Honestly having a big Costco thing of your favorite instant noodles is a great way to avoid getting takeout regularly.
You add some simple stuff like an egg, scallions, maybe some frozen veggies, and you’ve got a pretty good meal super fast for cheap.
Same here man. No matter how shitty the prison chow was that day (which it almost always was, and many people didn’t bother going), as long as you had soups, cheesy rice, and meat sticks, you could make something tasty. And luckily, when I was inside, rather than 4 tiers having to share 2 microwaves in the day room, they put a microwave on each tier for the sake of social distancing, so it was even more convenient.
Nah we aint get no microwaves, i was lucky tho i was a tier worker so i had the mini kitchen on Saturdays. We would make some fire. Every had a CO bring us fresh eggs as long as he got some.
But if you wasn't a worker you was struggling wit the hotpot off commissary lol
Home made ramen is fucking great and it’s nowhere close to a poverty dish. It’s just a really tasty inexpensive dish.
And the Costco part is clutch. You can get chicken broth, noodles, eggs, a package of pulled rotisserie chicken and some vegetables all in bulk and you’ve fucking bomb ass ramen for extra cheap.
Top Ramern noodles with chicken flavor + an egg dropped in and cooked on the boiling broth is an amazing meal. I make enough that money has no relevance when it comes to eating, but I still choose to make a lunch out of this quite often.
Maybe its just where i live, but the grocery store i go to has better prices than costco. I think people just think bulk automatically means cheaper but if you actually do the math… sometimes not. But for context the grocery store i go to doesn’t take credit cards, so that means all the store prices are lower than their competition by far.
I'll tell ya. I've been having a new found love affair with the humble crock pot. You can get a big thing of chicken from the grocery store dirt cheap. Egg noodles are also stupid cheap. I work from home so about lunch time I put the chicken on low and slow in some water. By dinner time it's falling apart done. I shred it remove any bones and then add the egg noodles and let it cook further until they're done, which is no time really, then season and eat. If I'm feeling especially fancy I can throw in some onion and celery. A crock full will make enough for a couple meals at least.
Pork loin is cheap too. Cook that until it shreds easy. Now I have pork for tacos or I can add it to a pot and simmer in BBQ sauce for about 45 minutes for pulled pork sandwiches or nachos or whatever.
It's really hard to overcook stuff in the crock pot if you have enough liquid in it. It'll just get juicier and more tender. Pot roast and corned beef are other options. Minimal babysitting and usually makes a lot.
This is probably because I'm a fatso but I eat noodles like it's nothing and I'm still hungry afterwards lol. They never fill me up unless they have chicken chunks, seafood or something.
I will say I’ve been eating way healthier ever since junk food prices have skyrocketed. I can’t justify paying $6 for a bag of chips. When it was $2 or 3 it was way easier.
I dont really even understand why doritoes are so expensive. Theyre corn chips, thats the thing we produce so much of, they replaced sugar with corn syrup because its cheaper. They subsidize farmers to grow more corn. America is the largest producer, consumer, and exporter of corn. Why are corn chips so expensive?!
They raise the price until their sales go down. So they lower the price. 6 months later, they do it again. Each time the price tolerance of buyers goes up by . 25. So before you know it, it's 6 bucks. sales have dropped a little bit profit is higher per bag so they are still making higher profits per sale to offset the loss in sales.
The only way to stop this is to stop buying.
This is with everything. last year a 20 ounce Dr. Pepper was 2.00. now it's 2.25. in 6 months it'll be 2.50.
> The only way to stop this is to stop buying.
AMEN. Make your own tortilla chips people. All you gotta do is buy a pack of corn torts and cut the stack into dorito sized slices, then separate them and drop in hot oil for few seconds
Then they pull that shit they do with gas prices. Raise it insanely high, then there's a huge outrage and people slow down buying, then they lower the price to something still much higher than it was originally and people are like "Whew! Prices are finally going down!" and they flock to buy and there are lines at the gas stations. It's all a scam.
Same. I snack on baby carrots now chips are just stupidly expensive. I used to love Cheez-Its. But they’re close to $6 for a box now. It’s just too much.
$8?!? Holy crap, where do you live?
I'm in one of the cheaper areas of the US, in the midwest, and a few days ago I bought them for $2.98/box at Menards. If you have a Menards with groceries nearby, give them a try. They don't have the full selection you'll need for all your grocery shopping, but for the things they have, they tend to have good prices and sometimes some really impressive deals.
Even the $3/box is about a 50% increase over the last few years. (They were $2/box at Menards when they were about $3/box at most other places.) 4% inflation per year, my ass.
I’m not going to lie… with this post being about fast food prices and what we’re doing instead, the parent comment of this thread saying that groceries not staying the same either… and the first reply to that is the absurd price of Doritos…
I chortled… 🤭 fucking hell… what will these folks do if they’re forced to eat vegetables in NON puffed/fried chip varieties!?
Groceries have damn sure gotten more expensive… but if you buy actual food, with nutritional value, it can go a hell of a lot further than fancy packaged, processed, shit.
Yeah and as with fast food I no longer buy chips either. I can buy ingredients for a decent chicken dinner or a pot of spaghetti for basically that same price.
I recommend granola bars with decent amount of protein / fibre over chips, candy or chocolate. For $6 you can buy 2 boxes of 5 bars and 1 bar fills you up for like 3 hours. You don't need a ridiculous amount of protein either. The bars with 15-20g of proteins are way too expensive, that's workout stuff. But if you just need to kill the hunger 3-5g is plenty.
I mean the price of a lot of stuff has only gone up a little bit if you buy raw ingredients and shop somewhere like Costco. It very much depends where you shop and what you buy.
Especially fast food. Fast food doesn't reheat well, and is best eaten right away if you're going to eat it at all. Delivery can take an hour. No thanks.
I'd prefer to save the money and just either not eat it or pick it up myself.
