this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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Let me preface this, unless it's a kids' birthday wish, I'm not willingly going there.
Youtube channel did an ingredient comparison, and while they are quite expensive, McDonalds if fucking you over way more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zOmh9F4xcs
TL;DW, it comes down to meat. Using grocery store ingredients, they made faithful comparisons to fiveguys, in and out, and McD.
The hamburger is by far the most expensive part and fiveguys does actually use more than the rest.
McDonalds big mac had 107% markup.
In and out Double, had 44% markup
The 5 guys regular burger was 84% markup
It cost them over $8 to copycat Fiveguys.
That said, a meal for 4 being over $100, we better be eating something fancier than fast food.
Exactly.
I've done the math over and over again - my average per-plate cost cooking at home is around $2.
Sometimes a buck, sometimes more.
I can knock out a better burger than 5 Guys or fast food with little effort and a lot lower cost. My burger is purchased as a volume, patties made while watching TV and frozen. Just gotta pull them out and cook. And I use my own burger spice that blows away anything from 5 Guys.
Planning is the key. I make meals that freeze well so I can split it up and then use as-needed, even for weekday lunches. When your daily lunch is $1-2 instead of $10+, it makes a big difference.
But just as important is I get to control the nutrition.
you’re not counting your labor
lets say cooking + dishes takes an hour (maybe 2)
if you make 30$/hour even ignoring possibly time and a half if you work 40 already and assuming picking up more hours is possible
it starts to not really be cheaper, so quality has to be the real benefit and control
otherwise work more and arbitrage the difference
I'd rather spend an hour cooking than spend an extra hour working so someone else can cook it for me. Quality can apply to time as well as ingredients.
Do people count their own time as labour now? This sounds like Corporations tricking you into buying their stuff since it is "cheaper" than Free somehow.
Like my half hour bath coat me $25 in washing myself? Should I outsource my bathing?
I get your meaning but at some point it is reasonable to take your own unpaid work into account.
My dad sometimes brags how he is able to save like 4€ on a grocery bag by going to a bunch of stores to compare prices and then going back to them to buy just the best deals. I mean that's great but it takes several hours to do so, so if he had spent an hour working instead he would have made up for it. Chasing deals is like an extremely low-paying job.
everyone should because i assure you anyone with any possible control over your life surely does
also if your only take away is buy food from a corporation you missed the actual point of my comment
Spill it.