Or they don't have enough time to make real food for their family because they work shit jobs that pay shit and don't want to spend an hour making a real dinner

Damn, fast food places take EBT cards? Well shit.. that should not be. If it has to be, then it should ONLY be for areas that really and truly have no grocery stores.. When there is a grocery store, I would support EBT being quite limited to staple foods but it would take a long time to work out what that is exactly since not everyone is identical.
I may have to go on EBT again and I hate to even be considering it, but the simple fact is that I have qualified for it now since I got out of the hospital :( It's hard to do a lot when I'm at 20% heart strength but the fact is I have a lot of pride still and hate to admit that I should be using that help. I would NEVER, EVER use that aid for fast food!! Thats bullshit.

http://s13.postimg.org/u2pqk0kt3/kfc_ebt.jpg


http://s30.postimg.org/vv5jil08h/burger_king_ebt.jpg

http://s1.postimg.org/s1eahqk6n/IMG_0096_1.jpg


What I have against this is the percentage of food money wasted on overpriced unhealthy junk. I feel everyone in America should eat well. This isn't eating well and certainly isn't maximizing a food budget


.

I agree, the consumer is hit twice. Price has been steadily increasing while the size of the goodies has been decreasing.

I guarantee you that I work more hours EVERY day (including weekends and holidays) than any "poor" person out there.
And so do most business owners.

I think you're way off the mark on that one.

Yes, fast food is convenient. But it also was pretty cheap. Not any more.

I got breakfast at McDonald's yesterday and tit cost me $14.82!!

You can go all-$1 menu but damn.

Good stuff. It means less people are eating their garbage.

Do you qualify for SSI?

I've also been dealing with some serious health issues over the past year or so. Havent worked at all since January. Was rejected for SSI earlier this year but re-applied and am hoping to hear back shortly. It's been a nightmare. I have to eat healthy but am generally too fatigued to cook so ive been ordering healthy take-out food 3x per day which adds up pretty quickly. Havent tried for ebt as i have enough savings to last for another 5-6 months at my current spending level and only order take-out so i wouldnt be able to really use it for the time being. The ssi would be nice, though. I think its like $800/month. I will have no qualms taking it because i truly have not been able to work this year and would only use it until i return to full health. Or at least 80% or so full health at which point ill be ready to start working again.

There's a difference between using the system and abusing the system. Given that the system exists, its fine to use it if necessary so long as you don't abuse it. At least that's how i feel.

Anyway, good luck with everything!

Yeah, it's ridiculously expensive here in the city. It's horrible food and simply not worth the price. You can get a bacon, egg, and cheese on a whole grain bagel and a banana from your local deli for like $4. Maybe even cheaper in your neighborhood. It's not terribly healthy but at least you know that you're getting real eggs and boar's head bacon instead of the over-processed frankenfood shit that passes for food at McDonalds.

Exactly. I felt like being a little bad for lunch today and wanted burgers. Needed milk and oj anyway so hit the store 2 blocks away and picked up some top shelf ground beef, fresh shitake mushrooms, a roll of Camembert cheese and bread. added onions and a little olive oil and spice and for less than 5$ we (2 people) had a delicious lunch. Cook time: About 30 minutes.

Its criminal what corporations get away with in the US. Add that to an increasing number of lazy, self-entitled people and we have 300 pound 12 year olds. Rock on!

Interesting. Assuming that one already has the olive oil, all the other items would probably be nearly twice as much at like a Whole Foods here in NYC. I thought Tokyo was more expensive.

We're about the same age and I remember being able to find enough loose change in my dad's pockets, the car seats and sofa cushions to get to McDonalds almost any time I wanted to. The regular hamburgers, they were small but hey I was a kid and and weighed 80 pounds, those were 20 cents, with cheese 25 cents, I'd get two of them, small fries were I think 20 cents, maybe even 15 cents, and a drink - all for less than a buck.

So like you I thought man fast food prices are so high today, I went and looked for how much the meal I ordered hundreds of times in the early 70's costs today.

Regular Hamburger $1.31x(2)=$2.62
Small French Fries $1.56
Medium Soft Drink $1.69
--------
Total $5.87

Then I went to Google to find an inflation calculator - used .90 cents in 1972 and according to the inflation calculator today that is $5.13. Not a big difference. They didn't even have the Quarter Pounder then, all McDonalds had was the small hamburgers/cheeseburgers, the Big Mac, french fries and hot apple pie and soft drinks/milkshakes.

