Would you like fries with that?
About 2 weeks ago, Trent at The Simple Dollar did a brief comparison between a McDonald’s Value Menu double cheeseburger and a homemade cheeseburger, concluding that the homemade one was price competitive.
He followed up today with a much more detailed analysis of the McD's vs. Homemade question. This time he again came down solidly in favor of the homemade one, based on price, convenience, flavor and health factors.
Trent says,
Let’s assume that you’re going to make these burgers at home, and intend to eat them over two meals. It took:
- two minutes to shop for the supplies
- two minutes to make the patties and get them on the grill
- ten minutes for the patties to cook and to prepare the other stuff
- one minute to reheat the leftover cheeseburgers later to build more sandwiches
- one minute for cleanup (with a dishwasher)
That’s a total of sixteen minutes for the homemade cheeseburger. How about the McDonald’s version? It took me eleven minutes for the burger I bought, so if I went there twice for cheeseburgers for two meals, that’s a total of twenty two minutes for McDonald’s.
I really enjoyed reading Trent's perspective on this, but I beg to differ. Personally, I'm a big fan of the McDonald's Double Cheeseburger. I don't deny that it's cheaper to make them at home, but when it comes to convenience I think that Trent forgot a couple of factors that are very important in my own decision:
- the cleanup factor : How long does it take you to erase all traces of hamburger grease from your hands, dishes, stovetop and kitchen, esp. if you're not springing for the $$$ extra lean ground beef? It certainly takes me more than 1 minute, in part because I don't have an automatic dishwasher. Grilling certainly makes this easier but is not always practical. There are also dishes to clean after eating, especially if you're serving an entire family.
- cost: I think several factors were overlooked here, maybe because it's just not practical to cover every variable. Electricity or propane for cooking the burgers would certainly be a significant expense. Detergent, electricity and hot water for cleanup, esp. if you are cooking indoors.
- convenience: I would never make a special trip to eat off of the Dollar Menu; rather, it's our fallback plan when we find ourselves out in the wide world at mealtime w/o a packed lunch. I have 8 children, so the mechanics are a little different. When we leave the house, we tend to make a day of it. To be home by mealtime would cut our errands short and make poor use of the gas we expended in getting all the way to town.
A packed lunch would cost less than our Double Cheeseburgers, but would take far longer to prepare and serve than Trent's 11 minutes in the McDonald's line. For us, this becomes economy of scale. 11 minutes sounds very convenient when you're cooking for a crowd! Eating in a restaurant also makes cleanup much easier than a tailgate lunch, and the - ahem, free - air conditioning feels nice.
We also enjoy free ice water with our burgers. No cups to wash, no cooler to haul, free refills. Aahh. This is convenience. - flavor/quality: Call me weird, but I like the taste of a juicy McDouble Cheeseburger every once in a while. It's the not the same as homemade, but it's good in its own way. Like those crispy little freezer pizzas. We don't eat out often, so we don't consider it a health concern.
- thrill factor: If you're hauling 8 kids around on a shopping trip, nothing beats the thrill of eating in a booth while a 9 foot plastic clown stares at you. And straws. Straws are fun.
What do you think? All things considered, is the $1 Double Cheeseburger worth your time and money?
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15 Responses to “Would you like fries with that?”
September 24th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
McDonald’s dollar menu is the sole reason I did not lose my sanity when our entire house was gutted to the studs. OK, probably not. That would be God’s grace. But those little juicy morsels were DEFINITELY worth the time & money.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
There IS something about the McDonald’s burgers – you really cannot duplicate the flavor at home (I am not going to ponder the depths of that concept, however), and we eat it because it IS tasty. And cheap. And extremely convenient on-the-go.
And who says it takes just two minutes each to shop for the ingredients and make patties/get on grill?! Hello!! Maybe if it was just me and the hubby, but the whole fam?! I don’t think so. I’m all for convenience – once in a while.
September 24th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Remember Hamburger Day? When Dh & I were first married, we would stock up on 29 cent hamburgers on Wednesdays and eat them for lunch all week.
I took an economics class in college and remember the professor asking, “How many of you can make a better cheeseburger than McDonalds?” Everyone raised their hands.The he said, “How many of you have been to McDonalds in the last month?” He then demonstrated that based on economic principles, McDonald’s makes better hamburgers than any of us-basically when you consider time, money, popularity, etc McDonalds beats any other hamburger hands down, not even counting taste. It only has to taste good enough for people to buy it, it doesn’t have to win the taste test to be the best economically.
I don’t really like McDonalds (traumatized by living on 29 cent hamburgers when I was a newlywed probably) when I eat there, all I can taste is the grease. I don’t go there anymore, except for a very occasional treat (bribe) for the kids.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
I read that article, too. I’m all for homemade burgers, but I thought he had a lot of assumptions.
Does grilling really remove so much more fat?