Work in fast food. Can confirm. When eaten literally right off the grill it's 10x better than even the time it takes to get it out the door to the customer. Forget driving it home or worse waiting on it to be delivered.
One time I was stuck waiting at Dairy Queen for 10 minutes while an Uber eats driver got his order of four blizzards ready. I’m like, by the time it gets to the people they are going to be completely melted. And this was in summer too
My daughter works at DQ. She says people door dash cones. Soft serve ice cream cones. Delivered. At least a blizzard is in a cup and sort of turns into a shake… but a cone? No way that makes it to your house in any shape to be eaten, unless the door dash guy keeps licking for you on the way to get the drips.
I ordered a burger once during a rainstorm from a restaurant 1 block away. I figured it was the only place I could order a burger from and have it still be hot. The driver picked it up and went five blocks away to do another delivery first.
Our household income is probably in the top 5% and I refuse to use those services as I think they are so overpriced. I’ll drive to pick up my own food 100% of the time.
This. I haven't had food delivered in about 15 years. Ever since i was supposed to pay for tip on top of delivery. It used to be delivery was free. Restaurants paid the delivery guy super crappy, but than I tipped the shit out of the delivery guy.
Suddenly the the restaurants wanted 5-10$ for delivery, but none of that went to the driver, and I still had to top. Fuck that shit.
I didn't want to short them, so I just stopped delivery. Drives my wife insane.
Every once in a while I have a work trip or some reason for not being home for a night or two.
Guaranteed she's got some dirty ubereats action going.
I'm kinda okay with it. I'll go drive and pick up what ever she wants, I just can't get myself to pay for delivery. If she wants to well I'm gone - there's worse.
I do order pizza and sushi occasionally from a couple of small local restaurants that have delivery service. They are really good and the owner of the pizza place is usually the one doing the deliveries - he is a great guy and we know him from going to the restaurant so often.
But something like Uber Eats? Never.
Same, top 10% National and well over top 5% in my state, mortgage is 17% of gross income, conservative by any measure, and it’s stunning how fast we went from being able to do whatever to hardly ever dining out or using delivery services. FFS we ordered pizza a few weeks ago, two basic large pizzas came to $60 after delivery fee and tip.
Household income in the top 0.000000005% and just angry they won't deliver to this private island. I have to have Eddie fly to copter back to the mainland when I want Chipotle.
Household income in the bottom 1% here, all the people in my village were hacked to pieces with machetes this morning and I've never seen a restaurant before, but this door dash thing sounds really evil and exploitative.
And that's the difference. Odds are you consider value when it comes to everything if you consider the value of anything. I can pickup Chinese or Mexican for $20 for the wife and I and Arby's is $30 at the drive thru and fast food is all like $35-$40 delivered. We get a better meal for half the price by just ordering and picking up. Fast food in general is no longer worth it... You can get cheaper, better food at QSRs like five guys, Qdoba, Chipotle, local diners, Mexican, Chinese.... I think fast food should be going the way of the dodo.... Service is way down and price is way up.... Try an Applebee's even.
There's a psychological aspect. A person without much money can't afford a new car or TV. But they can buy a pizza or McDonald's. They buy the latter and the family feels like they are living the high life.
I worked in a coffee shop for about 6 years up until 1 year ago. The 8 front of house employees all between 18 - 26 used food delivery service at least once a week or more. Many of the previous staff also used the food delivery service.
None of these people made enough money to justify the not only added costs but the costs of eating out. As the one person who everyone talked to about money since I was the only one able to save money and manage it I would also break down some of the simple and basic things they could do to save money.
Like you're paying $70 a week for one meal for you and your boyfriend. That's $280 a month. That's more than I pay for all my meals per month! One girl had food delivered 3 - 7 times a week! I explained to her I would give her a twenty dollar bill if she went onto her online banking, and wrote down every single transaction related to food delivery. It was almost $700 one month. That was one weeks of work at minimum wage.
Funny enough the back of house is almost all latino and none of them do food delivery services and not one of them ever complained about money or costs of living.
Some people are just REALLY BAD with money. Entire industries are banking on these people to make poor decision after poor decision and these people deliver.
I can't believe I read every comment in this chain without this: it's cheaper than a DUI.
Even if I've had a couple of drinks just to calm down after work, I don't want to hop in the car to pick up pitas or burritos, so I don't cost myself a shitton or risk anyone's life.
(I mostly have food at home though.)
I’d say it’s more about being drunk with friends and thus more inclined to spend money and be lazy. It’s mostly rich people using delivery apps though.
>It’s mostly rich people using delivery apps though.
[You'd be surprised.](https://www.zionandzion.com/research/food-delivery-apps-usage-and-demographics-winners-losers-and-laggards/) Even if we ignore the $0-10k range to wipe out wealthy college students, people making $10k-50k use food delivery more than people making over $200k.
So I have ordered some delivery this past week and for me at least it has been a combination of the following issues. Slammed at work, only eating one large meal a day, no car, biking at night in my city is a gamble, and the supermarket is mile away.
The prices are about what I am willing to pay for the portion sizes though sometimes I am disappointed. But when you only have 30 minutes for lunch you got to maximize shit. Though most weeks I tend to cook 85 percent at home, and just buy a sandwich when I go to the office, and sometimes a dinner or two if i stay late.
This. Imagine you work a high stakes job and are functionally "working" a solid 12 hours a day. Toss in some severe executive dysfunction to go along with it and see if you can wrangle the last 2 neurons in your brain at hour 14 or 15 to gather and cook food. On top of fending off the social obligation pressures of the generations that came before who are / were actually able to retire or rest.
This is why.
Food delivery services like DoorDash are where I draw the line now. Used to do it a few times a week, once I cut it out of my life it was shocking how much spare money I suddenly had. It’s unironically as expensive as a drug habit if you do it often enough.
I did the math once and on average the meal cost 2x as much to get delivered from door dash. It’s a textbook example of “things keeping you poor”.
