Christine - can we please see a "I can make these common fast food dishes for cheaper at home“ video or a this is what you can spend at the store instead (like your Jimmy Deans, hashbrowns, OJ example)? So a little bit of both #1 and #2?
Your "hack" by picking up the premade breakfast sandwiches and Walmart hashed brown patties is perfect - and exactly what I did. Years ago, I lived in a studio with no kitchen and ate at McDonald's every single day. When I finally got into an apartment, I was trying to save money, and I did what you suggested. It saved me a lot of money, just as compared to going to McDonald's. It took me almost a year, but I learned how to make my own breakfast sandwiches and hashed browns from scratch to save even more. Now, I only go out to eat (restaurants or fast food) 2-3 times a year, and it genuinely doesn't even occur to me that "running to get fast food" is an option. Baby-stepping your way away from the fast food habit is definitely a much easier transition. Thank you for continuously putting out content that can be helpful to a variety of people, no matter what stage of life they're in.
I remember 99 cent whoppers and that was in the 90s. Whopper and water, that I filled with Sprite, was my go to lunch when eating out in high school lunch 😂.
You're right about Californians going to IN-N-OUT! Our favorite. I call those hashbrown patties from the grocery store Gentile Latkes. The grandkids love them.
I live in a small apartment in a major city with very little storage space for food stuff. I don't have a deep freezer or an extra fridge, so food prep is hard! I go to Costco prehaps once or twice a year because I don't have space for their massive-sized products in my freezer. I do cook the majority of my food. I try to limit eating out to once a week, though. Sometimes I'm short on time or hate cooking every night. I know that I'm paying more for the convenience of someone down the road--like 200 meters down the road--cooking my dinner. Please don't judge. Not all situations can be magically fixed with Costco convenience food.
I want to say that yes eating out is definitely a habit! Growing up we always ate out and I spent most of my 20s eating out. My man has helped me to break this habit. Dave's right in that being broke gave you an advantage. I wish that I would've known better before my 30s.
I love the McD’s app. I never used it for breakfast. But get me the quarter pound meal deal. It’s like $6. I love a good, fresh quarter pounder. However, now that I’m fully retired, I haven’t been back. In fact, I hardly ever go to fast food now and I don’t miss it, well maybe once every now and then. But, I used to go more frequently and easily spent anywhere from $25 to $50 per week depending on whether or not I had an app. That was just crazy. That’s close to nearly half of my food budget for 2/3’s of the month.
During the pandemic when we were locked down...McDonald's fed many essential frontline workers for free breakfast and lunch EVERYDAY. All we had to do was show our work id. They never bragged about it or talked about how much it cost them but it was incredibly generous. I am not a huge McDonald's fan but I will go every once in awhile if for no reason than to support them since they supported us.
When I look at how much something cost, I compare it to an hourly pay rate. So, if I'm making $10 an hour and breakfast costs me $10....I worked an hour for that. so not worth it!!!!!!! I'm w Christine, buy the stuff and make it at home!
Since my husband and I have been trying to get healthier, we stopped buying fast food. We also like to travel and I bring healthier alternatives to fast food with us. Yes, it is a pain sometimes, but I don't feel like garbage while we are traveling because we ate crap.
Fast food prices are insane. But I will say that when you buy everything a la carte it’s always more expensive than buying the two meals containing the same items.
I like your Kroger freshly made OJ option. Best OJ I've ever had in the entire world - on the Camino. Every hole-in-the-wall rest stop has an orange juice maker, and the oranges are local. After you've hiked 15 miles, it's the perfect treat. And it's SO cheap!
I Meal prep sausage egg and cheese English muffin sands OR breakfast burritos OR French toast egg ham and cheese sands and keep them in the freezer at work. Delish convenient and cheap!
Your discussion danced around an interesting idea- what was not a privledge at the time (home made food rather than convenience items) has ended up giving you the skills to be privileged with more gourmet, healthy food as an adult. The same is true in my family- what my mother learned in the kitchen because they couldn't afford the trendy convience items of the time (eg stove top stuffing, cake mixes, lunch meat) led to her food habits being rooted in scratch made meals, and then my habits also being rooted in scratch made meals, and therefore being more competant and confident in the kitchen than my peers raised on boxes of food.
Same with my family except my parents could afford the food. They just thought it was nasty so we hardly ever ate the fast food. I got to learn how to make the same dishes from scratch and of course all the traditional dishes.
If you stack your deals right and go to the right places you can eat out cheeper. We only eat out maybe 1 time every month or two. We went to McDonald's for dinner and got 20 nuggets, 2 big Macs, 2 large fries and 2 medium fries for 16ish dollars. (I used the app, went to the sharables menu, and got the classic Big Mac pack and the deal for two large fries. Then I used a 30% off coupon.) This fed my family of 6. We also will go to Sam's club for lunch sometimes and get the hot dog combos, and it is less than 10 dollars.