Does McDonald’s usually take 11 minutes to serve you a hamburger?
Our favorite fast food treat is Sonic Burgers (5 for $5 on Tuesday nights). Now, a $1 for that burger with fresh onion, lettuce, and tomato beats home-grilled any day!
September 25th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I am all for homemade cooking. We rarely go out to eat. That being said, I have never been able to prepare and clean up hamburgers at home in sixteen minutes. Maybe I’m just slow!
September 26th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I think there are some things that are worth the money in time saving/convenience factor. Even though my husband and I don’t eat at McD, I do choose to buy other things that I could make at home, but not as easily or the savings aren’t worth the hassle. There’s also something to be said for the “bulk” principle – which is how McD wins on this one – at least in my book. And I love that Jennifer used to buy 29 cent hamburgers for the week. I am wishing we had a Sonic after reading Meredith’s comment…
September 28th, 2007 at 9:17 am
I agree with the previous posters. With children along, it is much harder to MAKE your own burgers. They may be bigger, slightly healthier, and tastier, but the work involved isn’t worth it when you want a quick hamburger once in a while. And in my book, McD’s is ALWAYS cheaper! When you only need 2-3 hamburgers for your family, it’s just as cheap to buy them as to make them and buy all the fixings (cheese, onion, pickle, etc.) Also, we don’t make McD’s a habit, so it’s a once-in-a-while treat and they are a LIFE SAVER for my hubby when I’m suffering from intense morning sickness.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:17 am
I’m guessing that “1 minute clean up time” was suggested by someone that doesn’t notice splattered grease all over the back of the stove.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:38 am
We rarely do McDonald’s (we don’t like the food or the bellyache that follows!), but I agree…
the time saving can be tremendous. I cook for ten people, eight of them children, and there’s no way that clean-up time is accurate.
When we go out, it’s often JimBoy’s Tacos. We get 18 ground beef tacos and 2 adult meals, without soft drinks for just under $30. Not frugal, but at least we’re not all sick!
Momma
September 28th, 2007 at 10:27 am
I’d probably be embarassed if anyone knew how many of those double cheeseburgers I’ve had in the past year….can’t beat the taste, price, or the clean up factor!
September 28th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Like Kim, we live a ways from town. When we go to town it is an all day event. We usually try to pack a lunch, but many times town day is to shop for groceries, so we are low on the lunch packing essentials.
There are times where we must eat out just because of the sheer distance from town to home or because of the heat. Like Kim says, free A/C can be VERY important when spending the day in a Texas town! That’s when the dollar menus are utilized. The children get their choice as long as it’s off the dollar menu. Or, if we’re in a real big hurry, mom orders multiples of one item and everyone is thankful!
Costco pizzas (xlg $9.99), hotdogs (& soda $1.50), chicken bakes ($2.69 but can be split by 2 people) , and soft serve ice creams or mocha latte freezes are high on our list of town treats that are frugal. And, we’re usually shopping at Costco at the end of a long day at dinner time, so this plan works well for us. Not the healthiest, but it is a treat for the kids and convenient for me. El Pollo Loco has BRC burritos on their $1 menu and chips for .50 helping to fill them all up. Taco Bell has their 10 taco/burrito family value meal, which the kids all love. McD’s is not our favorite, but their is one in our small town, so we do frequent them every once in a while.
Because of a few gallbladder attacks brought on 30 minutes after eating fast food hamburgers, I do not eat them any longer. I very willingly pay the difference for something chicken or a salad. $3-$4 is NOTHING to pay compared to the pain I pay for with a gallbladder attack!
If I am in town with just a couple of children, it is a special treat to eat out. It’s when we have everyone with us that packing the lunch becomes so much more important!
So, while we try to pack our own food, which is cheaper and healthier, there are exceptions and times when that is just not feasible.
Laralee
http://www.PlymouthRockRanch.com
September 28th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
We like the dollar menu at McD.s because it’s inexpensive for fast food when we are on the road, and haven’t had time to pack a lunch. The double cheeseburger is a lot of meat and calories, so I half it, and share with my husband. Also, instead of Happy Meals, we order the four piece nuggets and small fries off the dollar menu for the children.
September 28th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Forgot to mention, we half the double cheeseburger from the middle, so each of us gets an open face burger sandwich. That way you don’t need a knife. Only one of us gets the trimmings, but my husband doesn’t mind.
October 5th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
While I would never go to McDonalds (or any restaraunt) on a daily basis, when your in a bind-Mc Donalds is good. However, I prefer the side salads at Wendy’s or the one dollar burgers at Jack in the Box more.
Fun to read all these great ideas for saving money and sharing burgers!
October 6th, 2007 at 6:07 am
No. We haven’t eaten at McDonald’s in years. It’s against my ethics in so many ways, just watch Super Size Me! and Fast Food Nation.
When we are away from home, we eat either food we prepared and packed or food served in a family owned restaurant.
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