Actually, I only ate there last month to play the Monopoly contest. I got every property in both the online and "offline" games..... except the ones that actually GIVE prizes.

They'll be back down next month.

Oooh! Snackies in a Sack! Now over 90% real food...

@Applekid: Unfortunately, the other 10% is melamine. Yay kidney failure!

Say what you will about McDonald's...doublecheeseburgers are like manna from the skies.

It's probably just that my husband ate there so much last month. I don't know why but he was going there for lunch at least once a week, which is a ton for us.

Might wanna check your grammar in that first sentance.

@MercuryPDX: I won a free breakfast sandwich in mine, I was mildly excited.

@SSDDR: Might want to check your spelling, genius.

Don't be a food nazi ...
Every now and then a Big Mac hits the spot!

Ditto White Castle. Deal with it.

I know I was probably a contributor to those #s last month. They just put one in near my work and I know I went there quite often.

Then the novelty wore off and I figured the stomach pains were not worth it.

They might be on to something. McDonalds provides cheap "food" during this recession. Who cares if it tastes like cardboard or leaves your body as fast as you can ingest it?

I'm guilty of contributing to their October sales. Won't do that again.

"Good food costs is more expensive"

I Kan Haz Cats!?!

--Rehire your editor C.

@SSDDR:

Major ouch, baby.

Perfect title.

@MercuryPDX: We did the same thing. The 25% off foot locker coupon actually came in handy because I needed a new pair of sneakers.

My BF's biggest vice seems to be participating in McDonald's Monopoly every year. I figure it's better for us and our wallets to eat at McD's more in October every year than it is to go to Vegas or drink a lot or get hookers or whatever, so October was southern-style chicken sandwich and Big Mac month in our house.

We call it the 99 cent Downer Cow Special, the beatings help to tenderize the beef.

It won't kill ya once a week or so! I admit it. I eat there. Long day....exhausting schedule? Yup.

@downwithmonstercable: Indeed. The local Taco Bell pissed me off for the last time, so I jumped on the DBLCXB bandwagon. Long as I keep exercising, I'm not regretting it.

I find it ironic that folks posting on this relatively enlightened blog eat McDonald's. It's antithetical to the spirit of this site.

If I eat a McDonald's value meal with a shake, I feel so sick that I don't eat for several days.

This saves me $$$$$.

Thank you, Ronald!

McDonalds is super expensive, not cheap. Good food that you cook yourself is definitely not more expensive than eating at McDonald's and having someone prepare it for you. The problem people have is laziness and lack of cooking skills, not an inability to afford food beyond McDonald's.

there was some blogger that did a foodstamps diet on $35 a week. they ate a lot of beans. they actually had a balanced diet of 2500 calories a day (although the 87g of fat and 344g carbs were shockers to me) however they had absolutely no meat. all the protein was from beans, cheese and i think eggs but i'm not sure on that last one. while it's doable, is it really so unreasonable for people to expect meat to be a part a regular part of their diet? considering we're omnivores and all and designed to process animal protein.

@ramthor: Not saying White Castle is bad, because every now and then your digestive system needs a good flushing.

I know McDonald's is bad, but this isn't as low as you can go. Free hot water + free tomato ketchup "soup" (add in butter if it's there) is as low as you can go when it comes to eating out, and was a popular depression-era meal for those on the ropes.

Really, McD's ain't style, but eating there doesn't yet sign the end of the economy... :-)

@katylostherart: Yes, I do think it's unreasonable to expect meat to be an everyday thing, if that's what you mean by "regular". The world literally cannot support, resource-wise, 6 billion people who eat a lot of meat. And I think it's about time that Americans stop using such a disproportionate share of resources. So while I think eating meat is perfectly fine, it should probably be a thing people eat a couple of times a week, rather than every day. That would be healthier, cheaper, and less wasteful/greedy.

@MercuryPDX:
I have a theory that White Castles are directly attributable to 15% of the drunk driving incidents in the Midwest. When I have had a few adult beverages, I CRAVE the Castle. At one point in my life, it was a common occurrence for a non-drinking friend to collect money and "storm the castle." I am pretty sure he made a nice profit on those runs.

Certainly a can of tomato soup with some herbs thrown in is cheaper, but it won't fill you up like a ton of carbs and grease will. Ugh. I think this is people trading down...instead of having crappy food at Applebee's, we'll pay less and have even crappier food at McDonalds, and we won't look at what it'll do to our bodies or to our health.

We cut back on our eating out, but we've compensated for that by cooking better (and still cheap). I made a whole week's worth of corn chowder for about $6.

The grilled chicken sandwich is not crap. It is a good deal. Going to some ritzy steakhouse and paying $90.00 for a steak dinner, now that is crap.

@katylostherart:

Expecting a big slab of meat at every meal, yes, that's unreasonable, and expensive. But a whole chicken is what, $4 or $6 (where I live anyway), you can get several meals worth of meat out of that, and if you're really industrious you can boil the carcass and make broth to cook your beans and rice with.

Sadly it's the easiest option when your run into one of those 16-hour a day weeks where you eat at work for all three meals...

Good food costs is more expensive

@johnva:

Your right to a certain extent.

