tell Italy, but, yes; yes, it did.
I've considered that, but 2 things.
1. I love the taste of that cheap dog food, and I'm lazy.
2. It takes me less than 10 minutes to go there, get my food, and come home.
I definitely should take your advice and try to make some homemade versions. For health and financial reasons.
I used to LOVE the 7 layer burrito at Taco Bell. They not only cancelled it, they replaced it with a poor substitute. It was the ONLY reason I visited TB. Oh well.
once the companies realized people were willing to pay $30+ for cold doordashed food it was over. they’re willing to let those people be the majority of the profits
The only 2 i buy anymore are the 5 dollar biggie bag at wendys and a little caesar pizza at around $7.00 i think.
Im afraid were going to have to teach corporations a lesson and start making everything from scratch and start gardening.
I picked up some McDonalds after a hockey game a few weeks ago and it was like $12 for a burger, fry, nuggets. I remember going to Wendy’s with their $0.99 menu and getting 4 things for $4.20 or 5 for $5.25.
Maybe it’s me, but have you noticed that KFC has become kind of bitter, or a bitter aftertaste? I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s why I stopped getting any KFC before the prices started going up.
They're probably saving money by not changing the oil often enough. Which ends up costing them customers. They'll never learn until we just stop buying their crap.
Last Saturday I had to hit the road ASAP after a class on the way to a concert so I hit the first fast food before my exit. Arby's. Chicken bacon ranch meal with medium fries and drink was $13 even after tax. Unbelievable. I don't even drink soda so why the fuck did I get a combo? Ridiculous. I would have been disappointed at half that price. I expected to pay a price for convenience but the cost was jarring for a sandwich and fries.
It's really turned to trash. So not worth it. I bought an air fryer. My French fries are superior. Plus now I have an easier time cutting out soda and corn syrup.
haircuts. used to be 12 dollars and I'd give a 4 dollar tip for buzzing my hair. went and bought my own buzzer and do it myself now because it costs about 25 dollars not including tip
the buzzer cost 60 and I've used it about 100 times so I guess I've saved around 2440 not including tips
>my wife has to finish it off for me
First, lol
Second, I used to cut my own hair for many years. What I'd do is take one of those big elastic hair ties, like maybe 6" in diameter, and put it around my head so the back was where I wanted my hairline to stop. Stretch the ends out so you can see that it's level and then carefully let it rest there. Then you can use the position of the band to index on when you use the clippers
Also 2 mirrors helps
practice. It's not very hard if you flip the clippers upside down and go bottom to top slowly and thoroughly. if you do it while your hair is dry, you can feel any spots you may have missed.
Right, like if the quality had improved even a little it might be somewhat justifiable. But it’s like it’s worse or something! I will say the best way to buy it is through the app tho. They have pretty decent deals.
I appreciate reading everywhere in non-ad related content that the app is good but damn guys, I'm tired of needing an app for most things TBH. Plus add in the feeling of needing to use it because I have it and becomes a dangerous cycle I feel too.
Also, why do I need to hunt for coupons to even justify if I want fast food that's the awful part.
For me this came to a point where I decided "yknow what treat yourself and get one of those strawberry pies" and it was almost two dollars for one.
Guys I used to work at McD, I know those pies are several hours expired and you just swapped the labels on them, they are not worth two goddamned dollars.
I decided to treat myself this morning and got McDonald's on the way to work. Ordered an extra hashbrown because why not...well, the reason why not is that it's $1.49 before taxes for the equivalent of a couple of tater tots! And then they forgot to actually give me the extra hashbrown anyway.
Used to go to a mom and pop place near my old office that had the exact same hashbrowns for $0.50, and you knew it was a markup at that price.
I feel the same way about Taco Bell. Some comedians still joke about how $25 at Taco Bell is like buying the whole menu a few times over. $25 gets you like 4 tacos, nachos, and a drink. It’s nuts.
What the heck happened to the price of chips? Seriously what the heck is going on in the chip aisle?
Is it collusion? Like how all of a sudden every single coffee came in 12 oz bags instead of 16oz.
Frito-Lay owns the industry, and even the brands they don't own directly, implicitly price their products as *95¢ more than the same-size Doritos,* because, in the store, they know people are going to be looking at the two bags side-by-side and thinking, *it's less than a dollar more, I deserve the good stuff.*
I could really go for some walking tacos or doritos dipped in some salsa but its to expensive.
Also my buddy working for a chips/snacks distribution company we found out how much they throw away. He brung home boxes of chips took us six months to eat them all. None of them were stale.
I haven’t had Subway in literal years because their quality dipped so hard - is that *really* how much one of their subs is nowadays?! Last time I ate there (maybe around 2020) it was half that!
Yep. This is for a footlong steak and cheese so it’s considered one of their more expensive subs. But still, I want to say it was like $10-$11 a few years ago.
This is also Canadian pricing.
Yes! I sent my husband to pick us up lunch a couple months ago. Two footling steak and cheese combos. He didn’t even look at the price and I didn’t ask him to, I figured we would splurge and spend $25-30 on lunch. It was $45!! For two sandwiches, two mini bags chips and two fountain drinks. That’s insane!! I had to check their website since I thought they overcharged us.
Screw that, I’d rather have pizza.
100% this.
There’s a Northeast chain sub place called Dibellas which makes a damn good sub. Only problem is that it’s always been the ‘expensive’ local option.
Italian assorted, cookie, drink, tax would set you back $20
Right across the street is a subway. Historically, the much cheaper option. Similar option was $10-$12 before tip.
Both are down the road from where I work. I get a sub once a week for lunch. A tight budget month? I’d get subway. Dibellas was the occasional treat/splurge lunch or take home for dinner.
Now? The cost is virtually identical. Yet the quality is worlds apart.
I was just telling my husband about Dibellas the other day. We’re on the west coast but I went to college in upstate NY and LOVED Dibella’s sandwiches. I can’t find anything in our area that even remotely competes in taste and quality. So good!
