Comments on: More frugal relativism courtesy of Wendys

By: Fast Food Coffee | rocket finance

Fast Food Coffee | rocket finance — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:20:08 +0000

[...] Best Value – Wendy’s Dollar Menu [...]

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:33:45 +0000

What a great reality check. It’s easy to get fooled by false economies of “cheap” meals. And what a fabulous way to use your stimulus rebate.

By: rocketc

rocketc — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:06:09 +0000

Yeah. . . well that is not always the case . . . I still manage to be overweight.

By: Aaron Stroud

Aaron Stroud — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:50:20 +0000

I believe kudos are in order for sticking to such small portions!

By: Feed a family of five for less than $200 | rocket finance

Feed a family of five for less than $200 | rocket finance — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:30:31 +0000

[...] her already busy schedule with three children, however, she managed to write a response to some of you who expressed some curiosity about how she feeds our family of five on less than $200 a month. From Mrs. [...]

By: rocketc

rocketc — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:53:21 +0000

There is something about the smell of fast-food before you eat it that is addictive. That Big Mac, Whopper or Spicy Chicken from Wendy’s sounds so good when your stomach is empty.

Plus the fact that your belly knows that you can have the meal in about a minute in a half . . .

It is a temptation that I try to resist – many times unsuccessfully.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:21:59 +0000

I agree, fast food is NOT a bargain. It is a luxury that comes at a cost. Our weekly grocery bill is $80-120/week depending on what we buy… dinner at Wendy’s (which we ate last night, dh went out and picked it up) costs us about $15, not counting gas. That ain’t cheap, it’s really not! And the fries were over-salted to boot.

I honestly don’t know why we eat fast food. It’s a habit I despise and I cringe when we spend that money on it. But there are nights when it’s the path of “least resistance.” Which means I need to do a better job planning. I was thinking that we could have had a steak dinner, grilled by dh, for the cost of a trip to Wendy’s!

I think I could cook quite a few really nice meals, with “extras” for the cost of a meal at Wendy’s and have leftovers to boot. And it would save us from our apathetic decision-making process where we go back and forth and don’t really have any enthusiasm for the “cheap meal” that we’re trying to decide on. My family would be so much better off if I could eliminate the occassional fast-food from our meal plan. It’s something I’m working towards!

By: Funny about Money

Funny about Money — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:43:23 +0000

Hm. Could I hire Mrs. Rocket to shop for me? At the rate she’s going, she could save so much I could afford to pay her union wages and still come out to the good!

Fast food has always seemed like a retro-bargain to me: one that looks like it’s cheap but isn’t. Eating out is always pricey compared to dining at home–but come ON! Sometimes a person gets to eat out.

However, look at what the family ate: greasy hamburgers, greasy fried chicken, and greasy fried potatoes. This isn’t going to do any harm once in a while. But if a person ate like that all the time (as apparently many folks do), what you save in restaurant bills you’ll spend many times over in medical bills. It might have been more economical–in the long term–to have gone across the street and spent twice as much on healthier food…if that’s what they were selling.

By: What are Your REAL Savings?

What are Your REAL Savings? — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:08:53 +0000

[...] Stages of a Product’s Life — Saving You Money on Replacing Expensive Household Items – Is This Meal at Wendy’s Really Frugal? Some Related Posts: Frugality: Increasing Your Quality of Life for Less.My investing [...]

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:04:12 +0000

I already knew my little family was eating way too much takeout and that it was costing serious money, but you have really put the cost into perspective.

I did want to point out, though, that for some segments of the population it can be really hard to buy food in advance to make this stuff at home, and that’s when they *have* homes. I don’t think that most people who have time to read a lot of blogs will have that problem, but some people do, and it’s just one more way that it is expensive to be poor: economy of scale really is beyond their means.

That sure isn’t our problem around here, though, and I’ve got half a mind that if we’re going to eat junk anyway, to go out and get the ground beef, buns, and potatoes and make this crap at home. Even if we got the preformed raw patties it would be cheaper than Wendy’s.