Fast Food Prices Just Got RIDICULOUS...Is this the downfall of fast food?

[00:00:00]Since 2020, restaurant prices have gone up 31%.

[00:00:04]31%? Has your paycheck increased by 31%?

[00:00:09]>> Yeah, me neither.

[00:00:10]>> Fast food used to be what you would go and grab when you were short on time.

[00:00:14]You could get it for cheaper than a restaurant. But now, does it even make sense anymore? Is fast food just out of the question for us regular Joes?

[00:00:23]>> We just left Jersey Mike's. I got one sandwich, a giant sandwich, the biggest one they have, but double meat and two bags of chips. It was $32 for a sandwich.

[00:00:36]>> People all over TikTok are posting their receipts of their fast food expenditures. And my friends, what is my one skill? Saving money on food.

[00:00:45]>> When did it become 1734? That's like diabolical. That's like might as well go out to like a sit-down restaurant and eat.

[00:00:51]>> The whole concept of fast food is to get fast and cheap food. That doesn't happen anymore. I'd rather just go to a restaurant, sit down, and have something that doesn't taste like >> Let's go into some specific places, and I'm kicking it off with Taco Bell.

[00:01:06]>> Get on Taco Bell.

[00:01:08]>> You used to be able to buy the entire menu for like $5. I remember when the Gordita Crunch first came out, I was a freshman in college, I think, and I saw it on TV. They were 99 cents each. You bet we all jumped in my roommate's car at like midnight and went to Taco Bell and tried out some Gorditas.

[00:01:27]>> The prices are absolutely out of control, y'all. Look at this receipt.

[00:01:31]Taco Bell is charging $19 for six tacos.

[00:01:37]>> $3.15 a taco. Well, technically, it's $3.16, but if you round up, it's $3.17.

[00:01:42]But we're not doing pennies anymore, so it's $3.20 a taco.

[00:01:46]>> I mean, do y'all realize the how crazy it is in actuality? I can go to a grocery store, like Walmart or Target, just a retail store, and I can buy a 65 or 70-in TV high definition for $300 or I could get a cart of groceries.

[00:02:03]>> Okay, this is a really funny comparison.

[00:02:05][laughter] He's so right. You could totally get a TV instead of a cart of groceries.

[00:02:10]>> If we can't buy food for reasonable prices, then what is there left to be good with our money about?

[00:02:18]>> I think he makes some good points, but I also think that fast food has always {question mark} been a little on the high side because I remember when I had two young kids, I was probably under 30.

[00:02:30]My husband and I had bought our first house. Like we had no money and we never went out to eat fast food ever. Now, he's saying he spent $19 for six tacos equaling about 320 a taco or so. Now, can you buy the ingredients and make the tacos on your own for under the $20?

[00:02:48]Even at the beef prices [clears throat] that we are paying today, the answer is yes. I am still seeing beef at $5 a pound. So, there's $5 for your pound of beef. A package of tortillas, I saw a sale yesterday, $2. Little bit of lettuce, little bit of salsa, I'm $10 for the same six tacos. This is half.

[00:03:07]>> Taco Bell's going to make me crash out.

[00:03:09]Why is a chicken quesadilla $6.99?

[00:03:13]>> Shut up. It is not $6.99.

[00:03:15]A chicken quesadilla, I'm looking it up right now. I'm going to crash out with her. If a if a chicken cheese quesadilla is seven flipping dollars, I cannot.

[00:03:25]It's seven flipping dollars.

[00:03:28]>> [gasps] >> Nope. I would rather starve. I would rather go hungry. Absolutely not. Will not happen. This This is the perfect example of why just like make a freaking sandwich at home. You guys, I could buy a rotisserie chicken and a block of cheese and a pack of tortillas and I could make 30 chicken cheese quesadillas for $10. What would be a better choice?

[00:03:52]Why is this chicken quesadilla $2.99?

[00:03:54]Oh, they're lying to me. Oh, okay, it's a bait and switch. It's telling me right here that the chicken quesadilla is $2.99. And then when I click on it, it's $6.99.

[00:04:05]What in the Okay, what's this Lux Value Menu? Let's do this. Three Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt is $2.79. That's already a better deal. Avocado Ranch Chicken Stacker, $2.99. All of these are better options. Dude, go to the Lux Value Menu, that's going to be better than your $7 chicken quesadilla.

