Use. Your. Ovens.
But I’m allergic to mittens.
Don’t have one, don’t have space to have one, don’t have money to get one, don’t have any hope to ever get a place with one. Just like evergrowing amount of people.
That really blows. Are you living in one of those chinese/japanese domiciles that are essentially just cages for people?
Sardine-culture aside, perhaps you can try an air fryer. I honestly have never used one, but it seems like something people would recommend as a replacement and they take up a fraction of the space.
Get a cook top. Even nice ones are like 100 bucks. Even induction ones and compatible pans are cheap. Five or six fast food visits and you could’ve bought enough to cook a massive variety of cheap meals.
Thankfully, I’m in pretty good position, I don’t live in US, so my diet consists of food, not of sugar and sawdust. I do have an induction cooktop, and can confirm it’s indeed amazing. My enormous privilege aside, I would like to some day get into the oven territory.
Five or six fast food visits and you could’ve bought enough
But this is the main problem. It’s boots theory all over. For people living paycheck to paycheck the calculation of “if I don’t eat for a week I can invest into myself” doesn’t sound as appealing as for people who can afford to do a little bit of savings.
Yea I agree with you from the perception angle. Being poor is a disgusting trap that the US should be fully ashamed that it still exists.
… Though mathematically, only a fool pays piecemeal for the PRODUCT of what they could do themselves for much, much less. A week of suffering to open up your food options is a strategic move more people should and can make.
If they were truly, completely unable to save money, they wouldn’t be the audience going to fast food that we’re talking about, as fast food is also beyond the truly poor’s budget.
You can get A LOT more food from groceries than fast food for the same price, so if they’re going to fast food and complaining about never being able to afford things… I have good news for them!
For a lot of people in America, a lot a lot, all those people whom I am talking about, there is no such choice.
They’re in food deserts, they’re overworked to death, they don’t have skills, they don’t have equipped kitchens, they don’t have time to cook, they don’t have energy to do it.
It’s a bootstraps problem. How can I work good job and can happily spend an evening cooking a nice meal, but half of Americans can’t? Well, obviously because they’re lazy and probably stupid. Not because of the enormous privilege I have, one so big I can’t even recognise the problems they’re facing.No one is asking people to spend all evening cooking gourmet meals. Many, many, MANY food items, like a toasted tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, mac n cheese, frying up some eggs, whipping up pre mixed pancakes, etc… They all take less time than it takes to drive to a fast food place, order food, and either drive back, or sit and eat it.
But noooo, let’s choose to be a victim of our own circumstances instead of trying to improve things in the little ways we can control! You are so wise for rolling over and giving up.
because of the enormous privilege I have, one so big I can’t even recognise the problems they’re facing.
Well, I don’t recognise a problem, it probably doesn’t exist then.
A toaster oven can do most things that a full-sized oven can do.
It’s broken.
Can’t I grill food? Or cook it on the range? Why do I have to use my oven to make meals?
You can if you want to.
Using an oven is just easier and should appeal more to the kind of person that is used to eating out all the time because of how low-effort it is.
A Costco hot dog+soda is still $1.50, and good.
Steak and Shake is still pretty cheap too, and darn good.
Cheap fast food is still out there… if you know where to look. But it’s definitely not McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A or any of the giga chains.
Steak and Shake went all in on the MAGA grift. Their official Twitter page posted that they would be only using beef tallow from now on and they had several fucking Teslas in the image.
They have several posts like this
Well fuck, looks like I won’t be getting more steak and shake seasoning. Not even worth stealing it off the table if they’re shitbirds.
McDonald’s has gotten a little better if you order just right. They’ve added buy one get one for $1, and if you use the app you can pretty much use an app deal or reward every time you order. But there are still items that are expensive and don’t have deals, so sticking to the cheaper items limits your menu.
That feeling of regret when eating some mid fast food is the worst lol.
Fast food and major chains have gotten absurd. I used a gift card at Red Robin a couple months back. It was $19 before tip for a dry burger and bland fries. Two bucks more could’ve gotten me a seat and meal at a five-star local place just down the street. The value just isn’t there anymore. Eating local almost always tastes better, feels better, and costs the same or less. Why settle for mediocrity when better is right around the corner?
Obligatory: $25
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I fel sorry for people whondont have an Aldi or a local equivalent
In & Out is still cheap, but the line is regularly all the way around the block where the place is at every location, so it’s hard to say it’s fast food.
They’re also not in a lot of the US or in international markets.