People are addicted to sugar and convenience. I’m diabetic and prefer making my own food. I’m a teacher and commute an hour each way. My fav is to make an egg in my dash pancake maker. Perfectly fits. Add a sausage patty I pre cooked ahead or cook first in the dash. Adding a slice of ham to the cooked egg in the dash is an even easier option. Add cheese after you take it out while still warm. I toast the tiny low carb wraps and I have a delicious and healthier breakfast Sammy wrapped to go. ALWAYS make my own iced coffee. Better and healthier than Starbucks and Dunkin. Cheaper too. Alternative is Walmart brand coffee concentrate in the coffee aisle. Add some to your to go cup, water, I use almond milk instead, add ice and what ever you want. Bonus…i can walk away and get ready without burning my food. No pan to clean either! I’ve always been a saver since after college. Back in the day (60 yrs young now) bread was 5 loaves for a buck. I would make homemade croutons with 4 loaves as a young wife in my mid 20s. Love ya both! PS Used to love Arby’s 5 for 5.
Our app has large free fry if you buy $2. So i used to buy two large drinks, it used to be $1.29. Now they changed the price and it's $1.79 for large. I also have a coupon for buy a bacon mcdouble and get the second one for 29¢. You have to wait fifteen min between coupons. So usually i can get a meal for $7 for hubby and i. I don't do it every day tho. But i make them work for me. I also love the $1 for coffee drinks. I live in Ohio!
Hubby loves the steak, egge, and cheese bagel. Tried to do homemade and he doesn't like it. I however will make my own and be much happier not overspending on a cheap junky breakfast.
I just bought a beef fajita plate and chicken fajita plate and it was $21 at taco cabana. But it was 2 good sized fajita tacos, rice, beans, lettuce and a small scoop of guacamole. plus 2 extra tortillas. You can literally divide up the meat and make 4 good sized tacos. We add our own cheese and sour cream. It's expensive but I really wanted some tacos and we didn't want to go out. Had we gone out our bull is always $35-40.
I love to make a breakfast frittata on Sunday to have at work every morning. I'm not hungry until 10 and they reheat wonderfully. I also use for refrigerator cleanup based on what I have on hand. When McDonald's came to my town in early 70's(?) they advertised to feed a family of 4 for less than $10!
Better than fast food is maybe once a month go to a local Cafe for a better than McDonald's breakfast and support small independent mom & pop restaurants
The thing always is, they will say, they don't have time to make these things at home. But pop the hash browns in a small airfryer and the sandwich in the microwave while you brush your teeth, or the last thing you do before going out the door, and juice in a reusable thermal tumbler. It's all about discipline
One of my husband's favorite things is a homemade egg mcmuffin. We have a silicone egg ring and he uses sourdough english muffins and sharp cheddar cheese. I used to eat out ALL THE TIME. It was one of my major vices. I had already cut back drastically, but once lockdown happened and we didn't eat out at all for a year, everything changed. Now we are disappointed almost every single time we go out. Not only is it ridiculously expensive (and that's with using gift cards that we have received at Christmas usually) but it just doesn't taste very good. Even places we used to love! I don't feel like I am a very good cook but almost every time we go out we feel like we could have made it better at home. There have been two times in the last 3ish years that we have been genuinely happy with our dining out experience. One was Cracker Barrel. We were out of town so we kind of had to eat out. We each got a meal and drinks, I got a dessert to go, and they have a deal where you get a to go meal for, I think, $6 or so, when you buy a meal. It was still expensive... we had a $50 gift card and I think we paid an additional $15-$20ish. But the service was top notch, the food was delicious, I took some of my main meal with me in a box plus we each had an additional meal to eat later. Would we do this without a gift card? No. But for this exact situation is was great. The other time was BJs. I think I got a free meal for my birthday. They also allowed me to use a free Pizookie coupon that I had. IDK if they were supposed to combine them, but they did. So we only paid for my husband's meal and our drinks. Again, the service was awesome and the food was delicious. I can't remember the total but it wasn't horrible considering the freebies. Anyways, eating out has definitely become less frequent for us for financial reasons and more!
My husband and I can get lunch at McDonald's for $7.10 using the app combined with buy 2. We get 2 MCdoubles (2 for 3.99), 2 small cokes, and split 1 large fry ($1). Nit the best food but works when we need it to.
What a brilliant analysis and excellent baby-step hack. So good that you talk about what on the surface seems so obvious. Because honestly, people just don't stop and think about the details until someone points them out.
Jimmy Dean also has a breakfast sandwich that is made with maple pancakes, 4 for 7.79. They are delicious and about 1.70 a piece. Kroger also has the breakfast hash browns 10 for 3.49 and they are seasoned and delicious! And .35 a piece.
Yes! I’ve been working really hard to get our recently moved in grandparents off of fast food. They stopped cooking at home and would eat out every meal 🥴I make dupes for my family and running out to get them food was becoming overwhelming. Those jimmy dean ones were on sale for less than $5 for a couple weeks in a row so I just stocked up a little for them. They were shocked that how much less it was and it tasted better 😅 never too late to learn something new!