[00:04:24]>> It cannot cost more than I would say a dollar, dollar fifty to make a chicken quesadilla, and you guys are charging $7.

[00:04:33]>> No, I guarantee it's not costing them a dollar fifty to make a chicken quesadilla. It's costing them fifty cents.

[00:04:38]Guaranteed.

[00:04:40]>> A meal was like eleven. I literally pulled up, saw the price, and pulled right out of the drive-thru. You're not getting my money.

[00:04:46]>> I have totally done that. When you see the price and you're like, >> Oh, heck no.

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[00:06:56]>> So, apparently now at Taco Bell, a quesadilla now costs $8.06.

[00:07:01]It's a tortilla with cheese. $8.06.

[00:07:04]If you look it up in 2019, the same quesadilla, depending on where you were, average was $2.39.

[00:07:11]That's a 223% increased in price. Now, I know what they're saying for the official numbers of inflation, around 2%, 4%, you know, oh, five if you're getting a little crazy. But, this is a 223% increase in the drive-thru of a tortilla and cheese.

[00:07:28]>> The audacity. Yeah, yeah, it just will not happen.

[00:07:33]>> Do you know what pisses me off? Back in 2005, this $20 bill could buy you 11 Crunchwrap Supremes from Taco Bell. Do you know how many you could buy now in 2025 with this $20 bill? Only two.

[00:07:43]This entire stack right here cost me $84 with tax. Can someone please tell me how this is possible?

[00:07:50]>> Okay, here's what I'll say. My order at Taco Bell is the Crunchwrap Supreme. It is my favorite thing they make. It is $7. Wow. Okay, that hurts my feelings on some level. But, here's what I do like.

[00:08:02]They do have this one spot on the app that's online exclusives. And, I kind of like this build your own luxe cravings box. It comes with a main, a classic, a side, and a drink for $7.79. You can get the Crunchwrap Supreme in the build your own box. So, I've got that. I can do a taco or a burrito. I get a side. You can do chips and nacho cheese. The cheesy fiesta potatoes. Let's do chips and nacho cheese. Who doesn't love that?

[00:08:31]And, you get a drink. Mountain Dew Baja Blast. I basically get three extra items if I use this build your own luxe cravings box for the price of a single Crunchwrap Supreme. And, I get a Crunchwrap Supreme by doing this. So, I still say you can save money by using the app and shopping like online exclusive online rewards. But, otherwise, I'm not going to Taco Bell.

[00:08:52]Let's move on to my personal favorite of all of the fast food chains. And, it's not because the food is delicious. It's for two reasons. McDonald's has a special formula for the Diet Coke. Get it with no ice. It is magical. And, the freaking app has the most amazing deals.

[00:09:11]Even right now in 2026, I'm going to share them with you. But, first, let's jump in and see what people are saying about the Mickey D's.

[00:09:19]>> I normally get a double cheeseburger, small fries, medium Coke. Cuz, it's kind of cheap. It's going to cost me $7.

[00:09:28]There has to be a receipt in this car somewhere what this used to be. Cuz, small french fries do not cost $1.99.

[00:09:35]I'll tell you that. HERE WE GO. OKAY, double cheeseburger and small fries. It was buy one add one for a dollar. Small French fries were a dollar. So, you're charging me a dollar more for less. Wait, this is for a Big Mac meal. I must have been feeling saucy that day and it was only $8.78 more for two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, and a sesame seed bun.

[00:10:03]>> Yeah, I don't know why she would have gotten the smaller meal when the Big Mac meal was essentially the same price and then you get a Big Mac. Okay, I'm looking on the app right now for the meal deals, right? The ones that are supposed to be like five, six dollars.

[00:10:13]So, I've got the McChicken is $5, the McDouble is $6. That is not that much cheaper than what she paid to be honest.

[00:10:20]But, if you want to work the system, I'm going to tell you what it is. You need to go to the store and you need the app.

[00:10:25]Guys, I did it yesterday to test it, okay? So, the last time I shared this hack, I got a lot of arguments saying that it didn't work. So, instead, this time I will demo how to do it. Go ahead and park. You are going to have to go inside the store. And you can do a combo of the deals section or your points rewards. The idea is we're going to use the app to redeem two deals at the same time without waiting the 15 minutes for it to reset, okay? I'm actually going to go to deals because we will use the app for one order and the kiosk for the other order and you can do you can do both. So, I'm going to deals. Okay, so I've got a free fry with any purchase of drink. So, I'm going to add to my pickup order.