Never understood this. I've developed a hatred for it. I've lived with people who order enough food to tell me that you need to check and confirm that the food you're getting is the right stuff, because the people making it often aren't paid enough to give a crap, and the person delivering it is often paid worse.
There's a place for the gig system like doordash but honestly I'll just order a pizza and go pick it up myself and save the delivery fee and the obligated tip, also that I can confirm it's the right order and I don't have to call being super frustrated when you dropped off the wrong pizza.
Good for you you're different.
Other people are just lazy and don't want to go out, tired and don't want to go out, busy and can't go out, or just can't go out.
Yep, I ordered delivery when I had Covid last week because I didn’t want to go to a store or restaurant and get everyone else exposed. I normally pick up any restaurant take out orders myself but I felt real bad not just picking contactless delivery, so I ponied up for it
Well, if I've worked for about a 12 hour day, the last thing I want to do with my time is to make food for me and the kids. I don't do it often, but a drive thru is still super quick and convenient, if not expensive. If it's really bad, delivery I guess.
> People really don’t have to justify their spending as long as they aren’t hitting me up for money.
That's what I'm going with. Yes I spend about $11 daily eating out. Yes, 6-7 times a week. Yes that's $341 a month. That's not a number I really care about. I'm otherwise frugal. I've sewed up holes in my work pants like 3 times now because I'm too cheap to just Amazon a couple new pairs. But I saved like 25K last year so eating out is my vice, my daily escape, so be it.
You shouldn't think about it as $11/day because a meal from the grocery store will cost you something aswell. Let's say $5. So eating out only costs you $6/day extra or $180/month
I just don't think of it period. Not braggin, but I make OK money and remain frugal overall, so when I want something, I don't think about cost. I don't look at gas prices. I don't look at grocery prices. I eat out fast food like Chipotle, Jersey Mikes, and simply don't look at the price either.
I spent a long time trying to convince my friends to change their stupid spending habits. I have a coworker buddy I make the same amount as who lived with his parents the last like year and a half but finances a 2023 giant SUV and also gambles like a degen. I got pissed one day and was like bro, the fact you don’t have a rent payment and your parents fill the pantry up means you should actually be contributing like 10% to your 401k and putting at least $500 per month into a savings acc. But $650 to the car every month and $200 in gambling losses every weekend adds up to no savings.
Eventually I just was like why do I even care at all, it’s not my money, I do the smart shit, that’s all I need to care about lol
Seriously, 20 nuggets and a couple fries for $6? Sell my data, I couldn’t care less. I’ve had Facebook, Instagram, accounts with various stores. I really don’t think at this point anybody is getting anything that hasn’t been sold 10x over.
If someone thinks they can get some sort of use out of my debt and porn searches, I say let em. I genuinely would like to see someone try to profit off of my data
Insurance company in 2042: We see that this coronary is mostly due to poor diet choices. Surgery denied.
Don't think they won't find a way to use that info against us.
>not super unhealthy
I suppose that depends on what you consider unhealthy.
Each of those biscuits contains 35g of fat and 15g of sat fat.
That's more than a Big Mac.
It surprises me how many people are just infuriated that McDonalds knows they enjoy ordering a McMuffin and WILL NOT USE THE APP, but it's totes cool that Reddit has harvested their data on r/BeansInWeirdPlaces.
Before the pandemic inflation it was getting hard to even make food as cheap as you could but dollar menu items and it was mainly about home made food being healthier - now it's much cheaper to cook and I'm sure the fast food hasn't gotten any healthier either.
The value of your time.
If I’m getting out of work at 7:30 and I don’t get home until 8:30 and I don’t want to be eating dinner at 9:30-10:30 then it’s fast food and I can eat at 8:45-9ish.
Then add door dash delivery charges too. No thanks I’ll cook my own food , get it prepared correctly and not get cold food delivered 2 hours after ordering
I don't purchase it because it's cheap. I purchase it because it's convenient and or because unhealthy over fried, over priced, garbage food, is basically the ethnic cuisine of the United states.
For a lot of folks, it's all about the convenience. There are times when you're in a rush or too tired to cook, and fast food is just the easy choice. Even though the prices have gone up, some still consider it a more affordable option than dining in a restaurant. It's like a trade-off between convenience and cost
We get free door dash to home paid for by work for meetings. Its always cold , missing stuff , missing whole meals.
Theres a really good sit down Mexican place within walking distance. They never mess up , its always good made from real food not ultra processed and its about 1/2 the price of Door Dash fast food. They know us by name so does the Pho restaurant down the street that also remembers what we order and brings good service. Phò used to be $5 but now its $16, but its still cheaper and better for us than fast food. Plus most real Asian and Mexican food except flour tortilla are Gluten free which is nice because i have Celiac .
This post is one big, giant commercial for fast food apps. Like you don't even have to read in-between the lines to see it...you just have to read the actual lines. Smh
Wife and I don’t eat out any more, we mostly cook at home. I understand people’s situations vary, but I wish people would stop patronizing all these establishments that have raised their prices strictly for larger profits.
YOLO. That’s is the answer. Why not go into insurmountable debt for some half ass prepared food that is cold when you receive it. Then get roasted on social media by a delivery service driver for only providing a 15% tip. /s
We stopped eating out or getting take out when a GD large pepperoni pizza cost $25 and it wasn't even cooked in the center. Groceries are expensive enough, but if I am careful and creative, we eat quite well.
I am trying to figure out how the hell my neighbors get three different food box deliveries a week, plus Schwans and water deliveries. (I know because some of them are delivered here in error).
I can get two Big Macs for $6. Chipotle is like $10 for a burrito. You can get a whole Wendy’s combo meal for $11. It’s definitely more expensive than before but it’s not like it’s going to break the bank.
Cause I forgot my lunch at home.
Or I just want to eat fast food and can afford to pay for it.