Although I am sure the 99 cent double was cheaper than the ones I tested from my kitchen last week, I know mine kicked them right in the rear, and had that extra TLC one contributes when making things themselves.

Thinly formed patties, cheese, and a cast iron skillet make one heck of a tastey burger in no time at all. Went over very well with me and the wife. Give my grill a run for the money. Never thought I would say that.

I can say I didn't have any McDonald's in the month of October, but I think my wife and stepdaughter did.

I did have a Bacon and Egg biccuit this morning though.

@johnva: good jump there. take a word, define it as you see fit, then attack. i see that you said "if that's what you mean" but the assumption was kind of necessary to make your point i guess.

there was NO meat in this guy's diet. if i went hunting i'd have a pretty decent chance of having meat every day btw if i took down one deer every couple of weeks by myself. out of one cow you can have meat every day for one meal for weeks. if you went fishing for a couple hours a day, chances are you'd have more fish for dinner than not. really, up until the tail end of winter, fresh game isn't that rare and therefore still part of a natural diet especially when dried.

it's not that unreasonable to expect your natural diet to be, well, natural. as a nation i'm sure we overdo it, but that's not what i was being a proponent for and that's not what i said.

You can tell if you are out with a Consumerist reader because they begin scoffing uncontrollably whenever McDonalds is in the vicinity.

I eat at McDonalds sometimes. I order the same thing as I do at every fast food restaurant. I get 2 items off the $1 menu and a water.

@katylostherart: Well, it's hard to tell what you're arguing since you didn't link to the blog you're talking about. I'd be interested to read it if you have the URL handy.

We definitely do "overdo" meat as a nation. I'm only saying that if you're poor enough to require food stamps, it's not really reasonable to expect that you can eat a "normal" American diet. And that's not necessarily a bad thing; it's just different.

@johnva: Screw that. America has cows. So eat 'em.

A country with no cows, they can have their beans.

@ceriphim: I don't know about that. I think an easier option would be to get something you can divide into a number of meals. Good options if you must have someone else prepare it for you would be sub shop sandwiches. Another good one, even if you're really poor, is to make a big pot of soup in advance and bring it in individual cups. Then you can eat healthy meals that are made from good food, and do it quickly. I used to eat there, but I will not under any circumstances eat McDonald's "food" anymore. The thought makes me sick.

@AD8BC Beef would be a lot more expensive if it weren't for subsidies for feed crops, etc and international trade. And if you start factoring in all the energy inputs to our agricultural system, it's pretty laughable to think that America is self-sufficient... We don't have any more "right" to it than any other country. And the fact is, that as more people than ever rise out of poverty, competition for resources will rise. You may find that we have to reevaluate certain aspects of our lifestyle in the future.

@IHaveAFreezeRay: I agree, this is probably people trading down from better restaurants. What I don't understand, though, is why people do that rather than just eating out less often. I'd much rather eat out once a month or so and eat something good rather than eat out just as often but eat crappier food.

My wife and I discovered that it's cheaper to eat lunch and dinner off of Value Menus during the week than buy groceries.

I feel so dirty.

The American consumer is as illogical as the US Govt. It's still cheaper to go to a grocery store, buy food, cook it. Even after you add the cost to drive to the store, heat to cook the food and water and soap to wash the dishes.

Is there a correlation, say Olive Garden/Pizza Hut's profits down because people would rather go to McDonald's. I wonder.

Tofu is cheap and healthy. Add some veggies, and you got a meal.

@G-Dog: Are you factoring in the long-term health costs?

Also, that's just not true unless you're not planning meals very well and/or buying a lot of prepackaged processed food.

@johnva: [tinotopia.com]

i didn't say a normal american diet either. i used the word "people" and as a part of a regular diet based on the fact we're omnivores. the fact that i mentioned foodstamps is the only thing that aims it towards america but i really do mean humans in general. other than religious reasons or personal ethics it is not unreasonable to expect meat, in some form, to be a part of your regular diet. it has nothing to do with being an american. this goes for the world, as a human being there are a few things you are entitled to biologically just for existing and a balanced diet fit for the digestive tract nature gave you is one of them.

I still haven't eaten at McDonald's in years. Maybe it was the sonic diarrhea.

@katylostherart: Meat is not necessary for a balanced diet. Protein is, but meat is not. And again, I have no problem with people eating meat regularly. I just have a problem with the expectation that many Americans have that it should be an everyday thing. I'm not saying that's what you're saying, so don't get all offended.

@johnva: It's the culture...we are conditioned to want, take, have. There's no discipline left anymore in people's lives. We can't possibly bear to go without something, even temporarily, because we're told that the bigger picture doesn't matter. It's okay to feel good now, regardless of what $6 burger combos will do to your arteries, your wallet and your waistline. We eat out probably once or twice a month, and sometimes a little more if we have plans with friends. But we don't fret about it because we cook almost every weekend, buy generic brand foods, and stay away from cookies, candy and other things that will damage our health in the long run and establish bad habits.

When I was younger I didn't eat McDonalds because my friends told me the burgers were made of ostrich meat (even though that would be the improvement over the rat meat they really use). Now I am older and I don't eat McDonalds because it wreaks havoc on my stomach and I feel completely drained and like garbage after I eat it. Even the iced coffee makes me feel drained. Wtf?