People were pushing for places like McDonalds to up their wages saying they should pay a living wage for basically unskilled workers. The prices we see now are a result of that. Now people can’t afford to eat there. 😢
Ray Kronk wasn’t trying to provide food for poor people but for what was then “the average American” it was for convenience and the idea that you could get the same tasting food far from home.
I go to McDonald’s when I’m in other countries because the menus are all different and mostly, I’m just curious. That being said, fast food restaurants just aren’t a thing here in Italy. We have Burger King and McDonald’s obviously pizza or tramezzino and a glass or wine is very common grab and go food.
Hey Christine! I’m not sure if this is user error on my part, but I didn’t see this episode uploaded on my Apple Podcasts to listen to there. Just thought I would let you know, awesome topics as always and happy thanksgiving! :)
Our favorite McDonald’s item is the sausage, egg, and cheese muffin sandwich. I’d rather eat at home and it’s very cheap. I ran the numbers using what it normally costs from the stores and it was $1.30. This includes Eggland egg, precooked great value sausage patty (like McDonald’s and cooks fast from frozen), a Bubbas English muffin, and Kraft deluxe cheese. Currently, Eggland eggs are on sale for 2.99 for 18 ct. switch out the deluxe cheese for the great value American sliced cheese and the sand which is 96 CENTS! 🤯 Heck, probably even less if I priced out cheaper muffins. Crazy pants.
If you're thinking of making sandwiches, bake your scrambled eggs in a pan in the oven. Yes they'll be squares on a round sandwich, but sooo easy. I add shredded cheese and sausage and I get egg bake everyday!
My kids actually love Wendy's. On VERY rare occasions I'll do the 4 for $5 deal and ask for 2 water cups. The burger and drink (unsweetened iced tea 😊) is for me. The fries and nuggets are split between my 2 kids. Sometimes I get 1 extra burger if they're still hungry. I have also been known to pack along a piece of fruit for each child and squeezy pouches of fruit and veggies so I don't feel so bad about them eating fast food 😂
I make homemade McMuffins ie English muffin, homemade sausage or Canadian ham or the breakfast burrito, on a massive level twice a year and freeze them. Also make 4 loaves of bread every day for a week and freeze them.
Fast food is expensive. About twice a year we go to In n Out...the cost is higher than we would make at home but we like a treat once in a rare while. The quality is good, quantity is higher, cost is less than any other fast food place. I really like cookies but I will never pay for Crumble cookies.
My whole time growing up , I had two hamburgers at fast food and that was at my uncles drive in. I went to a restaurant twice and once was for prom night. But, McDonalds put😂 my daughter threw the first year of college.
Two meals at A&w plus a kids meal runs 32$ Canadian. That’s not even getting the most expensive meals. It’s insane. 32$ could buy me a pound of beef, pack of buns, 10’pounds of potatoes, 1l of milk and 8$ to spare. And this is Canada where prices are crazy 😂
Also, while I do enjoy the Jimmy Dean sandwiches and I used to buy them regularly, it's really difficult to cook them just right. Part of it will still be cold or even frozen while another part is overcooked. Maybe it's just me lol.
My hub eats them almost daily. The trick is to take them out of the plastic and put it on a paper towel . In our microwave I nuke it for 1 min and 20 secs. No soggy and evenly cooked.
I can get a pound of ground beef for $5 or less, a package of buns for $1.50, and a bag of tater tots for $3.50. That can easily feed four people. These aren't even sale prices. Go ahead and try to get a burger and fries for four adults for $10 at a fast food place. Lol (P.S. I am a grown up so I have about 20 bottles of condiments in the fridge at all times so I didn't include those prices) Also, am I Missing something? How hard is it to put an english muffin in the toaster, scramble some eggs, stack a slice of ham and cheese on them and slide it onto the muffin? That's about five minutes, including clean up.
Jimmy Dean has a vegetarian crossanwich (with a realistic sausagey taste) that is incredible. However, the hashbrowns you heat up at home just don't compare lol
This is great! Thank you for sharing this! Side note Mc Donald’s in OH has hash browns 2 for $3 I have to remind myself if I’m going to eat out I’m paying someone else to cook for me! 😅 And since Covid that cost has gone way up!
I make all our food at home.. We had to change to low fat and low salt. I'm getting better at building flavors and using herbs to make our dishes tasty. Sometimes I'm even amazed that its better than our local restaurants. Plus I've lost 16 pounds. Win win
Fast food prices are definitely crazy, but you can get good deals with apps for every restaraunt, but what you're getting really makes a difference. I find you can get good deals at McDonald's if you're getting the pricier foods. For me, I just want a low out of pocket cost so i get a meal at burger King for a little over $3. I get 2 cheeseburgers 1.59 each and use the coupon for a free fry with any purchase (choose size large). Just bring a water bottle with me or get water when I get home.