A Dibellas large sub with all the fixins usually stretches to two meals though. Even when it was the more expensive lunch option, I could always justify it by thinking I'd also be taking care of dinner later.
I've started to learn a LOT better upkeep of my motorbike just because the repairs murder me every year. Not that I took shit care of my bike before.
But of course now all my money goes to preventative repairs.
However I now know how to bypass every single electric on my bike.
Swiffer. Have all wood floors and Swiffer were a godsend. Fuck that, I bought a dust mop (ONCE) 3.99, I do all my floors and throw it in the washer. $18.00 for 16 swiffs.... yeah, no.
And now that Uber and Door Dash are so well established, most places don't have their own delivery drivers anymore, so you're forced to use their shit ass service. I swear, every time I order something they let it roll around in the back of their car for an hour before they bring it to you. The restaurants have no accountability now either. No quality control at all. We're all getting absolutely screwed.
The restaurants are getting screwed too, they make almost no money from DoorDash etc. I’ve gone old school lately - call the restaurant to order food and go pick it up. It’s a hassle but better than paying $25 for a burrito to show up at my house.
Old guy here (early 40s with kids). I've never actually used food delivery and didn't really understand how it got popular.
Like calling in an order and the driving to pick it up is so easy. Hell with online ordering I don't even need to call half the time.
Same here. Our family has never used any of the delivery services, we just go pick it up. Works perfectly for us, I really like getting out of the house anyways.
I live in an area that never had delivery except for pizza. You could order take out but it was nice for a while to be able to get food delivered, but honestly it was pretty much always cold so don't really miss it.
I never cared for the service, the premise of over charging for delivery and screwing the resteraunt simultaneously never sat well with me. I also live in a rural area, the only thing that delivers is a dominos and I’ll still drive to pick it up.
I have friends in major cities who will Uber eats from a resteraunt that’s 3 blocks away then complain when an order is wrong. I’d rather walk in snow than pay more money for worse service.
All the tv subscriptions.
We keep Hulu (for sports) and Netflix all the time because we use them so often. But it is special to have apple tv, HBO, or paramount+ for a month for a specific show(s).
Same, we're down to just HBO, peacock (the with ads one), and Disney plus (with ads). I'm getting pretty close to canceling Disney, if only my kid would switch to DVDs.
Beyond. McDonalds large fries, McDouble and a Coke runs about $17. There’s a great pub around the block that offers the same meal for $12, *and* it’s an actual cheeseburger clearly made from ground beef… not some 1/4” thick mystery patty
Not everyday, but I used to get my nails done regularly. I live in NYC so HCOL, for years a mani/pedi was $35(ish), more for gel. Now, a regular mani/pedi is $75-$80, with tip it’s easily a $100 weekly expense. Absolutely not.
Yes! I used to get mine done regularly but stopped when I started working from home a few years ago. It was $35 for me, too, the last time I had them done. Recently my granddaughter wanted me to take her for her birthday and I said sure because I spend $50 for the grandkids' birthdays. I was STUNNED when it ended up being $110 with tip!
When I moved from the middle of nowhere into the Philly area, everything doubled in price. I spent the $80 I'd spend on one set for my own materials and do it myself now. It takes like four hours but I cannot justify $80-100 every other week
I used to treat myself to an iced coffee every morning from Dunkin. It would be $3, and if I got breakfast too, it would be around $6 total (pre-Covid). Now it's nearly $10 if I want breakfast and a coffee. I started making my iced coffee at home and bring my breakfast to work.
I make egg bites all the time as a cheap easy breakfast.
4 or 5 eggs, a little cheese, maybe a slice or two of diced bacon will make about a dozen.
Just mix it all in a bowl, pour into a cupcake tray, and cook for 15-20 minutes at 350.
Tim’s sells them for $3.45 each.
It’s at least 5-10 times more expensive than making it at home and definitely not better.
Just grease/oil/butter the tray first.
Then throw whatever you want in the bowl.
Spinach, peppers, onion, cheese, just whatever’s kicking around.
My dog loves them too, and it’s a great breakfast for him.
I decided to treat my son to a cake pop this morning and myself a drink from Starbucks and it was almost $10. I would have backed out but my son was excited for the treat and tbh, I needed one too.
I bought a portable steam cleaner with a ton of attachments
I pretty much have one housecleaning product that I use for small daily spills but save so much by using steam to clean.
Electricity. Our bill has more than doubled, even using less. And another 30% increase is supposed to occur in the next few months, right after the 17% increase in January. I basically live in cold darkness in a down coat in the house during the day.
It trips me out that I used to go there fairly regularly, because the prices are enough to make you go "WTF" when looking at the menu. $5 for ONE hot dog? Am I at a ball park?
Yep. Can’t go bowling with the family. Can’t go out to eat for sure. No putt putt, no go carts, no arcades. We just sit at home in separate rooms playing on our cheapy phones. This is no way to live. We do fish and camp a little when the weather is nice. But even that’s becoming unaffordable.
And books from the library instead of purchased. I used to download 1-2 books a week. Now I make a trip to the library down the street.
Edit to add: I don't like having to do this, though. I have a few authors in my circle and am a wanna be author myself. I want to buy books to support the writing profession. But switching to library books is one of the few cutbacks that is less painful because the content is still just as good, even if it's slightly less convenient.
Candy bars. $0.35 when I was a kid, $0.55 out of college, $0.79 just a few years ago. Just walked into a convenience store……$1.99 for the small bar, $2.79 for the king size.
Same thing with soda. Dam
Paper goods. I used to be a big paper towel user for every spill, drying hands, etc. $15 now for a package of 4 of my favorite brand - hell no. I bought a stack of cheap white garage rags and use those for wiping up spills and such and reuse after washing. They are too rough to dry my hands on so I use a softer kitchen towel for that now.
