McDonald's has lost their place. They think that just because they decorate their stores like a Millennial's minimalist dream hellscape that it suddenly makes a McChicken $2.49. No. It's the same god damned sandwich I could buy 15 years ago, 2/$1. A couple friends and I once bought dinner there on couch cushion change and the few bucks we had in our pockets. And it was glorious. And I know the McDonalds' around me are still paying $9-10 an hour. Like they were in '09. I'm not convinced the cost of everything else justifies the annihilation of the Dollar Menu.

It used to be that I went to McDonald's because I was broke, tired, and hungry. I wasn't going there because I wanted to be there. I was going there because I was burning the candle at both ends and was just desperate for anything that wasn't meatless spaghetti I cooked last Wednesday. It was an inexpensive morale boost. I just can't find a reason to go there anymore. For the money, there are WAY better options. We have more local chains that blow McDonalds out of the water.

Taco Bell is going the same route, but at least the food is consistently pretty good. I mean, it's pretty hard to fuck up a bean burrito. But is a bean burrito really $1.79 now? I get they can't be 79¢ forever, but damn, man. I just feel bad for broke college kids these days. You really can't get a cheap meal anymore.

And don't get me wrong - I'd happily pay today's prices if I knew the workers were being paid $20 an hour like they should be, but I know they're not. Not in Oklahoma.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

There are meals for under $1?? Where???

The fact that McDonald's still has their 1,2,3 dollar menu is a joke. The cheapest thing on there is just over $2.

Had a friend in college who would sneak into an All-You-Can-Eat buffet restaurant through the kitchen (former dishwasher who had some friends there) and carry off boxes of food at the end of every night. He claimed that his food costs were under $.15/day, with most of that just going to dishwasher detergent.

Significantly healthier than the All-Ramen diet and cheaper even than the dorm cafeteria which typically clocked in at around $2-3/day.

He saved up about $2000 by the end of the year as a result and - being the savvy investor that he was - bet it all on LUNA coin. I got to hear this as I was in his dorm room to talk him out of killing himself.

"I have a Kraft Single between two white-bread heels."

"SOLD!"

I was a master at getting free food in college. I'd just walk into events, sometimes ones I wasn't invited to, grab food, and leave. Oftentimes my college wouldn't post bouncers at every entrance to the buildings, so getting into private stuff was ridiculously easy.

There was also a time where going to the career fair would get me extra credit for a class. You had to pay to get in, though. I just walked in the side door, got the proof that I was there, took some food they were serving, and left.

You can do so much if you act like you belong.

10/10 would recommend doing this as much as possible.

you can get 90% of your calories from bananas, like native ultramarathoners in south anerica do.

When I was in college there was a bowling alley with "$1.50 a scoop Chinese", for 5 dollars you could get a Togo clamshell that would barely close and get 2 or 3 meals out of it.

for me it was powdered mashed potatos and ramen noodles.

Can haz

I wasn't a great cook by any means in college but I grew around a lot of spices. And apparently all the kids loved my cooking. They bought food and washed dishes any time I mentioned I would cook. I felt guilty because all I was doing was adding spices (oh they chopped as well, though I was the only one who could mince garlic and ginger right). But they loved it. I got free food most of college that way.

When I was in college in the mid aughts, there was a Taco Bell across the street from campus. Only place I could get full on $3.

I just ate whatever my mom cooked the day before or went to the Chinese restaurant during lunch. 🧐

My university gradually replaced all the affordable on campus place with over priced prestige brands. The coffee places all got swapped with Starbucks and doubled in price. The on campus taco mayo got replaced with a chipotle.