Hadn't been to a McDs in about a year.. Had a craving for their breakfast chicken sandwich. I was there at 330 am. Girl say we don't serve breakfast , until 4 am. So I looked at the regular menu and about had a heart attack!! OMG A big Mac value meal was almost $9... I remember last time there is was about $6.. Unreal.. Let alone the hash browns used to be $1 and now they are $1.99 now for ONE!
Dave - you were seeing the breakfast sammies at Jacksons or Maverick. Yeah Yeah - that's where you saw them. When you were getting gas. LOL. We do the McDonald's every now and then. I get in a mood so I'll throw french fries in the air fryer and then run to pick up my 2 Quarter Pounders with cheese (via the BOGO on the app), pay my $5.19 and be on my merry way. By the time I get home, my fries are done and have had the extra few minutes to rest making them crispier. And it's considered 'date night' with 1 of my 3 boys each time we go. We rotate. Then we'll kick it in their room and eat our hamburgers and fries. I told my middle son yesterday that they were putting up a Chipotle right around the corner of his house in Meridian. He's 22 and none of my kids had ever had it before. It was always too much money for a family meal. So now that he's working, he's looking forward to trying it. Basically so he can recreate it for his meal prep for lunch.
I’ve actually seen Mc griddle dupes from Jimmy Dean. I think they were at my local Kroger store. I am with you that they are infinitely superior to the other breakfast sandwiches.
Here's the awdul part of orange juice. they take the oranges, extractt the sugar from the oranges, and then add orange flavor to the sugar from the orange juice. you might as well have kool aid. Eat oranges, drink water.
So true. The last time we went to IHOP was over ten years ago- breakfast for 2 was over $40. Ten years ago, that was A LOT. I was so mad, I wanted to cry.
I remember when McDonald had a Big Mac, ff and a coke for $1. Everything for $1. 😮 You can get deals on the gift cards this time of the year. Buy a McDonalds $100 gc get $15 of your groceries.
Eating out is so much more expensive, but I totally understand the conveience. I'd love to come on your podcast to share about money saving tips with fruits and vegetables. I went viral on IG for my strawberries in a jar and have so many helpful tips to share with your audience. I'd love to be able to promote your podcast for my followers on IG as well. My PR manager has been looking for a good email to use to contact you so we can get connected. Thank you!
Total highway robbery...that McD's breakfast shouldn't cost more than $5 per person, including tax. A few months ago my daughter wanted McD's fries; a large fry out the door was over $6. I almost had a heart attack 😂
Christine - can we please see a "I can make these common fast food dishes for cheaper at home“ video or a this is what you can spend at the store instead (like your Jimmy Deans, hashbrowns, OJ example)? So a little bit of both #1 and #2?
Your "hack" by picking up the premade breakfast sandwiches and Walmart hashed brown patties is perfect - and exactly what I did. Years ago, I lived in a studio with no kitchen and ate at McDonald's every single day. When I finally got into an apartment, I was trying to save money, and I did what you suggested. It saved me a lot of money, just as compared to going to McDonald's. It took me almost a year, but I learned how to make my own breakfast sandwiches and hashed browns from scratch to save even more. Now, I only go out to eat (restaurants or fast food) 2-3 times a year, and it genuinely doesn't even occur to me that "running to get fast food" is an option. Baby-stepping your way away from the fast food habit is definitely a much easier transition. Thank you for continuously putting out content that can be helpful to a variety of people, no matter what stage of life they're in.
I remember 99 cent whoppers and that was in the 90s. Whopper and water, that I filled with Sprite, was my go to lunch when eating out in high school lunch 😂.
You're right about Californians going to IN-N-OUT! Our favorite. I call those hashbrown patties from the grocery store Gentile Latkes. The grandkids love them.
I live in a small apartment in a major city with very little storage space for food stuff. I don't have a deep freezer or an extra fridge, so food prep is hard! I go to Costco prehaps once or twice a year because I don't have space for their massive-sized products in my freezer. I do cook the majority of my food. I try to limit eating out to once a week, though. Sometimes I'm short on time or hate cooking every night. I know that I'm paying more for the convenience of someone down the road--like 200 meters down the road--cooking my dinner. Please don't judge. Not all situations can be magically fixed with Costco convenience food.
Oh my gosh I love how you show the price comparison of doing it at home verses buying it from the fast food restaurant
I want to say that yes eating out is definitely a habit! Growing up we always ate out and I spent most of my 20s eating out. My man has helped me to break this habit. Dave's right in that being broke gave you an advantage. I wish that I would've known better before my 30s.
I love the McD’s app. I never used it for breakfast. But get me the quarter pound meal deal. It’s like $6. I love a good, fresh quarter pounder. However, now that I’m fully retired, I haven’t been back. In fact, I hardly ever go to fast food now and I don’t miss it, well maybe once every now and then. But, I used to go more frequently and easily spent anywhere from $25 to $50 per week depending on whether or not I had an app. That was just crazy. That’s close to nearly half of my food budget for 2/3’s of the month.