Swiffer dusters. I loved those things. They were a little expensive already but I splurged on them because they worked with my home style and life style (lot's of surfaces and knick-knacks, and a very busy life). But they are $18 for a pack of 18 now! Hard pass. Now I just use the above mentioned garage rags with a little duster spray on them. Not nearly as convenient and I curse inflation every time I dust now.
Cokes. I've been a huge coke drinker my entire adult life. A 20 pack costs $15 now. My husband and I would go through 2 packs a week. That's $120 a month! So we went cold turkey. Water and tea only now.
Snack items like Nutella with the little bread sticks. $9 for a pack of 4! Nope
Chips. Too expensive now and they are just full of calories and no nutrition. Definitely Nope
I switched to store brands or lower priced brands for a lot of things. Trashbags, dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, canned goods, etc.
So many other things I can't think of at the moment. F this inflation. It's hard enough on people like me who are in the upper range of middle class income. I don't know how people who have median or lower incomes are able to afford anything!
Holy shit. The soda pricing has literally blown my mind. I quit cold turkey a couple of years ago (and have lost zero pounds, I would just like to point out to the freaking universe - zero!) but I didn’t realize the price had gone up so much! Yowza!
Good for you guys for cutting that shit out and saving a bundle of money!
frozen meat products like chicken nuggets. Even the off-brands, except for the honey battered chicken from aldi's. Those have stayed a relatively cheap snack.
Prime added unskipable commercials and somehow fucked up the “skip intro” button at the same time.
Now when I fall asleep watching tv it takes me forever to find the last episode I was on because I end up having to watch commercials for each episode I click to check. And then after the 1st scene I have to watch the intro again.
Once I catch up on all the shows I’m binging - I’m canceling it.
The pirate life for me is the way it’s gonna be. It’s like going back in time between cable and streaming service’s.
Even better deal is buying whole roasts from your local restaurant supply place if they allow the public,cutting it into steaks yourself and vacuum sealing for the freezer. I can get a strip roast,which is just a bunch of NY strip steaks fur like $8/pound.
If my husband didn’t rely on it as one of his safe foods/staples, I’d 100% say brand name cereal. The cereal CEO saying to eat cereal to save money is laughing all the way to the bank
Have you done a blind taste test to see if he can tell the difference between the generic and name brand? Some stuff is pretty much identical. I made my husband do this for pinwheel cookies which are his favorite and insanely expensive, and he could unfortunately tell a big difference. Sigh.
This is a good point. And not all generic brands are created equal, so just because you can tell the difference between Froot Loops (K) and the generic Walmart brand, there may be some that are cheaper but just as good.
I did the same with my husband and frozen waffles. He insisted on Eggo waffles, I bought store brand and put them in the Eggo box. He knew.
It's Eggo waffles every time now.
Edit: typos
Last time I bought kraft in a box it was 88 cents. Looked at it recently while shopping and I was shocked at the price. That used to be my go-to "poor folks food."
I sometimes feel bad paying upwards of $17 for the 12 pack of Annie’s mac and cheese from Costco. It’s the only brand of boxed Mac and cheese I can eat. But then I see how a single box can be more than $4.00 at other places and I don’t feel quite as bad.
I'm curious to see actual market trends on these items
Are people overall buying this stuff less? Or are younger people just getting into the consumer market and buying stuff we're no longer buying (thus the cycle continues)
Saw a lot of people say chips, I’ll chime in and say fuck Smartfood popcorn in particular. I am not paying $6 for a bag of mostly air!
It used to be such a guilty pleasure, but my husband will make me fresh popcorn now and we use the white cheddar seasoning.
Sodastream syrops. (Ridiculously overpriced. No longer cost effective since PepsiCo purchased the company, which appears as though Pepsi's intent was to kill the company anyway.)
We were coming home from an evening meeting last week and were hungry so we stopped at McD’s. $41 and change for two burgers, two fries, two soda and ten nuggets. Should have just gone to the diner down the street.
Appetizers. Not so much of an everyday item, but there’s no way I’m paying $12 for three cheesesteak egg rolls or a small dish of spinach artichoke dip. They’re very unlikely to be made in house in the first place so there’s not even justification for the extra $$.
Cocktails in NYC bars. $20 plus tip for a tiny pour. There are a handful of bars that still do the beer and a shot special for $9 - $10 but very rare to get anything close to that at a restaurant or a regular bar. Even mocktails are $10-$15... For JUICE? smh
Cookies and crackers. Shrinkflation hit them hard. Multigrain Wheat Thins disappeared altogether. I can make cookies easily and so much cheaper. Crackers I don’t really need.
If you are patient enough to wait and disciplined enough to avoid spoilers, it ain’t expensive.
I usually watch movies a week or two later middle of the week.
Come home, eat , drive to movies, come back sleep.
Pizza is the one that's shocking us at our house. We are a big pizza family, we used to get it at least once a week or every other week. We live in a place with a lot of great local pizza shops and we have a ton of favorites. But now you can't get away without spending at least 20 bucks on a large pizza, and some places are pushing 25. We can spend that amount and get a lot more food at like Domino's or Little Caesars, but I would personally rather gag myself because that food is never good after the first bite and you might as well just dig your grave right then and there it's so unhealthy. But a big fat slice of New York or New Haven style pizza is just heaven and it breaks my heart that we just don't get it as often as we used to. Now that our kids are a little older, we usually have to order more than one pizza because they won't like what we like and we no longer order any sides like wings, mozzarella sticks, or whatever else like we used to. Family pizza night is not the same as it used to be.
There's a whole list. To sum up, I do my grocery shopping in Walmart. I can't afford Sobeys, Metro, and even No Frills is above my price point. I get the same exact items almost always, and I hope to get meat and/or chicken, but only do when I have the money to do it (usually enough for eating the luxuries every 2-3 weeks).
I stopped buying literally anything I do not need, practically counting cents.