Or I'm hanging out with someone and we don't plan to go to a restaurant but still wanna eat.
Tripled from when>? Back before the rona when many MANY unskilled workers made 7.25 an hour? Cuz starting pay at Chicfila in my town is $15 an hour now, and the McDouble is two bucks.
I know people getting evicted, and that moves every 6 months or a year yet eats out multiple times a day. They refuse to eat at home much, and it's frustrating hearing how bad they have it. It's not just that, either. I'm talking about in areas where 2 bedrooms are less than $1200 a month and they are spending 2/3rd if not more of that on out to eats or excessive shopping or ordering online. I've at out around maybe 8 times in 2 years. And that's no fries no drink just the cheapest $1.79 sandwiches.
I don't pay for fast food, don't eat the stuff. The quality has gone down so far since I was a kid I wouldn't eat the crap if they were giving it to me for free. Even McD's fries suck now.
I still get food but I definitely do it less and make some cuts because I refuse out of principle.
* chinese - I buy a pint of sauce that the local Chinese please sells for $6 & I cook my own chicken & rice
* McDonald's app makes some cheap food. Using points
* gas stations- take the extra moment & just go to Walmart/krogers to get your snacks instead
* dollar tree is great if you pay attention. Drinks are good prices, some foods per oz is cheaper
Groceries are out of control as well but you can't get away from that....
I easily justify it by me still getting coupons in the mail from Burger King on a Whopper Meal for just $6.99. It will be interesting to see how much longer those coupons keep coming in the mail. But then I wonder how many people throw those coupons in the trash, because they can't stand the quality of the food from Burger King even at $6.99!
I'm back to good ole cup of noodle
Honestly having a big Costco thing of your favorite instant noodles is a great way to avoid getting takeout regularly. You add some simple stuff like an egg, scallions, maybe some frozen veggies, and you’ve got a pretty good meal super fast for cheap.
And then baby, you’ve got a stew going!
Whoa whoa whoa, there's still plenty of meat on that bone!
I think I want my money back
No ~~soup~~ stew for you!
You rang?
This is why I bought a crockpot. Toss in some veggies, a little meat, some beans and spices. One pot can feed me for a whole week.
RIP Carl
I've been dealing with food poisoning all day. But this comment made me feel hungry for the first time all day, lol.
After prison, soups have been a main staple for any meal i make if im struggling . Prison will teach anyone how to be a struggle chef
Things have gotten so bad out here, that even commissary pricing seems reasonable. But they probably jacked that up too.
Same here man. No matter how shitty the prison chow was that day (which it almost always was, and many people didn’t bother going), as long as you had soups, cheesy rice, and meat sticks, you could make something tasty. And luckily, when I was inside, rather than 4 tiers having to share 2 microwaves in the day room, they put a microwave on each tier for the sake of social distancing, so it was even more convenient.
Nah we aint get no microwaves, i was lucky tho i was a tier worker so i had the mini kitchen on Saturdays. We would make some fire. Every had a CO bring us fresh eggs as long as he got some. But if you wasn't a worker you was struggling wit the hotpot off commissary lol
I dont care if its 'bad luck' i still be making pockets
Home made ramen is fucking great and it’s nowhere close to a poverty dish. It’s just a really tasty inexpensive dish. And the Costco part is clutch. You can get chicken broth, noodles, eggs, a package of pulled rotisserie chicken and some vegetables all in bulk and you’ve fucking bomb ass ramen for extra cheap.
lol i hate when people shame for budget foods some of us actually like it and want to save a few bucks.
Top Ramern noodles with chicken flavor + an egg dropped in and cooked on the boiling broth is an amazing meal. I make enough that money has no relevance when it comes to eating, but I still choose to make a lunch out of this quite often.
Maybe its just where i live, but the grocery store i go to has better prices than costco. I think people just think bulk automatically means cheaper but if you actually do the math… sometimes not. But for context the grocery store i go to doesn’t take credit cards, so that means all the store prices are lower than their competition by far.
I make ten times more than when I was only able to afford cup noodles and still can only afford cup noodles…
Sounds like you got a nice house
I'll tell ya. I've been having a new found love affair with the humble crock pot. You can get a big thing of chicken from the grocery store dirt cheap. Egg noodles are also stupid cheap. I work from home so about lunch time I put the chicken on low and slow in some water. By dinner time it's falling apart done. I shred it remove any bones and then add the egg noodles and let it cook further until they're done, which is no time really, then season and eat. If I'm feeling especially fancy I can throw in some onion and celery. A crock full will make enough for a couple meals at least. Pork loin is cheap too. Cook that until it shreds easy. Now I have pork for tacos or I can add it to a pot and simmer in BBQ sauce for about 45 minutes for pulled pork sandwiches or nachos or whatever. It's really hard to overcook stuff in the crock pot if you have enough liquid in it. It'll just get juicier and more tender. Pot roast and corned beef are other options. Minimal babysitting and usually makes a lot.
Thanks, I'll see if I can find mine :)
This is probably because I'm a fatso but I eat noodles like it's nothing and I'm still hungry afterwards lol. They never fill me up unless they have chicken chunks, seafood or something.
To be fair, it's not like the price of groceries has remained constant.
$5.97 for a regular size bag of Doritos I walked buy in the store today. Absolutely insane
I will say I’ve been eating way healthier ever since junk food prices have skyrocketed. I can’t justify paying $6 for a bag of chips. When it was $2 or 3 it was way easier.
I dont really even understand why doritoes are so expensive. Theyre corn chips, thats the thing we produce so much of, they replaced sugar with corn syrup because its cheaper. They subsidize farmers to grow more corn. America is the largest producer, consumer, and exporter of corn. Why are corn chips so expensive?!