Urgh I can’t argue about the price and quality of their burgers but man it feels bad to support the people that run it. They’re big time conspiracy MAGAts 🤢
Well fuck… Can’t have shit 😩
Thing is, I make more than ever, but yet due to increased (mostly) energy costs, I can afford nothing.
Few years ago I was able to eat a few times a week out, but nowadays I eat at most a few times a month. Base price for döner was 6-7 euros, now they are starting off 12 euros. However my salary has not doubled. Lately, I usually just pick up take away food for the kids, not for us parents.
I was able to upgrade my phone once a year or two, now I’ve been using the same phone (even with screen cracked) for 3,5 years.
Best thing last, I’m a co-founder for a fabrication company. We aren’t turning profit because everything is expensive. Our costs have doubled, and salary costs gone up 75%. It would be easier to just run the business down nowadays than struggle.
The downtown experience: $45 burger with a side of truffle fries. It’s mediocre at best.
Lol, and they charge you for the fries.
Wtf? 45 usd for a burger? That is insane
Only one specific hipster place I’m thinking of in Downtown but yeah. Lol
But my kids get a “free” toy. 🤷
Only fast food that is worth the money is Döner Kebab. But man they went up more than 100% in price in the last 15 years.
I used to buy one each Friday on my way home from school for 3€, now they are 6.50€ at the same place. Still a lot cheaper and way more tasty than most other fast food, so I still consider it king.Yeah… I stopped eating out at places that were “just okay”.
Like I’m willing to pay 4-5 euros for a “just okay” hamburger. But for 9 -15 I expect it to be top notch. If it isn’t top notch I’ll fire up the old frying pan myself and make a burger/fast food for like €. 3?
Beef, veal, lamb or chicken? I don’t like chicken döner but veal/lamb are amazinnnnggg.
And you have to consider EVERYTHING has gotten expensive, so its a blessing döner is still affordable.
Fast food chains can die in a fire though. Their price hikes are in no way fair or justifiable.
If you know what meat your kebab is made from, it’s not a real kebab shop.
Where I go they have multiple cones or whatever they’re called
Oooh fancy lads! Kebab shops near me have exactly one stick and I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what meat it was. The only thing I know it definitely isn’t, is pork.
Street food/food trucks are the real fast food now. Chains are just shitty restaurants
Yup, cuz corporate greed. Shareholders keep pressuring companies to increase profits EVERY QUARTER.
Frozen pizzas are better then fast food. Even the lowest tier.
This is a baffling opinion. Frozen pizzas are almost always fucking dogshit.
Sometimes I grab a pizza from the refrigerator isle at my local Lidl. They’re definitely not fresh or gourmet quality, but for 2.90€ and 15 minutes in the oven, you really can’t complain
“than”.
Eeeew what? I mean fast food is trash, but i’d rather eat the cardboard box than a cheap frozen pizza. And if you buy an expensive frozen pizza you might as well make one yourself that is cheaper and better
Hard agree. You can also break them in half or into quarters and cook them in smaller portions. This is how my partner and I save money on eating out. We usually eat out due to some combination of being tired or lazy, or craving salty, greasy food. This hits all the major potential bases but keeps us from gorging on pizza or wasting what we can’t eat.
And the higher end ones are just GOOD.
Its a similar price to fast food, I can just keep a few in the freezer and I can add some little extras to make them more to my taste or chuck some leftover stuff on them to use it up.
Little bit of garlic powder, some cracked pepper and some chilli flakes…
$25 for fast food for a single person? Two McDoubles, a small fry and a small drink is $11.05 here in Canada. More than enough food for a quick meal.
Eww McDonals. I’d rather just go hungry
Those arent denominated in the same currency, so direct comparisons of prices are somewhat… fraught.
Dude, $11 CDN is $7.87 USD. If anything, the difference in currency amplifies my point.
Which is why it is fraught. Glad we’re on the same page.
Huh… Turns out my understanding of the definition of the word fraught was wrong. Thanks for making me learn something today.
In the US I use the app to get 2 mcchickens and a large fry on Friday for $4. Does the job just fine.
We also have a $5 mcdouble, 4pc mcnugget, small fry and small drink combo. You can’t just walk in and order what you want if you want a good price, unfortunately - but theres still some value to be had if you at least try - that $5 combo is on the app, drive through board, and the in store kiosk.
I spent roughly 16 USD on my order, I normally got two bacon mcdoubles no onions, a large fry and a large lemonade. This same meal used to be 11/12$ less than 4 years ago