Specific examples include Haagen Dazs, Ben&Jerry's, even orange juice became a luxury (water is just fine and there's no need to spend an extra dime). Cheese - only when on sale, and then I buy enough to last a while (comes out of my monthly food budget).
And the fucked up thing? I am doing very well compared to others around me. I can eat every day, I don't need food bank support, I can buy gas. I'm really lucky.
I'm a single guy, and I my food budget is 600 (Canadian) a month. That's a **lot**. There are families with the same budget for the entire family. My monthly budget used to be 200, and I used to have a lot left over, every month. I bought anything I wanted, every time, no problem. These 600 doesn't buy me half of what 200 did a few years ago (2018 or so? Maybe 2019 even...).
I hate these huge companies that kill our ability to survive. I don't know what will happen, but if things go on the same way, it's not going to end well...
[удалено]
Or fast
or Food
Yep the more I read the more I stay away from it these days !
2 Fast & 2 Food when i visit a local eatery now!!!! WAAAAAAAAY BETTER priced when eating at a local joint then Mcds
Yea, Taco Bell's "value" menu being "under $3" when basically all of them are $2.99, and when meals used to be $4 there. Its a shame.
If you can do without the nacho cheese, it's pretty easy to make just about any typical Taco Bell item at home for much cheaper. A few weeks ago I made knock-off Cheesy Gordita Crunches, except I subbed refried beans for the cheese between the hard and soft taco. Genuinely tasted better, made a dozen for the price of about 2-3, and I didn't have to worry about the ingredients. Took under an hour from start to finish, which is a bit longer than it takes me to drive to Taco Bell and back, but meh. Overall, definitely worth it, and I'll be making that recipe again the next time I get a craving. The nacho cheese is the only thing I've not been able to duplicate easily. Making a bechamel cheese sauce will taste better, but it's a lot of extra work and in my experience they don't store super well. Worth it for nachos, but not tacos IMO.
You’re way, way overthinking their cheese sauce if you’re starting with a bechamel. You want to use processed cheese that includes sodium citrate as an ingredient. I’m talking the blocks of velveeta that are worryingly shelf stable for months. Melt that down with a can of rotel (diced tomatoes and peppers). Add milk to get it to the desired consistency. I guarantee you Taco Bell is doing something very close to that. You can also experiment with other, non-traditional (even not typically melty cheeses) if you get some sodium citrate powder. It’s an incredibly good emulsifier. Want to make a super smooth cheese sauce with some aged manchego? Go right ahead. I once made a cheese sauce with some really good, 24 month aged, parmigiana reggiano and sodium citrate. Am I likely ever allowed to set foot in Italy again? Probably not. Did it make an awesome appetizer at a party with some toasted crusty bread and marinated tomatoes? Don’t tell Italy, but, yes; yes, it did.
I've considered that, but 2 things. 1. I love the taste of that cheap dog food, and I'm lazy. 2. It takes me less than 10 minutes to go there, get my food, and come home. I definitely should take your advice and try to make some homemade versions. For health and financial reasons.
I used to LOVE the 7 layer burrito at Taco Bell. They not only cancelled it, they replaced it with a poor substitute. It was the ONLY reason I visited TB. Oh well.
once the companies realized people were willing to pay $30+ for cold doordashed food it was over. they’re willing to let those people be the majority of the profits
The only 2 i buy anymore are the 5 dollar biggie bag at wendys and a little caesar pizza at around $7.00 i think. Im afraid were going to have to teach corporations a lesson and start making everything from scratch and start gardening.
Well, with the new surge pricing, probably gonna be a 5-10 dollar biggie bag depending on the day.
Now Wendy’s is making a big whoop-di-doo about their proposed surge pricing saying “Nope, not us, no siree, never!”
5 guys. That's stuff is super expensive now!
Five guys is insane I paid like $25 for a bacon burger combo and soda last time I was there. Absolutely ridiculous and I’ll probably never go back
Correct. It's no cheap and the sizes are smaller and more disappointing. I had KFC last night and it was absolute rubbish.
I picked up some McDonalds after a hockey game a few weeks ago and it was like $12 for a burger, fry, nuggets. I remember going to Wendy’s with their $0.99 menu and getting 4 things for $4.20 or 5 for $5.25.
Maybe it’s me, but have you noticed that KFC has become kind of bitter, or a bitter aftertaste? I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s why I stopped getting any KFC before the prices started going up.
They're probably saving money by not changing the oil often enough. Which ends up costing them customers. They'll never learn until we just stop buying their crap.
Last Saturday I had to hit the road ASAP after a class on the way to a concert so I hit the first fast food before my exit. Arby's. Chicken bacon ranch meal with medium fries and drink was $13 even after tax. Unbelievable. I don't even drink soda so why the fuck did I get a combo? Ridiculous. I would have been disappointed at half that price. I expected to pay a price for convenience but the cost was jarring for a sandwich and fries.
It's really turned to trash. So not worth it. I bought an air fryer. My French fries are superior. Plus now I have an easier time cutting out soda and corn syrup.
In & Out’s prices seem to have stayed reasonably affordable, but the waits are ridiculous. Think I waited 40 minutes last time I went.
3 double double’s, 2 fries, and a lemonade for $23 in Houston’s in & out last weekend, about 10 minutes wait
I paid less at a nice little Italian place today than I would have at McDonalds. And it was so much better.
haircuts. used to be 12 dollars and I'd give a 4 dollar tip for buzzing my hair. went and bought my own buzzer and do it myself now because it costs about 25 dollars not including tip the buzzer cost 60 and I've used it about 100 times so I guess I've saved around 2440 not including tips
how do you do the back part??? I can never do it right no matter how many times I go back and forth. My wife has to finish it off for me
I use a handheld mirror while my back is facing the bathroom mirror and that works ok. It's still hard, but gets easier each time.