During the pandemic when we were locked down...McDonald's fed many essential frontline workers for free breakfast and lunch EVERYDAY. All we had to do was show our work id. They never bragged about it or talked about how much it cost them but it was incredibly generous. I am not a huge McDonald's fan but I will go every once in awhile if for no reason than to support them since they supported us.
Yes. This is why we keep driving past the fast food and pull into Smiths. Tehehe ❤❤
When I look at how much something cost, I compare it to an hourly pay rate. So, if I'm making $10 an hour and breakfast costs me $10....I worked an hour for that. so not worth it!!!!!!! I'm w Christine, buy the stuff and make it at home!
Since my husband and I have been trying to get healthier, we stopped buying fast food. We also like to travel and I bring healthier alternatives to fast food with us. Yes, it is a pain sometimes, but I don't feel like garbage while we are traveling because we ate crap.
I buy the hash brown patties at Aldi. They are so good in the air fryer or on a stone in the oven so they can crisp up.
I've quit all fast food. We do locally owned places instead. Help out a local family and eat much better quality food. ❤❤❤ great topic, thx!
Fast food prices are insane. But I will say that when you buy everything a la carte it’s always more expensive than buying the two meals containing the same items.
I like your Kroger freshly made OJ option. Best OJ I've ever had in the entire world - on the Camino. Every hole-in-the-wall rest stop has an orange juice maker, and the oranges are local. After you've hiked 15 miles, it's the perfect treat. And it's SO cheap!
That orange juice at Sam’s club is SO GOOD! Expensive but good.
I Meal prep sausage egg and cheese English muffin sands OR breakfast burritos OR French toast egg ham and cheese sands and keep them in the freezer at work. Delish convenient and cheap!
Your discussion danced around an interesting idea- what was not a privledge at the time (home made food rather than convenience items) has ended up giving you the skills to be privileged with more gourmet, healthy food as an adult. The same is true in my family- what my mother learned in the kitchen because they couldn't afford the trendy convience items of the time (eg stove top stuffing, cake mixes, lunch meat) led to her food habits being rooted in scratch made meals, and then my habits also being rooted in scratch made meals, and therefore being more competant and confident in the kitchen than my peers raised on boxes of food.
Same with my family except my parents could afford the food. They just thought it was nasty so we hardly ever ate the fast food. I got to learn how to make the same dishes from scratch and of course all the traditional dishes.
If you stack your deals right and go to the right places you can eat out cheeper. We only eat out maybe 1 time every month or two. We went to McDonald's for dinner and got 20 nuggets, 2 big Macs, 2 large fries and 2 medium fries for 16ish dollars. (I used the app, went to the sharables menu, and got the classic Big Mac pack and the deal for two large fries. Then I used a 30% off coupon.) This fed my family of 6. We also will go to Sam's club for lunch sometimes and get the hot dog combos, and it is less than 10 dollars.
Love hash browns in the air fryer!
People are addicted to sugar and convenience. I’m diabetic and prefer making my own food. I’m a teacher and commute an hour each way. My fav is to make an egg in my dash pancake maker. Perfectly fits. Add a sausage patty I pre cooked ahead or cook first in the dash. Adding a slice of ham to the cooked egg in the dash is an even easier option. Add cheese after you take it out while still warm. I toast the tiny low carb wraps and I have a delicious and healthier breakfast Sammy wrapped to go. ALWAYS make my own iced coffee. Better and healthier than Starbucks and Dunkin. Cheaper too. Alternative is Walmart brand coffee concentrate in the coffee aisle. Add some to your to go cup, water, I use almond milk instead, add ice and what ever you want. Bonus…i can walk away and get ready without burning my food. No pan to clean either! I’ve always been a saver since after college. Back in the day (60 yrs young now) bread was 5 loaves for a buck. I would make homemade croutons with 4 loaves as a young wife in my mid 20s. Love ya both!
PS Used to love Arby’s 5 for 5.
Our app has large free fry if you buy $2. So i used to buy two large drinks, it used to be $1.29. Now they changed the price and it's $1.79 for large. I also have a coupon for buy a bacon mcdouble and get the second one for 29¢. You have to wait fifteen min between coupons. So usually i can get a meal for $7 for hubby and i. I don't do it every day tho. But i make them work for me. I also love the $1 for coffee drinks. I live in Ohio!
This morning I had a sausage biscuit from McDonald's. So good!
Hubby loves the steak, egge, and cheese bagel. Tried to do homemade and he doesn't like it. I however will make my own and be much happier not overspending on a cheap junky breakfast.