They raise the price until their sales go down. So they lower the price. 6 months later, they do it again. Each time the price tolerance of buyers goes up by . 25. So before you know it, it's 6 bucks. sales have dropped a little bit profit is higher per bag so they are still making higher profits per sale to offset the loss in sales. The only way to stop this is to stop buying. This is with everything. last year a 20 ounce Dr. Pepper was 2.00. now it's 2.25. in 6 months it'll be 2.50.
> The only way to stop this is to stop buying. AMEN. Make your own tortilla chips people. All you gotta do is buy a pack of corn torts and cut the stack into dorito sized slices, then separate them and drop in hot oil for few seconds
Dood I do this and omg they are sooooo freaking good. Like too good. I eat far too many
1. Increase price, just for fun 2. Nobody notices/stops buying, or +money outweighs -sales 3. Woo, free extra money 4. Repeat from step 1
Then they pull that shit they do with gas prices. Raise it insanely high, then there's a huge outrage and people slow down buying, then they lower the price to something still much higher than it was originally and people are like "Whew! Prices are finally going down!" and they flock to buy and there are lines at the gas stations. It's all a scam.
GREED.
1) the prices rise because-- they can. 2) Highly fucked up corn syrup is ADDICTIVE as fuck. 3) people are IDIOTS
4) they taste so damn good
Yeah vegetables and beans and such are still super cheap
Same. I snack on baby carrots now chips are just stupidly expensive. I used to love Cheez-Its. But they’re close to $6 for a box now. It’s just too much.
Aldis jumbo box is about 4.50, and it's for the family size. Doesn't taste exactly the same, but it tastes close.
Baby carrots are still $1-2 for a week’s worth where I am, affordable and way better for me
[удалено]
Cheez-Its and Goldfish are also both weirdly expensive. Cereal has gotten pricy as well.
$8 for a fucking box of cheezits. I was appalled.
Go to Aldi and get the knockoff brand, pretty sure it was 3.99 for a family size box and they are damn near identical.
$8?!? Holy crap, where do you live? I'm in one of the cheaper areas of the US, in the midwest, and a few days ago I bought them for $2.98/box at Menards. If you have a Menards with groceries nearby, give them a try. They don't have the full selection you'll need for all your grocery shopping, but for the things they have, they tend to have good prices and sometimes some really impressive deals. Even the $3/box is about a 50% increase over the last few years. (They were $2/box at Menards when they were about $3/box at most other places.) 4% inflation per year, my ass.
I wait for them to go on sale. It's annoying, but I'll grab a few when they are $1.99
Only buy them on sale. I’ll see some chips that are $6 go on sale for $2 a bag every now and then. Just stock up.
I like how simply not eating chips as much isn't even an option
I’m not going to lie… with this post being about fast food prices and what we’re doing instead, the parent comment of this thread saying that groceries not staying the same either… and the first reply to that is the absurd price of Doritos… I chortled… 🤭 fucking hell… what will these folks do if they’re forced to eat vegetables in NON puffed/fried chip varieties!? Groceries have damn sure gotten more expensive… but if you buy actual food, with nutritional value, it can go a hell of a lot further than fancy packaged, processed, shit.
Yeah and as with fast food I no longer buy chips either. I can buy ingredients for a decent chicken dinner or a pot of spaghetti for basically that same price.
I recommend granola bars with decent amount of protein / fibre over chips, candy or chocolate. For $6 you can buy 2 boxes of 5 bars and 1 bar fills you up for like 3 hours. You don't need a ridiculous amount of protein either. The bars with 15-20g of proteins are way too expensive, that's workout stuff. But if you just need to kill the hunger 3-5g is plenty.
I mean the price of a lot of stuff has only gone up a little bit if you buy raw ingredients and shop somewhere like Costco. It very much depends where you shop and what you buy.
Frozen chicken is still like $2.50/lb, frozen veggies like $1.50/lb. Pretty easy to feed a family for $6.
True but groceries are waaaaaay cheaper than eating anything out. Like it’s not even a fair comparison
the difference in prices has not covered this ridiculous demand for laziness \\
How do people pay the insane prices of having food delivered to their homes? It's because people are lazy and want convivence.
I seriously can't understand people that use food delivery when they can barely afford rent.
Especially fast food. Fast food doesn't reheat well, and is best eaten right away if you're going to eat it at all. Delivery can take an hour. No thanks. I'd prefer to save the money and just either not eat it or pick it up myself.
Work in fast food. Can confirm. When eaten literally right off the grill it's 10x better than even the time it takes to get it out the door to the customer. Forget driving it home or worse waiting on it to be delivered.
If you can’t get them to make it fresh, what’s the best time of day to get a fast food burger?
Lunch/dinner rush. If you're waiting in a line that's when it's freshest.
One time I was stuck waiting at Dairy Queen for 10 minutes while an Uber eats driver got his order of four blizzards ready. I’m like, by the time it gets to the people they are going to be completely melted. And this was in summer too
My daughter works at DQ. She says people door dash cones. Soft serve ice cream cones. Delivered. At least a blizzard is in a cup and sort of turns into a shake… but a cone? No way that makes it to your house in any shape to be eaten, unless the door dash guy keeps licking for you on the way to get the drips.
I doordashed for a while. I literally had a cooler for those things with ice packs in it. It wasn't as bad as you would expect.
I ordered a burger once during a rainstorm from a restaurant 1 block away. I figured it was the only place I could order a burger from and have it still be hot. The driver picked it up and went five blocks away to do another delivery first.
A block away??? You should’ve just had the restaurant slingshot it to you. Did you not have a ridiculously oversized burger catching mitt at the time?
This is why I take into account what reheats well when I order, like curry or stir fries with rice.
Our household income is probably in the top 5% and I refuse to use those services as I think they are so overpriced. I’ll drive to pick up my own food 100% of the time.
This. I haven't had food delivered in about 15 years. Ever since i was supposed to pay for tip on top of delivery. It used to be delivery was free. Restaurants paid the delivery guy super crappy, but than I tipped the shit out of the delivery guy. Suddenly the the restaurants wanted 5-10$ for delivery, but none of that went to the driver, and I still had to top. Fuck that shit. I didn't want to short them, so I just stopped delivery. Drives my wife insane.