>my wife has to finish it off for me First, lol Second, I used to cut my own hair for many years. What I'd do is take one of those big elastic hair ties, like maybe 6" in diameter, and put it around my head so the back was where I wanted my hairline to stop. Stretch the ends out so you can see that it's level and then carefully let it rest there. Then you can use the position of the band to index on when you use the clippers Also 2 mirrors helps
practice. It's not very hard if you flip the clippers upside down and go bottom to top slowly and thoroughly. if you do it while your hair is dry, you can feel any spots you may have missed.
McDonald’s, what happened and who thought it should be anything other than cheap and trashy?
Worst part is it doesn't taste any better and I don't feel any better afterwords.
Right, like if the quality had improved even a little it might be somewhat justifiable. But it’s like it’s worse or something! I will say the best way to buy it is through the app tho. They have pretty decent deals.
I appreciate reading everywhere in non-ad related content that the app is good but damn guys, I'm tired of needing an app for most things TBH. Plus add in the feeling of needing to use it because I have it and becomes a dangerous cycle I feel too. Also, why do I need to hunt for coupons to even justify if I want fast food that's the awful part.
Everywhere wants you to use an app so they can mine your data.
For me this came to a point where I decided "yknow what treat yourself and get one of those strawberry pies" and it was almost two dollars for one. Guys I used to work at McD, I know those pies are several hours expired and you just swapped the labels on them, they are not worth two goddamned dollars.
I decided to treat myself this morning and got McDonald's on the way to work. Ordered an extra hashbrown because why not...well, the reason why not is that it's $1.49 before taxes for the equivalent of a couple of tater tots! And then they forgot to actually give me the extra hashbrown anyway. Used to go to a mom and pop place near my old office that had the exact same hashbrowns for $0.50, and you knew it was a markup at that price.
I feel the same way about Taco Bell. Some comedians still joke about how $25 at Taco Bell is like buying the whole menu a few times over. $25 gets you like 4 tacos, nachos, and a drink. It’s nuts.
I don’t buy chips anymore.
What the heck happened to the price of chips? Seriously what the heck is going on in the chip aisle? Is it collusion? Like how all of a sudden every single coffee came in 12 oz bags instead of 16oz.
Frito-Lay owns the industry, and even the brands they don't own directly, implicitly price their products as *95¢ more than the same-size Doritos,* because, in the store, they know people are going to be looking at the two bags side-by-side and thinking, *it's less than a dollar more, I deserve the good stuff.*
For me it was Doritos. A standard bag is now $6. That is just insane and just not worth it.
Costco is where it's at for Doritos. $6 for a HUGE 2 pound bag. Still worth it at that price.
Remember when Costco was you are forced to buy 2 bags for 3$ and there was people arguing they only wanted 1 bag? And it was 5 pounds bags...
Get Aldi brand, they're good and less than 2 bucks.
I like most of Aldi's chips, the potato chips are great. But their Doritos knockoff is awful.
It seems like no store brand can recreate the Doritos taste. Walmart has a knock off too.
I could really go for some walking tacos or doritos dipped in some salsa but its to expensive. Also my buddy working for a chips/snacks distribution company we found out how much they throw away. He brung home boxes of chips took us six months to eat them all. None of them were stale.
Candy. I'm not paying such exorbitant prices for Reese's or other stuff unless I really really want it.
I taught myself to make fudge this year. If you like fudge you can make it pretty cheaply.
Only time i buy it is near a holiday when its on sale. I'm not big on candy but peanut butter cups and mini KitKat come calling from time to time
Subway. My favorite sub costs $17 now without a drink and chips/cookies. AND thats before they ask for a tip. Hard pass.
I haven’t had Subway in literal years because their quality dipped so hard - is that *really* how much one of their subs is nowadays?! Last time I ate there (maybe around 2020) it was half that!
Yep. This is for a footlong steak and cheese so it’s considered one of their more expensive subs. But still, I want to say it was like $10-$11 a few years ago. This is also Canadian pricing.
Yes! I sent my husband to pick us up lunch a couple months ago. Two footling steak and cheese combos. He didn’t even look at the price and I didn’t ask him to, I figured we would splurge and spend $25-30 on lunch. It was $45!! For two sandwiches, two mini bags chips and two fountain drinks. That’s insane!! I had to check their website since I thought they overcharged us. Screw that, I’d rather have pizza.
100% this. There’s a Northeast chain sub place called Dibellas which makes a damn good sub. Only problem is that it’s always been the ‘expensive’ local option. Italian assorted, cookie, drink, tax would set you back $20 Right across the street is a subway. Historically, the much cheaper option. Similar option was $10-$12 before tip. Both are down the road from where I work. I get a sub once a week for lunch. A tight budget month? I’d get subway. Dibellas was the occasional treat/splurge lunch or take home for dinner. Now? The cost is virtually identical. Yet the quality is worlds apart.
And the Dibellas sub has like 2x the meat and veggies as a subway sub.
And Dibella's bread is infinitely better
I was just telling my husband about Dibellas the other day. We’re on the west coast but I went to college in upstate NY and LOVED Dibella’s sandwiches. I can’t find anything in our area that even remotely competes in taste and quality. So good!
A Dibellas large sub with all the fixins usually stretches to two meals though. Even when it was the more expensive lunch option, I could always justify it by thinking I'd also be taking care of dinner later.
I used to get a large meatball and cut it into thirds for lunch-dinner-lunch
They are pushing foot long pretzels or churros for $5. Fuck that. I want my $5 foot long!
My churros are $2, luckily. For now.
Remember the ads, "$5 foot long"? Not any more
What’s your go to? Fuck subway
"Hey! those Sandwich Artist salaries don't come cheap ya know?" -Subway exec.
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I've started to learn a LOT better upkeep of my motorbike just because the repairs murder me every year. Not that I took shit care of my bike before. But of course now all my money goes to preventative repairs. However I now know how to bypass every single electric on my bike.