❤You said it…people do this daily…ugh! Thank you fir alternative ideas!
lol I lovvveeeeee the McGriddle
Hash browns thrown in the air fryer each morning. Grab and go when my daughter doesn’t want breakfast she will eat these 👍🏻
I just bought a beef fajita plate and chicken fajita plate and it was $21 at taco cabana. But it was 2 good sized fajita tacos, rice, beans, lettuce and a small scoop of guacamole. plus 2 extra tortillas. You can literally divide up the meat and make 4 good sized tacos. We add our own cheese and sour cream.
It's expensive but I really wanted some tacos and we didn't want to go out. Had we gone out our bull is always $35-40.
I love to make a breakfast frittata on Sunday to have at work every morning. I'm not hungry until 10 and they reheat wonderfully. I also use for refrigerator cleanup based on what I have on hand. When McDonald's came to my town in early 70's(?) they advertised to feed a family of 4 for less than $10!
Better than fast food is maybe once a month go to a local Cafe for a better than McDonald's breakfast and support small independent mom & pop restaurants
When I was in high school I worked at Burger King. Whooper, fries and large soda was $1.59. We were paid minimum wage, which was $2.30.
The thing always is, they will say, they don't have time to make these things at home. But pop the hash browns in a small airfryer and the sandwich in the microwave while you brush your teeth, or the last thing you do before going out the door, and juice in a reusable thermal tumbler. It's all about discipline
Have you been to subway recently?! The price of the subs now are outrageous! I remember when they had $5 foot longs. Now they’re $13.99! 🤯
One of my husband's favorite things is a homemade egg mcmuffin. We have a silicone egg ring and he uses sourdough english muffins and sharp cheddar cheese.
I used to eat out ALL THE TIME. It was one of my major vices. I had already cut back drastically, but once lockdown happened and we didn't eat out at all for a year, everything changed. Now we are disappointed almost every single time we go out. Not only is it ridiculously expensive (and that's with using gift cards that we have received at Christmas usually) but it just doesn't taste very good. Even places we used to love! I don't feel like I am a very good cook but almost every time we go out we feel like we could have made it better at home. There have been two times in the last 3ish years that we have been genuinely happy with our dining out experience.
One was Cracker Barrel. We were out of town so we kind of had to eat out. We each got a meal and drinks, I got a dessert to go, and they have a deal where you get a to go meal for, I think, $6 or so, when you buy a meal. It was still expensive... we had a $50 gift card and I think we paid an additional $15-$20ish. But the service was top notch, the food was delicious, I took some of my main meal with me in a box plus we each had an additional meal to eat later. Would we do this without a gift card? No. But for this exact situation is was great.
The other time was BJs. I think I got a free meal for my birthday. They also allowed me to use a free Pizookie coupon that I had. IDK if they were supposed to combine them, but they did. So we only paid for my husband's meal and our drinks. Again, the service was awesome and the food was delicious. I can't remember the total but it wasn't horrible considering the freebies.
Anyways, eating out has definitely become less frequent for us for financial reasons and more!
My husband and I can get lunch at McDonald's for $7.10 using the app combined with buy 2. We get 2 MCdoubles (2 for 3.99), 2 small cokes, and split 1 large fry ($1). Nit the best food but works when we need it to.
Next video on FFM …. Make the breakfast! I’m sure there are sites that will tell you how to get the flavors close! LETS DO IT! 🎉🎉🎉😂😂
Yup, they no longer do the All American Meal. I kind of cobble mine together. Hardly ever order anything else.
Use the hash brown as the bread if you avoid wheat
Dave: busted 'I have seen breakfast sandwiches in the grocery store' 😂😂😂
What a brilliant analysis and excellent baby-step hack. So good that you talk about what on the surface seems so obvious. Because honestly, people just don't stop and think about the details until someone points them out.
Jimmy Dean also has a breakfast sandwich that is made with maple pancakes, 4 for 7.79. They are delicious and about 1.70 a piece. Kroger also has the breakfast hash browns 10 for 3.49 and they are seasoned and delicious! And .35 a piece.
Yes! I’ve been working really hard to get our recently moved in grandparents off of fast food. They stopped cooking at home and would eat out every meal 🥴I make dupes for my family and running out to get them food was becoming overwhelming. Those jimmy dean ones were on sale for less than $5 for a couple weeks in a row so I just stocked up a little for them. They were shocked that how much less it was and it tasted better 😅 never too late to learn something new!
Yup. I can only manage McDs with their app. And I only eat the regular hamburgers. Free fries fridays.
On bogo drinks, i buy two extra-large without ice, and then refrigerate at home. Carbonation lasts fine .
I love In and Out but haven't gone since I've moved to Austin
People were pushing for places like McDonalds to up their wages saying they should pay a living wage for basically unskilled workers. The prices we see now are a result of that. Now people can’t afford to eat there. 😢
Most grocery stores have some sort of hash brown patties that actually taste like potatoes not grease.
Actually a soda is now 1.49, at least in MN.