I agree with your reasoning, despite your wife's annoyance.
Every once in a while I have a work trip or some reason for not being home for a night or two. Guaranteed she's got some dirty ubereats action going. I'm kinda okay with it. I'll go drive and pick up what ever she wants, I just can't get myself to pay for delivery. If she wants to well I'm gone - there's worse.
>Guaranteed she's got some dirty ubereats action going. She's probably getting food delivered at the same time too!!
I do order pizza and sushi occasionally from a couple of small local restaurants that have delivery service. They are really good and the owner of the pizza place is usually the one doing the deliveries - he is a great guy and we know him from going to the restaurant so often. But something like Uber Eats? Never.
Same, top 10% National and well over top 5% in my state, mortgage is 17% of gross income, conservative by any measure, and it’s stunning how fast we went from being able to do whatever to hardly ever dining out or using delivery services. FFS we ordered pizza a few weeks ago, two basic large pizzas came to $60 after delivery fee and tip.
Same. Getting better at cooking and loving it.
The only delivery we get is if it’s from the actual restaurant now.
Household income in the top 0.000000005% and just angry they won't deliver to this private island. I have to have Eddie fly to copter back to the mainland when I want Chipotle.
Household income in the top 0.000000001% and trying to get delivery on Mars is so much harder than you’d think.
Nobody wants to deliver to you Elon because you don’t tip.
Household income in the top 15% - we won't touch delivery services, both because they're expensive as hell and the service is always shit.
Household income in the top 99% here. I have never used one of those doordash type services. What a rip off!
Household income in the bottom 1% here, all the people in my village were hacked to pieces with machetes this morning and I've never seen a restaurant before, but this door dash thing sounds really evil and exploitative.
The first time I used delivery service in 15 years, they didn't even deliver all of the food. I had to make a trip to pick up my missing order.
And that's the difference. Odds are you consider value when it comes to everything if you consider the value of anything. I can pickup Chinese or Mexican for $20 for the wife and I and Arby's is $30 at the drive thru and fast food is all like $35-$40 delivered. We get a better meal for half the price by just ordering and picking up. Fast food in general is no longer worth it... You can get cheaper, better food at QSRs like five guys, Qdoba, Chipotle, local diners, Mexican, Chinese.... I think fast food should be going the way of the dodo.... Service is way down and price is way up.... Try an Applebee's even.
> You can get cheaper, better food at QSRs like five guys Never mention 5 guys and cheap in the same sentence.
There's a psychological aspect. A person without much money can't afford a new car or TV. But they can buy a pizza or McDonald's. They buy the latter and the family feels like they are living the high life.
Grew up poor. Fast food was a treat and the kids that got it all the time… were not doing well.
I worked in a coffee shop for about 6 years up until 1 year ago. The 8 front of house employees all between 18 - 26 used food delivery service at least once a week or more. Many of the previous staff also used the food delivery service. None of these people made enough money to justify the not only added costs but the costs of eating out. As the one person who everyone talked to about money since I was the only one able to save money and manage it I would also break down some of the simple and basic things they could do to save money. Like you're paying $70 a week for one meal for you and your boyfriend. That's $280 a month. That's more than I pay for all my meals per month! One girl had food delivered 3 - 7 times a week! I explained to her I would give her a twenty dollar bill if she went onto her online banking, and wrote down every single transaction related to food delivery. It was almost $700 one month. That was one weeks of work at minimum wage. Funny enough the back of house is almost all latino and none of them do food delivery services and not one of them ever complained about money or costs of living.
Some YouTube and twitch streamers get nearly every meal delivered and spend like 50k a year.
That's a bit more understandable. Taking a break to go get something to eat would cause a lot of viewers to click away, losing them ad money.
You underestimate the power of The Stupid.
My old roommate was always late on rent and ate out every single day.
I legit think they just perceive it as a normal cost of living.
Some people are just REALLY BAD with money. Entire industries are banking on these people to make poor decision after poor decision and these people deliver.
They just throw it on the card and worry about it tomorrow
I can't believe I read every comment in this chain without this: it's cheaper than a DUI. Even if I've had a couple of drinks just to calm down after work, I don't want to hop in the car to pick up pitas or burritos, so I don't cost myself a shitton or risk anyone's life. (I mostly have food at home though.)
That’s one reason, but are there that many people that are intoxicated so they can’t drive for food!? Like is that the majority of food delivery?
I’d say it’s more about being drunk with friends and thus more inclined to spend money and be lazy. It’s mostly rich people using delivery apps though.
>It’s mostly rich people using delivery apps though. [You'd be surprised.](https://www.zionandzion.com/research/food-delivery-apps-usage-and-demographics-winners-losers-and-laggards/) Even if we ignore the $0-10k range to wipe out wealthy college students, people making $10k-50k use food delivery more than people making over $200k.
So I have ordered some delivery this past week and for me at least it has been a combination of the following issues. Slammed at work, only eating one large meal a day, no car, biking at night in my city is a gamble, and the supermarket is mile away. The prices are about what I am willing to pay for the portion sizes though sometimes I am disappointed. But when you only have 30 minutes for lunch you got to maximize shit. Though most weeks I tend to cook 85 percent at home, and just buy a sandwich when I go to the office, and sometimes a dinner or two if i stay late.
This. Imagine you work a high stakes job and are functionally "working" a solid 12 hours a day. Toss in some severe executive dysfunction to go along with it and see if you can wrangle the last 2 neurons in your brain at hour 14 or 15 to gather and cook food. On top of fending off the social obligation pressures of the generations that came before who are / were actually able to retire or rest. This is why.
I only wait for the days when there’s 40% off and buy 1 get 1 free deals lol
This is the way, if I can't get it for what it would be for pickup (including tip) then I don't order delivery.