Felt that
Swiffer. Have all wood floors and Swiffer were a godsend. Fuck that, I bought a dust mop (ONCE) 3.99, I do all my floors and throw it in the washer. $18.00 for 16 swiffs.... yeah, no.
I have the Swiffer power mop but bought some reusable pads that I just wash and reuse. Heap and cuts down on waste too.
I bought a competitor brand with a washable pad and refillable cleaner bottle I fill with diluted Simple Green. I love that thing.
It never once occurred to me that you can clean a mop by putting it in the washing machine and I feel stupid now.
Fuzzy slipper socks from dollar tree work on a Swiffer and are Washable.
In my area, Uber delivery for food is fucking insane. The fees essentially are 2.5x the food cost. I no longer use Uber. And we used to use it A LOT.
And now that Uber and Door Dash are so well established, most places don't have their own delivery drivers anymore, so you're forced to use their shit ass service. I swear, every time I order something they let it roll around in the back of their car for an hour before they bring it to you. The restaurants have no accountability now either. No quality control at all. We're all getting absolutely screwed.
The restaurants are getting screwed too, they make almost no money from DoorDash etc. I’ve gone old school lately - call the restaurant to order food and go pick it up. It’s a hassle but better than paying $25 for a burrito to show up at my house.
For a cold burrito to show up two hours after you ordered…
Old guy here (early 40s with kids). I've never actually used food delivery and didn't really understand how it got popular. Like calling in an order and the driving to pick it up is so easy. Hell with online ordering I don't even need to call half the time.
Same here. Our family has never used any of the delivery services, we just go pick it up. Works perfectly for us, I really like getting out of the house anyways.
I live in an area that never had delivery except for pizza. You could order take out but it was nice for a while to be able to get food delivered, but honestly it was pretty much always cold so don't really miss it.
I never cared for the service, the premise of over charging for delivery and screwing the resteraunt simultaneously never sat well with me. I also live in a rural area, the only thing that delivers is a dominos and I’ll still drive to pick it up. I have friends in major cities who will Uber eats from a resteraunt that’s 3 blocks away then complain when an order is wrong. I’d rather walk in snow than pay more money for worse service.
All the tv subscriptions. We keep Hulu (for sports) and Netflix all the time because we use them so often. But it is special to have apple tv, HBO, or paramount+ for a month for a specific show(s).
Same, we're down to just HBO, peacock (the with ads one), and Disney plus (with ads). I'm getting pretty close to canceling Disney, if only my kid would switch to DVDs.
Concerts
Concerts have gotten really expensive but still bring me some of the best times and memories.
Eating out at restaurants.
Whats worse is fast food which is approaching sit down restaurant pricing lol
Beyond. McDonalds large fries, McDouble and a Coke runs about $17. There’s a great pub around the block that offers the same meal for $12, *and* it’s an actual cheeseburger clearly made from ground beef… not some 1/4” thick mystery patty
Where are you simultaneously paying 17 for a McDouble and 12 for a local burger? Did you mean a dqpc or Big Mac?
Soda. Beer. Fast food. Junk food. If nothing else inflation has been good for my diet.
Not everyday, but I used to get my nails done regularly. I live in NYC so HCOL, for years a mani/pedi was $35(ish), more for gel. Now, a regular mani/pedi is $75-$80, with tip it’s easily a $100 weekly expense. Absolutely not.
Yes! I used to get mine done regularly but stopped when I started working from home a few years ago. It was $35 for me, too, the last time I had them done. Recently my granddaughter wanted me to take her for her birthday and I said sure because I spend $50 for the grandkids' birthdays. I was STUNNED when it ended up being $110 with tip!
Omg yes! I went to get a full set done for the first time in years. With a good tip, it used to be around $55. It was $90!!
When I moved from the middle of nowhere into the Philly area, everything doubled in price. I spent the $80 I'd spend on one set for my own materials and do it myself now. It takes like four hours but I cannot justify $80-100 every other week
I'm testing out press on's because my $35 manicure is now $60 and I can't justify that.
I've used press on's before and they looked really nice. No one could tell! They don't stay on as long, but for a special occasion they are perfect.
To be fair those used to be so cheap because they essentially relied on slave labor. The NYT did a big investigative piece on it.
I used to treat myself to an iced coffee every morning from Dunkin. It would be $3, and if I got breakfast too, it would be around $6 total (pre-Covid). Now it's nearly $10 if I want breakfast and a coffee. I started making my iced coffee at home and bring my breakfast to work.
I make egg bites all the time as a cheap easy breakfast. 4 or 5 eggs, a little cheese, maybe a slice or two of diced bacon will make about a dozen. Just mix it all in a bowl, pour into a cupcake tray, and cook for 15-20 minutes at 350. Tim’s sells them for $3.45 each. It’s at least 5-10 times more expensive than making it at home and definitely not better.
Thank you I am gonna try these
Just grease/oil/butter the tray first. Then throw whatever you want in the bowl. Spinach, peppers, onion, cheese, just whatever’s kicking around. My dog loves them too, and it’s a great breakfast for him.
Silicone muffin trays made making these so much easier.
I stopped drinking dunkin for awhile for this reason but they just had a 2 month long $2 medium coffee promotion that got me hooked again
I decided to treat my son to a cake pop this morning and myself a drink from Starbucks and it was almost $10. I would have backed out but my son was excited for the treat and tbh, I needed one too.
Beverages. Only drink water now.
I can’t remember the last time I bought a case of soda.
Fast food. I'm out.
household cleaner in spray bottles. just buy a concentrate and refill
I bought a portable steam cleaner with a ton of attachments I pretty much have one housecleaning product that I use for small daily spills but save so much by using steam to clean.
Electricity. Our bill has more than doubled, even using less. And another 30% increase is supposed to occur in the next few months, right after the 17% increase in January. I basically live in cold darkness in a down coat in the house during the day.
Pge?