[00:11:09]And I'm going to go ahead and use it and they're going to say, "Oh, you can only do one and it will be locked out for 15 minutes, but it will work." So, of course, at McDonald's is a large Diet Coke. Customize it, no ice.

[00:11:22]You get more drink. Otherwise, it's just watered down. You don't want that. And I'm going with a large fry because why wouldn't you? The fry is free. In my order, I'm at a I will now review and pay. So, my pickup method is actually going to just be the counter. So, I'm going to go inside, they'll call the name, and I'll go pick it up at the counter. Let's pay and place that order. Now, we're going to run inside and use the kiosk.

[00:12:19]Okay, this is order number one. Here's my large Diet Coke.

[00:12:23]There are my fries, and I'm waiting for order number two.

[00:12:29]There's my two orders.

[00:12:31]And voila, we are here.

[00:12:33]Two burgers, large fry, and a drink. $3.70. I'm going to go home and split this lunch with my 14-year-old. He'll get a burger, I'll get a burger, we'll split the fries.

[00:12:46]I'll keep the Coke for me. There you go.

[00:12:47]That is how you use the app and the kiosk using deals back to back without having to wait or being locked out. It's worked for me every time, including this time. An Egg McMuffin, a hash brown, and then orange juice was almost $9. Do I think that's just expensive for McDonald's, or does everyone else think that?

[00:13:04]>> No, that's expensive, but also, I tend to just get one thing when I go out. So, the McDonald's app right now has a $2 breakfast sandwich on the deal. So, I would just get the breakfast sandwich and a water. Call it done. And now you're only spending $2.

[00:13:20]>> McDonald's McDoubles used to be $1. And not even long ago. $1. Like 10 years ago, I could get one for a dollar.

[00:13:28]$4.59. $4 and 59 cents.

[00:13:32]>> Look, don't get me wrong. I know inflation been bad.

[00:13:35]But, you're $5 for a large sweet tea and a small fry?

[00:13:39]And the fries ain't even in there. God.

[00:13:42]>> Okay, he makes some good points. But, again, on the app, free fry with any drink. So, get a large fry and then pay for your drink. It's best deal on the app. If you are not using the McDonald's app, you are throwing money out of your window and letting other people run over it.

[00:13:58]>> The Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal used to cost around $5.39.

[00:14:02]Today, it's about 11.99. That is 122% inflation. Or, as I like to call it, Mcflation.

[00:14:11]>> Oh.

[00:14:11]>> You can use that, McDonald's, but it makes you look bad. So, just know that going into it. So, nowadays, you're paying restaurant money to eat in your car.

[00:14:19]>> Now, I don't agree with everything George says, but in this case, he's totally right. Let's move to Wendy's.

[00:14:24]Wendy's has long been my favorite fast-food place because they used to have these amazing salads. I actually really like their chili. And yes, it was 20-plus years ago, but when I was a server at a restaurant, I would take my tips and that would pass a Wendy's on my drive home and I would get a side salad for 99 cents and a small chili for 99 cents. So, for two bucks, I would have this like really hearty, filling meal.

[00:14:52]So, I was saving money, I was getting fed, it didn't take any time at all.

[00:14:55]Well, my friends, they did something to the chili. It doesn't taste the same as it used to. So, I'm very sad about that.

[00:15:02]They don't have a side salad anymore.

[00:15:04]ALL THEIR SALADS ARE ALMOST $10.

[00:15:07]>> [laughter] [gasps] >> THEIR SMALL chili is $2.89 and a plain baked potato is $2.20.

[00:15:16]Oh my lottie. I can get a 5-lb bag of potatoes for less than that. Wendy's is disappointing to me lately, but let's let's just do it.

[00:15:24]>> All right, today we got the spicy Asiago Chicken Club sandwich, the Baconator with fries again, and a chocolate chip cookie, and the strawberry lemonade.