TacoBell was the cheapest, even as an adult in my 20's and I think 30's, the tacos were 39 cents, hard to beat that. I had the misfortune once to see a kid bring in the TacoBell 'meat' in a clear plastic bag - a huge bag of gray mush. I wish I had never seen it. The Arby's roast beef 'product' is gross if you see a photo of it, which shocked me because when I look at an Arby's sandwich it looks like thinly sliced roast beef - it isn't :Oh crap

But penny candy really was penny candy, in fact a lot of the penny candy at the convenience store I spent way too much time at was 2 pieces of candy for 1 cent, depended on which candy. Double Bubble and Black Cat gum was 2 cents apiece.

That sucks, what happened to you?

"The typical net profit margin for a McDonald's Franchise is about 5.7%"

Not big profit margins for fast food chains, between 5-10% - when BurgerKing bought Tim Horton's I read that Tim's has a very high profit margin for the industry, 15 or 20%.

Candy is ridiculously expensive in NYC. Ralph Lauren's daughter has a candy store called Dylan's Candy Bar. More places like that and the candy bar at fao schwarz have been opening up and the prices are always high.

It saddens me when I see parents take their children to McDonalds for a treat. If they learn it at a young age that McD is a treat, they are going to eat a lot of that once they have their own money.

I think McDonalds should be a quick bite when you don't have the time to get anything else, but not a treat and not a regular thing.

The quality has gone way down, there are less and less in a burger. I have eaten a cheeseburger 2 weeks ago, it was the meat 2 slices of pickle, cheese and ketchup and mustard. No onions, so nothing.

And I agree with the guy with his another ex on his picture ( sorry can't remember the name ) , if you re on a budget why would you go out to eat McDonalds? You can make better at home with ingredients you actually control in not much longer time.

First was pneumonia last year. Started feeling fatigued in July and thought I was just getting old. Finally went to the ER in September and spent 11 days at the hospital and had to be on oxygen at home for a little more than a month afterward. Started feeling better, working, going out and about, and gaining back some weight in December. Then in mid-january, i started feeling like shit again, went to the ER, and found out I had a bacterial infection in my stomach. Kind of like tb, but not as deadly. At first it was just night sweats, chills, and occasional fever. Now its just cramps. I've had cramps every day since the beginning of June. They were really bad through September but are less painful now. Im also still really fatigued.

Not only that, but having all of the above happen right after two years of IRS back tax hell can really fuck with your head. So I started going to a psychiatrist back in May and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. There's healthy stress and unhealthy stress. I dont mind the healthy, typically work-related stress. I actuallt kind of like it because it can fuel ambition. But the unhealthy, health related stress can get pretty bad and lead to anxiety attacks.

All this shit builds character, though, and i do feel like im getting better now so hopefully i'll be ready to work at near 100% by January.

...the sad truth.

some poor people are working three minimum wage jobs to make ends meet but its probably not typical.

It costs $7.50 for a Big Mac, fries and a drink. I pay $6.99 for a kick ass BBQ lunch at Famous Dave's, or $6.99 for something at Olive Garden.

Granted that stuff isn't the best, it's better and cheaper than McD's.

Yeah. I call bullshit too.

i can't even get a pound of ground beef that isn't anything special for under 9 bucks.

Sorry to hear that. Focus on getting well, the rest will fall in line!

I'd like to hear more about healthy eating from a collection of the worlds unhealthiest people please. So far so good..

so the whole country??? :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh wow!!

Kroger supermarkets have ground beef 72/28 for $3.00 a pound everyday across multiple states.

He's Canadian, everything is more expensive in Canada - the government recently did a study investigating why prices for everything and anything were more expensive than in the U.S. and of course the study came to some worthless conclusions that nobody will do anything about - the truth is there is a 'Canadian tax' that Canadians impose on each other for no other reason than because they can. And since Canadians enjoy a pretty good standard of living it just keeps perpetuating itself, people just accept it.

A Canadian company will sell its products in the U.S. sometimes for as much as half what they sell for in Canada - why? Because they have to compete in the U.S., they know that they can get away with gouging on prices in Canada, because everybody does it, it's like this secret pact that just evolved over decades.

Pharmaceuticals are cheaper in Canada because the government controls prices on them. But not for veterinary medications, drugs for pets is one thing Canadians will drive across the border to save a lot of money on.

Funny, I have suffered from IBS my entire life, pretty much everything gives me the shits other than bland innocuous foods. Of fast food restaurants, McDonalds is the worst for my stomach for some reason, not Taco Bell.