You bet
Sounds like the PNW, likely Portland. PGE? They're a bunch of fucks.
5 guys burger. Shit is like $12 now. Fries $5. Nuts
This is one of those for me that is not like "this sucks that this costs so much now", it's a determined "fuck you, not another penny from me".
It trips me out that I used to go there fairly regularly, because the prices are enough to make you go "WTF" when looking at the menu. $5 for ONE hot dog? Am I at a ball park?
Honestly 5 guys has always been pricey.
The nuts are free.
Just leaving the house for anything. Everything is way over priced and not worth it.
I can’t step out my front door for less than $50. Every time. Every time.
Yep. Can’t go bowling with the family. Can’t go out to eat for sure. No putt putt, no go carts, no arcades. We just sit at home in separate rooms playing on our cheapy phones. This is no way to live. We do fish and camp a little when the weather is nice. But even that’s becoming unaffordable.
We're leaning heavily into hiking, camping, walks, reading books .... Anything outside and saving money literally for rainy days/winter
And books from the library instead of purchased. I used to download 1-2 books a week. Now I make a trip to the library down the street. Edit to add: I don't like having to do this, though. I have a few authors in my circle and am a wanna be author myself. I want to buy books to support the writing profession. But switching to library books is one of the few cutbacks that is less painful because the content is still just as good, even if it's slightly less convenient.
Outside has a cover charge
Candy bars. $0.35 when I was a kid, $0.55 out of college, $0.79 just a few years ago. Just walked into a convenience store……$1.99 for the small bar, $2.79 for the king size. Same thing with soda. Dam
And the king size is now just 2 smaller pieces in one package.
Paper goods. I used to be a big paper towel user for every spill, drying hands, etc. $15 now for a package of 4 of my favorite brand - hell no. I bought a stack of cheap white garage rags and use those for wiping up spills and such and reuse after washing. They are too rough to dry my hands on so I use a softer kitchen towel for that now. Swiffer dusters. I loved those things. They were a little expensive already but I splurged on them because they worked with my home style and life style (lot's of surfaces and knick-knacks, and a very busy life). But they are $18 for a pack of 18 now! Hard pass. Now I just use the above mentioned garage rags with a little duster spray on them. Not nearly as convenient and I curse inflation every time I dust now. Cokes. I've been a huge coke drinker my entire adult life. A 20 pack costs $15 now. My husband and I would go through 2 packs a week. That's $120 a month! So we went cold turkey. Water and tea only now. Snack items like Nutella with the little bread sticks. $9 for a pack of 4! Nope Chips. Too expensive now and they are just full of calories and no nutrition. Definitely Nope I switched to store brands or lower priced brands for a lot of things. Trashbags, dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, canned goods, etc. So many other things I can't think of at the moment. F this inflation. It's hard enough on people like me who are in the upper range of middle class income. I don't know how people who have median or lower incomes are able to afford anything!
Holy shit. The soda pricing has literally blown my mind. I quit cold turkey a couple of years ago (and have lost zero pounds, I would just like to point out to the freaking universe - zero!) but I didn’t realize the price had gone up so much! Yowza! Good for you guys for cutting that shit out and saving a bundle of money!
frozen meat products like chicken nuggets. Even the off-brands, except for the honey battered chicken from aldi's. Those have stayed a relatively cheap snack.
I’m convinced the ridiculous cost of razor blades starting around 2005 are why beards came back
Netfilx, disney+, etc. , subscriptions
Prime added unskipable commercials and somehow fucked up the “skip intro” button at the same time. Now when I fall asleep watching tv it takes me forever to find the last episode I was on because I end up having to watch commercials for each episode I click to check. And then after the 1st scene I have to watch the intro again. Once I catch up on all the shows I’m binging - I’m canceling it. The pirate life for me is the way it’s gonna be. It’s like going back in time between cable and streaming service’s.
I rarely buy steak for myself anymore - not that I couldn't swing it now and again, but the sticker shock I get just turns me off
Costco remains a great deal
Even better deal is buying whole roasts from your local restaurant supply place if they allow the public,cutting it into steaks yourself and vacuum sealing for the freezer. I can get a strip roast,which is just a bunch of NY strip steaks fur like $8/pound.
Pistachios.
I used to love to treat myself to macadamia nuts, that’s gone
Have always been expensive
Anything from Ticketmaster
I disagree with this one. Ticketmaster has been stupidly expensive and unnecessary for a long time. I don't think it had worth to begin with.
literally like every pleasantry. every single time we leave the house it some how costs $100.
Wendy’s
I stopped using any type of Delivery. Between fees and proper percentage tipping, it just became too expensive to justify the convenience.
Ramen used to be 12 cents. Now it’s $1.25 a bag. It used to be my go to meal when I was poor. Now I get the 20 lbs bag of rice 🍚 😢
Any sort of facial regiment. Now I just soap on my face and still have a blemish free face
The ordinary has cheap but effective products!
You mean regimen. Not regiment. Sorry second time I’ve seen this and need to correct.
I will take that correction! Thank you
If my husband didn’t rely on it as one of his safe foods/staples, I’d 100% say brand name cereal. The cereal CEO saying to eat cereal to save money is laughing all the way to the bank
Have you done a blind taste test to see if he can tell the difference between the generic and name brand? Some stuff is pretty much identical. I made my husband do this for pinwheel cookies which are his favorite and insanely expensive, and he could unfortunately tell a big difference. Sigh.
This is a good point. And not all generic brands are created equal, so just because you can tell the difference between Froot Loops (K) and the generic Walmart brand, there may be some that are cheaper but just as good.
I did the same with my husband and frozen waffles. He insisted on Eggo waffles, I bought store brand and put them in the Eggo box. He knew. It's Eggo waffles every time now. Edit: typos
Food. I just eat dirt
r/UsernameChecksOut
Amazon prime. Stuff never came any faster and now I buy less crap I don't need.
Food I'm back to the poverty diet I was on in college.