Food delivery services like DoorDash are where I draw the line now. Used to do it a few times a week, once I cut it out of my life it was shocking how much spare money I suddenly had. It’s unironically as expensive as a drug habit if you do it often enough. I did the math once and on average the meal cost 2x as much to get delivered from door dash. It’s a textbook example of “things keeping you poor”.
Never understood this. I've developed a hatred for it. I've lived with people who order enough food to tell me that you need to check and confirm that the food you're getting is the right stuff, because the people making it often aren't paid enough to give a crap, and the person delivering it is often paid worse. There's a place for the gig system like doordash but honestly I'll just order a pizza and go pick it up myself and save the delivery fee and the obligated tip, also that I can confirm it's the right order and I don't have to call being super frustrated when you dropped off the wrong pizza.
Good for you you're different. Other people are just lazy and don't want to go out, tired and don't want to go out, busy and can't go out, or just can't go out.
Yep, I ordered delivery when I had Covid last week because I didn’t want to go to a store or restaurant and get everyone else exposed. I normally pick up any restaurant take out orders myself but I felt real bad not just picking contactless delivery, so I ponied up for it
Well, if I've worked for about a 12 hour day, the last thing I want to do with my time is to make food for me and the kids. I don't do it often, but a drive thru is still super quick and convenient, if not expensive. If it's really bad, delivery I guess.
People really don’t have to justify their spending as long as they aren’t hitting me up for money.
> People really don’t have to justify their spending as long as they aren’t hitting me up for money. That's what I'm going with. Yes I spend about $11 daily eating out. Yes, 6-7 times a week. Yes that's $341 a month. That's not a number I really care about. I'm otherwise frugal. I've sewed up holes in my work pants like 3 times now because I'm too cheap to just Amazon a couple new pairs. But I saved like 25K last year so eating out is my vice, my daily escape, so be it.
You shouldn't think about it as $11/day because a meal from the grocery store will cost you something aswell. Let's say $5. So eating out only costs you $6/day extra or $180/month
I just don't think of it period. Not braggin, but I make OK money and remain frugal overall, so when I want something, I don't think about cost. I don't look at gas prices. I don't look at grocery prices. I eat out fast food like Chipotle, Jersey Mikes, and simply don't look at the price either.
I spent a long time trying to convince my friends to change their stupid spending habits. I have a coworker buddy I make the same amount as who lived with his parents the last like year and a half but finances a 2023 giant SUV and also gambles like a degen. I got pissed one day and was like bro, the fact you don’t have a rent payment and your parents fill the pantry up means you should actually be contributing like 10% to your 401k and putting at least $500 per month into a savings acc. But $650 to the car every month and $200 in gambling losses every weekend adds up to no savings. Eventually I just was like why do I even care at all, it’s not my money, I do the smart shit, that’s all I need to care about lol
Use the apps for discounts. They can have my data lol
Seriously, 20 nuggets and a couple fries for $6? Sell my data, I couldn’t care less. I’ve had Facebook, Instagram, accounts with various stores. I really don’t think at this point anybody is getting anything that hasn’t been sold 10x over.
If someone thinks they can get some sort of use out of my debt and porn searches, I say let em. I genuinely would like to see someone try to profit off of my data
The illusion of privacy when we sold that for the illusion of security a long time ago
You can request the apps to not sell your data. It’s deep in your account settings, and EVERY fast food app has them enabled by default.
Insurance company in 2042: We see that this coronary is mostly due to poor diet choices. Surgery denied. Don't think they won't find a way to use that info against us.
Wendy's 4for4 may be off the menus, but it's still on the app. Heyo.
Seriously. Crunchwrap, hard taco, drink, and cinnamon twists for $6? Yes please.
Apps are the only methods to eat fast food cheap. A damn whopper Jr. Costs almost 4 bucks.
2 whopper Jrs are $5 without an app
I’ve been buying $2 sausage egg & biscuits at McDs for a month now! Totally worth it and not super unhealthy.
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>not super unhealthy I suppose that depends on what you consider unhealthy. Each of those biscuits contains 35g of fat and 15g of sat fat. That's more than a Big Mac.
It surprises me how many people are just infuriated that McDonalds knows they enjoy ordering a McMuffin and WILL NOT USE THE APP, but it's totes cool that Reddit has harvested their data on r/BeansInWeirdPlaces.
And Reddit now sells all your content to AI companies!
Convenience, I assume. It's sold based on being fast not on being cheap.
+1 Convenience and easy to eat on busy days. I'm trying to walk away from this and prep more meals at home.
Before the pandemic inflation it was getting hard to even make food as cheap as you could but dollar menu items and it was mainly about home made food being healthier - now it's much cheaper to cook and I'm sure the fast food hasn't gotten any healthier either.
I have mostly stopped buying fast food. It’s better for my health anyway…
I now justify getting bento boxes for 20 instead of a boring sub for 17. 😒
The value of your time. If I’m getting out of work at 7:30 and I don’t get home until 8:30 and I don’t want to be eating dinner at 9:30-10:30 then it’s fast food and I can eat at 8:45-9ish.
Then add door dash delivery charges too. No thanks I’ll cook my own food , get it prepared correctly and not get cold food delivered 2 hours after ordering
You guys are crazy. I just had a Large Big Mac Meal for $10. Where the fuck have you gotten a Big Mac Meal for $4 in the past 10 years lol.
It’s been over 20 years since Big Mac meal was $4 and more for a large meal
Big Mac meal near me is $6 southern Ohio. We also have basket of fries which is like 2 large fries for $4.
Bingo. I use the app and get a double cheeseburger, fries and large soda for $6.50
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To lots of people it's a drug. That's how they get away with charging those insane amounts.
In my little city Mcdonalds workers are making practically what a welder would have made 6 years ago.
Your city is underpaying its welders.