[00:15:34]>> He [clears throat] paid $26 for this meal. Oh my gosh, I'm going to recreate the meal right now. In the offers tab, they do have a $3 off purchase of $20 or more. So, I'm going to add that. It's just one little click. It's going to save me three bucks. Okay, with the Baconator added and the coupon, I'm at 1990. I still was able to save $7. That doesn't make any sense. It must be where you live. Like the price changes depending on where you live.

[00:16:01]>> Last bite of the Baconator.

[00:16:02]>> [music] >> Last [clears throat] bite of the chocolate chip cookie.

[00:16:08]>> [cough] >> Last sip of the strawberry lemonade.

[00:16:12]>> And I also hate that Wendy's got rid of their full leaves of lettuce and now they're doing shredded lettuce. Mm.

[00:16:20]Not loving that, but their strawberry lemonade is fire.

[00:16:23]>> And my go-to is a junior bacon cheeseburger, a JBC. But these were a dollar at one point, but now they're not a dollar. They are $3 a piece, meaning two of them and a large diet Coke is over $10.

[00:16:40]Insane.

[00:16:40]>> Okay, my junior bacon cheeseburger is $3.20.

[00:16:45]So, he is not wrong on that. So, two sandwiches and a soda, 10 bucks. This is just wild.

[00:16:50]>> And this concoction full of carbonated water and syrup that costs probably 5 cents is $3.29.

[00:16:58]>> The drink is 329. Oh, no. So, Wendy's does have a deal on the app, 99 cent drink with any purchase. You can use it every day. So, that would cut the cost of this down by quite a bit. I would get one sandwich and one drink. That would be better. Something I want to talk about is the the Biggie Bag, is that what it's called? My Biggie Bag deals for my store are $8. The Junior Bacon No, the Junior Cheeseburger Biggie Bag $8. Crispy Chicken Biggie Bag $8. Double Stack eight.

[00:17:31]Biggie Bundle nine.

[00:17:34]Actually, that one's not bad because he's saying he got two sandwiches and only a drink for 10. So, if I did the Biggie Bundle, I could do two two sandwiches, fries, and a drink, and it would be nine. That's better. Some people are saying their Biggie Bags are $5, and this must be by area because mine is freaking not. What are your Biggie Bag costs right now? I would love to know. To be honest, my go-to when I'm having a really bad day, I get a large Diet Coke and the large fry from McDonald's with the app for $1.50 because I needs it. I think we've confirmed that people are not complaining just for the sake of complaining. Fast food prices are redonkulous right now. It used to be cheap and easy, and now it's not cheap, and you have to use these complicated apps. So, you could argue that it's not even easy anymore. So, I want to hear from you. What is the most outrageous fast food cost that you have seen these days? I would love to know down in the comments. Hope you enjoyed the video.

[00:18:32]You can subscribe. It is still free. No app required, and I'll see you in the next one. Christina out. But wait, there's more. So, happy summer 2026.

[00:18:43]This summer, I have my daughter home for the summer, so I've got two teen boys and my daughter, and we have some lazy hang around and let's watch a show at the end of the day before we go to bed.

[00:18:54]You know, we're exhausted from all the playing. We've been choosing older sitcoms, older movies, and I can't believe I'm about to say this. Did you know that Monsters Inc. is a older movie? Um I've never felt more old in my entire life than when someone tells me that Shrek is like like an old classic movie. A movie I saw in the movie theater when it first came out when I was not a child. It's very sad. Anyway, we watched Monsters Inc. recently. We've also watched, you know, we we did Boy Meets World. We were doing a little bit of Home Improvement. My daughter and I are doing a rewatch of Buffy. There's a lot of the media consumption going on.

[00:19:35]Monsters Inc. came out in '01. That what year is it? Is that 25 years old? And then we can throw Toy Story into the mix, which came out in 1995. You guys, the storytelling of these movies, the animation, all of the feels, oh my gosh, they were onto something. If you want to like really, really enjoy some movies, I recommend going back to the oldies, but the goodies, because they are hitting.

[00:20:06]I love that these older movies, while visually beautiful to watch, the storytelling is so compelling. But some of the sitcoms and like shows like Buffy tackle some very challenging topics, which can bring up a very interesting conversation if you want to do it that way with your teens or older children if you have them. And I stand by my original position in an earlier video that How I Met Your Mother is funnier than Big Bang Theory. I said what I said.