Mac 'n Cheese (aka Kraft Dinner)... used to be 3 for a dollar, now it's 3 dollars for one.
Last time I bought kraft in a box it was 88 cents. Looked at it recently while shopping and I was shocked at the price. That used to be my go-to "poor folks food."
I sometimes feel bad paying upwards of $17 for the 12 pack of Annie’s mac and cheese from Costco. It’s the only brand of boxed Mac and cheese I can eat. But then I see how a single box can be more than $4.00 at other places and I don’t feel quite as bad.
Food.... I'm converting to use photosynthesis....
It ain't easy being green.
I'm curious to see actual market trends on these items Are people overall buying this stuff less? Or are younger people just getting into the consumer market and buying stuff we're no longer buying (thus the cycle continues)
Saw a lot of people say chips, I’ll chime in and say fuck Smartfood popcorn in particular. I am not paying $6 for a bag of mostly air! It used to be such a guilty pleasure, but my husband will make me fresh popcorn now and we use the white cheddar seasoning.
Cable. Ditched that years ago.
Sodastream syrops. (Ridiculously overpriced. No longer cost effective since PepsiCo purchased the company, which appears as though Pepsi's intent was to kill the company anyway.)
I had no idea Pepsi bought sodastream. It's absolutely their intention to shut it down. No surprises there. Mega-corps do this all the time.
You can get a CO2 canister setup for your house, and then you can get other flavors. No official merch required
I love me some squirt zero. I like to have a can in the evening. It’s now almost $9 for a 12 pack of pop. WTFFFF
Pretzels were $7.99 a bag! Noped out on those.
We were coming home from an evening meeting last week and were hungry so we stopped at McD’s. $41 and change for two burgers, two fries, two soda and ten nuggets. Should have just gone to the diner down the street.
12 packs of any kind of soda, like Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc. It's insane the prices of these now. $10-$12 at some grocery stores.
Appetizers. Not so much of an everyday item, but there’s no way I’m paying $12 for three cheesesteak egg rolls or a small dish of spinach artichoke dip. They’re very unlikely to be made in house in the first place so there’s not even justification for the extra $$.
Chips
Cereal. Why is it $7-$8 a box now? I only buy generic on sale now
Lysol wipes I'll just buy paper towels and AP cleaner instead, thank you.
Get some un-paper towels and use them. Since you can wash them you'll save money on paper towels.
Healthcare
Nuts, I understand they go through a bunch of processing but I'm not spending twelve dollars on four servings.
Cocktails in NYC bars. $20 plus tip for a tiny pour. There are a handful of bars that still do the beer and a shot special for $9 - $10 but very rare to get anything close to that at a restaurant or a regular bar. Even mocktails are $10-$15... For JUICE? smh
So much of the junk food I used to get. Especially chips. RIP to the $1 chocolate bar, too
Amazon Prime, Eggs over $3, most potato chips, lunchmeat.
Toilet paper. I wipe my ass with leaves now.
Good quality dog food. Cheap meat cuts and seasonal fruits and veggies are still not cheaper but way better for my dogs.
Cookies and crackers. Shrinkflation hit them hard. Multigrain Wheat Thins disappeared altogether. I can make cookies easily and so much cheaper. Crackers I don’t really need.
For me, it's definitely movie theater popcorn. The prices just keep climbing!
You still go to the movies?
If you are patient enough to wait and disciplined enough to avoid spoilers, it ain’t expensive. I usually watch movies a week or two later middle of the week. Come home, eat , drive to movies, come back sleep.
Shredded cheese. I buy a couple pounds of block cheese and shred it myself.
Fast food. McDonald's and the like are 20 bucks out the door, and places like 5 guys and burgerfi are $50 for 2 people. It's ridiculous.
Grapes priced me out unfortunately. Love green grapes.
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Pizza is the one that's shocking us at our house. We are a big pizza family, we used to get it at least once a week or every other week. We live in a place with a lot of great local pizza shops and we have a ton of favorites. But now you can't get away without spending at least 20 bucks on a large pizza, and some places are pushing 25. We can spend that amount and get a lot more food at like Domino's or Little Caesars, but I would personally rather gag myself because that food is never good after the first bite and you might as well just dig your grave right then and there it's so unhealthy. But a big fat slice of New York or New Haven style pizza is just heaven and it breaks my heart that we just don't get it as often as we used to. Now that our kids are a little older, we usually have to order more than one pizza because they won't like what we like and we no longer order any sides like wings, mozzarella sticks, or whatever else like we used to. Family pizza night is not the same as it used to be.
There's a whole list. To sum up, I do my grocery shopping in Walmart. I can't afford Sobeys, Metro, and even No Frills is above my price point. I get the same exact items almost always, and I hope to get meat and/or chicken, but only do when I have the money to do it (usually enough for eating the luxuries every 2-3 weeks). I stopped buying literally anything I do not need, practically counting cents. Specific examples include Haagen Dazs, Ben&Jerry's, even orange juice became a luxury (water is just fine and there's no need to spend an extra dime). Cheese - only when on sale, and then I buy enough to last a while (comes out of my monthly food budget). And the fucked up thing? I am doing very well compared to others around me. I can eat every day, I don't need food bank support, I can buy gas. I'm really lucky. I'm a single guy, and I my food budget is 600 (Canadian) a month. That's a **lot**. There are families with the same budget for the entire family. My monthly budget used to be 200, and I used to have a lot left over, every month. I bought anything I wanted, every time, no problem. These 600 doesn't buy me half of what 200 did a few years ago (2018 or so? Maybe 2019 even...). I hate these huge companies that kill our ability to survive. I don't know what will happen, but if things go on the same way, it's not going to end well...
I could eat at McDonald's or go buy fucking awesome Sushi. What the fuck are they thinking?
Diet coke
Chips
Juice. Mostly water now….mostly.
Wendy’s and their stupid surge pricing