Love Dave 🎉yes you go to in and out !!!!! Glenda in Mesa (I thank gosh for that tomato wrap single with grilled onions )
Ray Kronk wasn’t trying to provide food for poor people but for what was then “the average American” it was for convenience and the idea that you could get the same tasting food far from home.
Happy Thanksgiving ! 🦃
Great video
I go to McDonald’s when I’m in other countries because the menus are all different and mostly, I’m just curious. That being said, fast food restaurants just aren’t a thing here in Italy. We have Burger King and McDonald’s obviously pizza or tramezzino and a glass or wine is very common grab and go food.
Hey Christine! I’m not sure if this is user error on my part, but I didn’t see this episode uploaded on my Apple Podcasts to listen to there. Just thought I would let you know, awesome topics as always and happy thanksgiving! :)
Our favorite McDonald’s item is the sausage, egg, and cheese muffin sandwich. I’d rather eat at home and it’s very cheap.
I ran the numbers using what it normally costs from the stores and it was $1.30. This includes Eggland egg, precooked great value sausage patty (like McDonald’s and cooks fast from frozen), a Bubbas English muffin, and Kraft deluxe cheese.
Currently, Eggland eggs are on sale for 2.99 for 18 ct. switch out the deluxe cheese for the great value American sliced cheese and the sand which is 96 CENTS! 🤯 Heck, probably even less if I priced out cheaper muffins. Crazy pants.
If you're thinking of making sandwiches, bake your scrambled eggs in a pan in the oven. Yes they'll be squares on a round sandwich, but sooo easy. I add shredded cheese and sausage and I get egg bake everyday!
Burger King has super good coupons- whopper, fries, large drink- 6.99
My kids actually love Wendy's. On VERY rare occasions I'll do the 4 for $5 deal and ask for 2 water cups. The burger and drink (unsweetened iced tea 😊) is for me. The fries and nuggets are split between my 2 kids. Sometimes I get 1 extra burger if they're still hungry. I have also been known to pack along a piece of fruit for each child and squeezy pouches of fruit and veggies so I don't feel so bad about them eating fast food 😂
I'm 67 but I always get the Happy meal grilled chicken snack wrap it's the best value.
They discontinued the snack wraps last year where I live
A " meal" for one at that place can run $11 @ least ! I know, I have paid it.
And seriously, I can make two/ four days worth of dinners for that price
I make homemade McMuffins ie English muffin, homemade sausage or Canadian ham or the breakfast burrito, on a massive level twice a year and freeze them. Also make 4 loaves of bread every day for a week and freeze them.
Great video love you two😅
Fast food is expensive. About twice a year we go to In n Out...the cost is higher than we would make at home but we like a treat once in a rare while. The quality is good, quantity is higher, cost is less than any other fast food place.
I really like cookies but I will never pay for Crumble cookies.
Walmart deli does make chicken biscuits and. Sausage biscuits :)
My whole time growing up , I had two hamburgers at fast food and that was at my uncles drive in. I went to a restaurant twice and once was for prom night. But, McDonalds put😂 my daughter threw the first year of college.
I can't--I bet my sons would do this too--even though they have been raised right.
Two meals at A&w plus a kids meal runs 32$ Canadian. That’s not even getting the most expensive meals. It’s insane. 32$ could buy me a pound of beef, pack of buns, 10’pounds of potatoes, 1l of milk and 8$ to spare. And this is Canada where prices are crazy 😂
But the quality of A&W is superb. Enjoy it while you can. I miss it.
I think it’s really not about food. You go to eat out to spend the time out so you can’t get the same value at home. Totally agree with your points
Also, while I do enjoy the Jimmy Dean sandwiches and I used to buy them regularly, it's really difficult to cook them just right. Part of it will still be cold or even frozen while another part is overcooked. Maybe it's just me lol.
My hub eats them almost daily. The trick is to take them out of the plastic and put it on a paper towel . In our microwave I nuke it for 1 min and 20 secs. No soggy and evenly cooked.
I usually get the great value ones, but paper towel, 50% power for 1 min and then 40secs on high.
When ya buy them store them in the fridge not the freezer
I don’t go to McDonald’s because I got food that was half eaten so I just don’t eat fast food except chick filet but i dont have one.
I can get a pound of ground beef for $5 or less, a package of buns for $1.50, and a bag of tater tots for $3.50. That can easily feed four people. These aren't even sale prices. Go ahead and try to get a burger and fries for four adults for $10 at a fast food place. Lol
(P.S. I am a grown up so I have about 20 bottles of condiments in the fridge at all times so I didn't include those prices)
Also, am I Missing something? How hard is it to put an english muffin in the toaster, scramble some eggs, stack a slice of ham and cheese on them and slide it onto the muffin? That's about five minutes, including clean up.
Also, he is in California. How is his OJ expensive????