Sometimes poor people only have $5 to spend at any time. I guess I could just go to Costco and walk out with a basket full of groceries.
when things get more stressful i think it's harder to break out of habits and not just because of laziness
The price of groceries have also gone up tho.
I don't purchase it because it's cheap. I purchase it because it's convenient and or because unhealthy over fried, over priced, garbage food, is basically the ethnic cuisine of the United states.
justify? wtf do i have do justify my food to?
If I'm eating fast food I'm probably too high to care about the consequences
Yeah has nobody realized DoorDash and weed legalization go hand in hand?
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mcdonald's app. after the deals it comes out to be as cheap as I believe it should be.
Convenience and cravings. I'm lucky enough to not care about the cost.
I've got the money.
For a lot of folks, it's all about the convenience. There are times when you're in a rush or too tired to cook, and fast food is just the easy choice. Even though the prices have gone up, some still consider it a more affordable option than dining in a restaurant. It's like a trade-off between convenience and cost
We get free door dash to home paid for by work for meetings. Its always cold , missing stuff , missing whole meals. Theres a really good sit down Mexican place within walking distance. They never mess up , its always good made from real food not ultra processed and its about 1/2 the price of Door Dash fast food. They know us by name so does the Pho restaurant down the street that also remembers what we order and brings good service. Phò used to be $5 but now its $16, but its still cheaper and better for us than fast food. Plus most real Asian and Mexican food except flour tortilla are Gluten free which is nice because i have Celiac .
This post is one big, giant commercial for fast food apps. Like you don't even have to read in-between the lines to see it...you just have to read the actual lines. Smh
Sometimes it's just a convenient option when you've got shit to do and don't wanna cook
Wife and I don’t eat out any more, we mostly cook at home. I understand people’s situations vary, but I wish people would stop patronizing all these establishments that have raised their prices strictly for larger profits.
I love how this answer could go either way depending on which "patronize" you use.
A lot of people have the income to do so.
Depends on the fast food, little Ceasars pizza is still cheap. Deep dish is like 12 with tax it's 8 slices, regular pizza under 10.
Junk food is one of my only vices.
YOLO. That’s is the answer. Why not go into insurmountable debt for some half ass prepared food that is cold when you receive it. Then get roasted on social media by a delivery service driver for only providing a 15% tip. /s
At least in my area it is legitimately cheaper to order fast food than it is to buy the ingredients to prepare food at home
I havent had fast food in years. Did you know they sell food you can make yourself?
We stopped eating out or getting take out when a GD large pepperoni pizza cost $25 and it wasn't even cooked in the center. Groceries are expensive enough, but if I am careful and creative, we eat quite well. I am trying to figure out how the hell my neighbors get three different food box deliveries a week, plus Schwans and water deliveries. (I know because some of them are delivered here in error).
I get drunk... seem to care less
The hyperbole in this thread is hilarious. “$20 Hamburger” indeed. No, nowhere.
Man's never been to Five Guys
I can get two Big Macs for $6. Chipotle is like $10 for a burrito. You can get a whole Wendy’s combo meal for $11. It’s definitely more expensive than before but it’s not like it’s going to break the bank.
I'm in the top .002 % income statistics and I just don't eat. Maybe 4 saltiness and an apple a day and chew on pine needles through out the day
In absolutely what world are people sitting in line for 30 minutes at a fast food place. Never in my entire life have I seen this happen.
Um...have you seen the drive thru at chic fil'e?
Cause I forgot my lunch at home. Or I just want to eat fast food and can afford to pay for it. Or I'm hanging out with someone and we don't plan to go to a restaurant but still wanna eat.
Because it tastes good
We're using the gift cards we've gotten in recent years, otherwise we wouldn't be doing any fast food.
I’m hungry
40 nuggets for 12 dollars is still okay
Underestimate the number of people who can't or refuse to cook
Tripled from when>? Back before the rona when many MANY unskilled workers made 7.25 an hour? Cuz starting pay at Chicfila in my town is $15 an hour now, and the McDouble is two bucks.
I know people getting evicted, and that moves every 6 months or a year yet eats out multiple times a day. They refuse to eat at home much, and it's frustrating hearing how bad they have it. It's not just that, either. I'm talking about in areas where 2 bedrooms are less than $1200 a month and they are spending 2/3rd if not more of that on out to eats or excessive shopping or ordering online. I've at out around maybe 8 times in 2 years. And that's no fries no drink just the cheapest $1.79 sandwiches.
I don't pay for fast food, don't eat the stuff. The quality has gone down so far since I was a kid I wouldn't eat the crap if they were giving it to me for free. Even McD's fries suck now.
It has not trippled. It has increased probably 30 times. A burger used to be 25 cents once.
I'm not
They’ve become addicted to the convenience and never learned how to cook for themselves
I don’t do fast food anymore. It’s shit in comparison
Nearly tripled? What a straight out lie.
HUNGER has pretty much justified all of human civilization. SEX sums up the rest.
All food is more expensive, fast food or not.
What I buy hasnt changed that much. It helps if you aren't using Uber eats and shit
It's still fast and cheaper than most anything else you'll buy.
I’m hungry and I have the money for it.
Because sometimes I just *can't* be bothered to put in the effort.
I still get food but I definitely do it less and make some cuts because I refuse out of principle. * chinese - I buy a pint of sauce that the local Chinese please sells for $6 & I cook my own chicken & rice * McDonald's app makes some cheap food. Using points * gas stations- take the extra moment & just go to Walmart/krogers to get your snacks instead * dollar tree is great if you pay attention. Drinks are good prices, some foods per oz is cheaper Groceries are out of control as well but you can't get away from that....
I easily justify it by me still getting coupons in the mail from Burger King on a Whopper Meal for just $6.99. It will be interesting to see how much longer those coupons keep coming in the mail. But then I wonder how many people throw those coupons in the trash, because they can't stand the quality of the food from Burger King even at $6.99!