$3.24

The McDonalds Value Menu Kicks Ass

I should begin by saying right up front that I am emphatically NOT being compensated in any way for this blog-based endorsement of McDonalds. Which really sucks. Ronald, bubby, give me a call, I’m sure we can work something out. I’ll shill whatever you want to my 18 loyal readers if you make it worth my while.

Right, so, McDonalds has this dollar menu. I always sort of knew it was there, and I’ve occasionally ordered off of it, but I didn’t look at it very closely. It turns out, there’s a double-cheeseburger on it (one slice of cheese, which I didn’t want anyway), a small French fries on it, and a small soda on it, among other things. I don’t eat at McDonalds much – my family and I felt that we were spending way too much money eating fast food, and the nutrition was terrible, so we cut it out almost entirely several months ago. And, in general, we haven’t missed it at all. I know I haven’t.

But today I was in a serious hurry. I needed to get from one end of town to the other to teach a class, I was starving, and I had zero time to fiddle around with food. I didn’t want to spend much, but I wanted to eat in a big hurry. I decided McDonalds was the answer and I’d try to eat off the dollar-menu if possible. Sure enough, I walked out with a soda and a bag of food for the low, low price of $3.24. I can’t think of the last time I ate a full meal from any restaurant that cheaply. It wasn’t a lot of food, but I didn’t need a lot. It probably wasn’t the healthiest thing I’ve ever eaten, either, but one meal won’t kill me. Apparently it totaled 670 calories and 34 grams of fat, which is roughly 1/3 of my total daily recommended calorie intake but over half what I ought to get in fat. But it did get me on my way really fast for barely any money and filled my tummy. Mission accomplished! If I were less lazy, there are probably even healthier alternatives between McDonalds own menu items and other restaurants, but then laziness is central to my character.

I think it just surprises me that you can buy an actual meal for three and a quarter and get change back (albeit in the form of one measly little copper penny). And, if I'm honest with myself, I don’t really need the fries and might choose to forgo them in the future, which drops the fat and calorie count by a fair bit. They’re just so darn tasty, and I’m all about tasty. And cheap. And lazy. Yep, that about sums me up. But at least my laziness doesn’t interfere with my commitment to share finds like these with you, my fine readers, with or without an endorsement deal.

Preferably with.