How are the hash browns that much?!? Weren't they 2/$1 not even that long ago?
fyi… i was in the mood for fries 🍟and the free fry 🍟was not on the app today😥
Jimmy Dean has a vegetarian crossanwich (with a realistic sausagey taste) that is incredible. However, the hashbrowns you heat up at home just don't compare lol
This is great! Thank you for sharing this!
Side note Mc Donald’s in OH has hash browns 2 for $3
I have to remind myself if I’m going to eat out I’m paying someone else to cook for me! 😅
And since Covid that cost has gone way up!
I get fast food maaaayybe 2 or 3 times a year because, at their pricing, I kinda expect candles and metal flatware.
I still do those little burgers
I make all our food at home.. We had to change to low fat and low salt. I'm getting better at building flavors and using herbs to make our dishes tasty. Sometimes I'm even amazed that its better than our local restaurants. Plus I've lost 16 pounds. Win win
Fast food prices are definitely crazy, but you can get good deals with apps for every restaraunt, but what you're getting really makes a difference. I find you can get good deals at McDonald's if you're getting the pricier foods.
For me, I just want a low out of pocket cost so i get a meal at burger King for a little over $3.
I get 2 cheeseburgers 1.59 each and use the coupon for a free fry with any purchase (choose size large). Just bring a water bottle with me or get water when I get home.
I remember paying .55 for a combo at McDonald’s. now $10. Crazy
I went to Taco Bueno the other day and ordered nachos and a drink and it was nearly $15.
Hadn't been to a McDs in about a year.. Had a craving for their breakfast chicken sandwich. I was there at 330 am. Girl say we don't serve breakfast , until 4 am. So I looked at the regular menu and about had a heart attack!! OMG A big Mac value meal was almost $9... I remember last time there is was about $6.. Unreal.. Let alone the hash browns used to be $1 and now they are $1.99 now for ONE!
Dave - you were seeing the breakfast sammies at Jacksons or Maverick. Yeah Yeah - that's where you saw them. When you were getting gas. LOL. We do the McDonald's every now and then. I get in a mood so I'll throw french fries in the air fryer and then run to pick up my 2 Quarter Pounders with cheese (via the BOGO on the app), pay my $5.19 and be on my merry way. By the time I get home, my fries are done and have had the extra few minutes to rest making them crispier. And it's considered 'date night' with 1 of my 3 boys each time we go. We rotate. Then we'll kick it in their room and eat our hamburgers and fries. I told my middle son yesterday that they were putting up a Chipotle right around the corner of his house in Meridian. He's 22 and none of my kids had ever had it before. It was always too much money for a family meal. So now that he's working, he's looking forward to trying it. Basically so he can recreate it for his meal prep for lunch.
I’ve actually seen Mc griddle dupes from Jimmy Dean. I think they were at my local Kroger store. I am with you that they are infinitely superior to the other breakfast sandwiches.
They have them at Dollar Tree pretty regularly too!
If the hash browns are 5.58/2 then they are more than 2 50 each. More like 2.77 each.
Here's the awdul part of orange juice. they take the oranges, extractt the sugar from the oranges, and then add orange flavor to the sugar from the orange juice. you might as well have kool aid. Eat oranges, drink water.
I don’t know how to make knock off hash browns, but I can make an egg mc muff in two minutes for way cheaper!
My husband and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. $65.00 later we were done. For just two people
So true. The last time we went to IHOP was over ten years ago- breakfast for 2 was over $40. Ten years ago, that was A LOT. I was so mad, I wanted to cry.
You could always get the plain sausage sandwiches and doctor them up at home if you want. Then wrap them up for on the go.
I think mcdonalds is trolling you Christine 😂 in this video I've had 2 mcdonalds ads 🤣
MSG makes those hash browns taste good. Same with Jimmy Dean.
What is the Costco breakfast sandwich? In the deli or frozen?
I’m guessing the frozen section.
I don't buy any fast food. Only an occasional Chipotle but haven't been there in months
Most gro stores have breakfast to go in their deli area
I remember when McDonald had a Big Mac, ff and a coke for $1. Everything for $1. 😮
You can get deals on the gift cards this time of the year. Buy a McDonalds $100 gc get $15 of your groceries.
McD has great coupons and deals in the app. It is overpriced obviously but the app makes it easier.
Eating out is so much more expensive, but I totally understand the conveience.
I'd love to come on your podcast to share about money saving tips with fruits and vegetables. I went viral on IG for my strawberries in a jar and have so many helpful tips to share with your audience. I'd love to be able to promote your podcast for my followers on IG as well. My PR manager has been looking for a good email to use to contact you so we can get connected. Thank you!
Total highway robbery...that McD's breakfast shouldn't cost more than $5 per person, including tax.
A few months ago my daughter wanted McD's fries; a large fry out the door was over $6. I almost had a heart attack 😂
I never buy orange juice. But when I'm flying, I always get the orange juice.
Can we see a party food on a budget!?
Not me getting a notification from McDonald's as I'm watching this...
I’m now craving McDonald’s breakfast 😂!!!