[hyperpower]

$35 for 6 meals for two people at McDonalds? What?

Where I live, one meal at McDonalds is about $12. So 6 * 2 * 12 = $144. Not that much of a difference.

Also, if you aimed for 2200 calories per person per day with that $170, then it isn't really fair comparing to a single McDonald's meal, is it? It sounds like buying whole foods is cheaper.

[wahern]

Does McDonalds not have the $5 McValue Meals where you live? In the Bay Area, $5 + tax gets you a McChicken, 4 chicken nuggets, small fries, and small drink. $6 to upgrade to a McDouble cheeseburger instead of the McChicken. Altogether ~1000 calories per meal.

That's darn good value for your money, at least for a prepared hot meal that's convenient in most locales. $5 for ~1000 calories, plus the ingredients are fortified; the lack of fiber notwithstanding, it's not a horrible thing to eat several times a week. I live in SF where McDonalds is not very convenient, and where food prices, including prepared takeout, aren't too bad if you know where to go--my wife sometimes brings empty casserole dishes to one of our friendly neighborhood Chinese restaurants to fill up, without paying extra, though for us it's fortunately more about convenience when raising two kids with a bunch of extracurriculars than it is about penny pinching.

FWIW, I love cooking and cook as much as I can, usually at least 3 times a week, which with leftovers means 4 or 5 dinners. But between cooking, cleaning, and shopping, it can be be quite time consuming, and excepting myself, the rest of the family isn't keen on eating beans 3 nights a week. (I'm only allowed to make Red Beans & Rice a few times a year. Ditto for similar big pot meals :(

[1718627440]

Here it is more like $5 gets you a coke at McDonalds.

[wahern]

Have you used the app? You may need to use the app to get the McValue and similar lower-priced menu items. It's a brilliant price discrimination strategy.

[1718627440]

I don't even have a smartphone. Why should I put up with these insane prices even with a discount by tracking, when I can buy the same thing for <1€ at the grocery store that is literally in the same building 10meters away.

[wahern]

Using the app a small soda at McDonald's is ~$1 ($1.14 near me, but that may include the SF soda tax). Less than $2 for a large for those beckoning diabetes.

But soda is definitely cheaper elsewhere, and drinks, even soda, are usually a profit center for almost any restaurant, but a loss leader at grocery stores. I remember in the mid 1990s when Coca-Cola and then Pepsi were trying to stem the tide of a decline in sales. They drastically lowered prices through certain channels, particularly grocery stores and, most memorably, vending machines outside grocery stores, where the price dropped from $0.50-$0.75 to $0.25 for a 12oz can. Almost overnight poor and working class people switched from cheaper alternatives like Kool-Aid (which was healthier--much less sugar!) to Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

I agree the app is exceptionally inconvenient, unless someone else in the car is ordering, as well as privacy intrusive. But my point is merely that McDonald's is trying to cater to price-sensitive consumers without taking a hit to their revenue, and doing so more effectively than any other fast food chain.

[BriggyDwiggs42]

Yup i second this mcdonalds is cheap but they hid it as best as they can. You can minmax a good meal with 7.80 or so.

[bastawhiz]

Sorry, I didn't multiply by two; it would have been $70. I checked the nutrition facts on the menu, it was a mix of meal deals and had nearly the same calorie counts that I was aiming for. Still less than half the cost of groceries (minus all the food I already had).

But if we're talking about the balance of macronutrients, I'd love to hear how you manage to beat the cost of fast food with legumes/nuts/yogurt and don't have a huge percentage of your calories from fat. 40g of protein from almonds is nearly a thousand calories and 90g of fat. 40g of protein from black beans is five Chipotle bowl orders worth of beans or four cups of fava beans. 35g of protein from nonfat Greek yogurt is nearly 3/4 of a pound of yogurt. If you can't stand to eat nearly a pound of nonfat yogurt in one sitting like most of the population, you'll only get 30g of protein from a 32oz tub and spend as much as a McDonald's sandwich (and get the same amount of fat).

[ac29]

> I'd love to hear how you manage to beat the cost of fast food with legumes/nuts/yogurt and don't have a huge percentage of your calories from fat

Lentils are $2/lb and a pound has approx 100g of protein. They've a little less than 1g of fat per 10g of protein.

[cma]

"For only $11.99, the 40 piece Chicken McNuggets® from @mcdonalds will get you right for tournament time."

That will get you 5000 calories for $36 if you are willing to only eat mcnuggets. Plus the sauce.