IBS was always thought to be a psychosomatic disorder, it turns out it's more a neurological disease.

yeah, import tariffs in part. while they are pretty low in the US they are often 5 times more here. though with food prices on stuff like meat that isn't imported (that i know of) i don't know. that same pound of beef was 7 bucks last year. manufacturers know the can price their items higher in canada and this was mostly accepted when the dollar was so poor, though its getting poor again even when it was at par nothing changed. we'd pay an extra $5000 for the exact same car when our dollar was worth the exact same as a US dollar.

I had not had Wendy's in about 6 years (don't have them here), but I ate at one in the Kuala Lumpur airport. They apparently changed how they make things for the Asian market. They didn't even have mustard!!!

They did the same thing with Dominos Pizza, tastes like total shit AND it's more expensive than in the USA.

Try cutting out wheat from your diet. Look up the book Wheat Belly.

who the hell eats breakfast at mcd's... pretty much any place serves better breakfast.. when i only think of eating shit from mcd's first thing in the morning i already feel like i have to puke.

I certainly hope so!

:2 cents::2 cents:

Hopefully you get the benefits you qualify for at least. I was on EBT before and it was all an online application and they also wanted a few items mailed in such as lease agreement and some recent proofs of income. They gave the maximum for a single person even before asking for proofs which was then $200 a month for food. I spent about $120 to $150 a month. Mostly on staple foods like rice, flour, fresh vegetables, fruit and meats. Don't know if I would qualify for SSI, but I am on medicaid which pays for my rides to medical appointments (had one today with the cardiologist) and helps pay other medical bills. My doctor actually wrote a letter to medicaid to help me get approved and I didn't even have to do anything but call them to ask if I was approved or not. You should probably just go ahead and fill in the forms you need because a few months of bills comes to an end quickly if something comes up. Being able to KNOW you won't have to hold off on paying something like utilities to pay for food (which I am doing even as I type this) is worth it. It also allows you to get better quality foods than you would if you were scraping for nickles and dimes for every bill. Good luck with things too.

What that a joke? or ignorance?

cheap food lol !

If the tit cost you 14.82, how much for breakfast?

:winkwink:

That's a good sized order. I find it hard to eat for less then I can at fast food places.

the way I do it is like this: I have a maccys when and if I want, and let other people worry about whether they do or don't have a maccys when they do or don't want to.

I don't care what the anti micky d folks day. I still like to fuck up a big mac from time to time.

i bet a GF that she couldn't make a taco for less then Taco Bell. She came in at about .98. Same ingredients except quality was much higher in her's because she used cheese and beef. Not special just real. Then lettuce, tomato and pre made shell. (taco seasoning pouch.) But she also had to actually do it. She also needed a kitchen etc. It is hard to beat fast food on price.

People are getting smarter?

:thumbsup once a week I get my regular of 2 x double cheeseburgers, 1 big mac, 1 large fries. £7.16 ($11.45-ish) and it takes 4 mins there, 4 mins back, and maybe 2 mins waiting.

10 minutes and 11 bucks for a filling meal that might not be 'healthy' but sure as fuck won't do me any real damage the once a week I have it :thumbsup

1870 calorie meal not bad


http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf

yeah I'm 5' 11" and 168 lbs, I need all the help I can get lol. I wash that down with an 800+ calorie protein shake :thumbsup

http://www.maxishop.com/maxinutritio...in-extreme-2kg

(500ml full fat milk instead of water)

Food stamps aka EBT are accepted at most fast food businesses for severa years now. :Oh crap
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business...ood-stamp-act/

Ever since I quit eating fast food I've felt so much better. The odd time, the very odd time, I'll dive into some junior chickens. :)

Not at all. You can go the Whole Foods route but there are many market alternatives. For olive oil I have a choice of Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Turkish. All for about 5$ USD per litre.
We mostly eat Japanese food though. It also helps the in-laws are part time organic farmers and I get a ton of rice and seasonal vegetables via that pipeline. We do a lot of shopping at a restaurant supplier's market. Food from all over the world and not that expensive.

Super markets here are tiered and networked like in US to some extent but unless you live in the dead center of Tokyo my experience has been much cheaper than US. I'm also married to Japanese so we don't mess around with the bullshit.

All that said, I can show you some mind-blowing deli floors in the basements of major shopping centers. Makes Whole Foods look like Vons or a crappy A&P.

Its cheaper for me to get a super nice Japanese set lunch or ramen set than it is to go American fast food here. McDonalds is a little famous for decent coffee and being a cheap hotel when you miss the last train. Thats about it.