“Good deals” on food, share your tips

[~Wes]

As I am sure most of us are, I am always on the lookout for a good/cheap deal. When it comes to food, of course there are many ways to eat very cheaply when preparing our own meals. But, eating out every so often sure can be easier/more handy, if the price is right. So, I thought perhaps a thread on good/cheap dining options might be interesting. I have seen some good ideas/tips throughout various other threads, but I am not sure if a thread specifically devoted to cheap “eating out” deals has been done previously. If so, I apologize for starting another one. 

My submission:

Sonic “Carhop Classic” $2.99 - a cheeseburger and onion rings.  The burger is good sized, and I think it is quite tasty. The portion size of onion rings is larger than I expected, and they are very good. Fries or tots can be substituted for onion rings, at least at my local Sonic. Interesting to note is that the burger alone would be $3.99 if ordered by itself. (Note, I am not making any claims of this being a “healthy” way to go... rather, if a person feels like eating out and indulging, I think this is a great deal)

 

[dextours]

Costco  either for the $1.50 huge hot dog and drink or the roasted whole chicken for $4.99 

Costco membership fee is going up so the cost benefit calculation has to be done again.

 

[Gideon33w]

+1 To the roasted whole chickens available at lots of places. Coupons can often be found online too.
A big traditional meal the day you get it, pull the extra meat off for sandwiches and what not, then hack up the carcass to make soup.
While I prefer to eat fresh stuff, Idahoan instant mashed potatoes are $1 per bag and you get two adult male servings. Lots of flavors too.
So, you get a multimeal fresh chicken with no cooking needed and 2 servings of mashed potatoes with just hot water.

Adding to grocery store meals, some fresh bread, cheese, and olive salad makes for a REALLY calorie dense meal.
All available fresh from Walmart or a grocery store and keep well even without refrigeration.

Many places also have pre hardboiled and pealed eggs. Add to fresh greens, plus sunflower seeds and misc.
A little olive oil and vinegar and you can get two full meal sized fresh salads for reasonably cheap without cooking.

For me, the only fast food that ever seemed worth it was burritos from real mexican places.
It's a tortilla with 2 lbs of meat inside of it for a couple bucks. Need protein? There ya go.

 

[sreesekelley]

waffle house $5 menu

 

[GaJeepBoy]

Just discovered this the other day.. was enough for my lunch and still had enough food for a lite dinner later.. and for $5


https://5allstarvaluemeals.hardees....7-636hFM5c1AB3RFAJdvhNV6yU1AwkysaAlxPEALw_wcB

 

[Dgorila1]

I get the pre-packaged salads at the grocery store (Harris Teeter) for lunch throughout the week at work. When they are within a day or two of the "Use By" date the store puts a sticker on them discounting them $3.00. I get them for $3.99 this way for a huge salad with all the fixings. Just bought all 4 they had marked down tonight for lunch this week. They do the same thing with meats, fruits and other perishables.

 

[Bast]

Kentucky Fried Chicken 5 dollar fill ups. Two Pieces of Dark Meat, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Drink and Potatos and Gravy. Its starchy but filling. This is my weakness I love KFC

 

[Zardor]

Wendy's has a decent value menu. And the two tacos at Jack in the box has been a winner on my cheap dinning menu for decades.

 

[sometimesido]

Wendy's 4 for $4,
Checkers 4 for $3

 

[sephson]

The best bang for your buck is to cook your own meals. More often than not, I'm able to keep my per meal cost to a dollar or less. Plus I like my own cooking a lot better than fast food.

 

[Bast]

Aldis had the best deals I"ve ever seen, however, they aren't everywhere.

 

[4x4sporty]

I take the whole roasted chickens and pull them, chop them up and mix chopped pickles and a mayo, honey mustard mix and a boiled egg or 2 and make chicken salad.

 

[sushidog]

If you are dying for pizza, Cici's has all you can eat pizza (including soup, salad, pasta, etc.) for $5.99. Granted it's not the best pizza, but there's a lot of variety and you can even tank up on soup, salad and pasta if you hate their pizza for under $6.

On the same note, if you're hungry for Mexican food Pancho's has all you can eat lunches on weekdays for $6.49. They serve all kinds of Mexican goodies including: Tacos, flautas, enchiladas, chile rellenos, rice and beans, sopapillas, salad, chips and salsa, etc.. There's no way you can't make all that at home for $6.49 and even if you could it would take you hours of prep and cook time, which has got to be worth something, right? The Pancho's buffet near me closed (so sad) as I really liked their sopapillas with honey for desert - yum! Don't eat for a day and go and make a pig of yourself to really get your money's worth.

There's a local Chinese restaurant nearby that also has a lunch special - you get 2 generous entrees, eggroll and desert for $5.99 - much more than I can eat and it's delicious. Vietnamese Pho restaurants are also often a good buy. There's one in New Orleans East called Dong Phuong that is famous for baking their own bread and pastries. They sell unbelievable delicious Bahn Mi sandwiches on hot freshly baked bread for only $2.50 - $3 ea. Here's a pic. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/don...a29vvghsT41lg&reviewid=GhsTknBwy6RxMl7kK69sbg Just want their outrageous bread, they'll sell you 5 small loaves they make their sandwiches out of for only $2.

Chip

 

[Annie W]

Totally agree with what sephson said:
"The best bang for your buck is to cook your own meals.
More often than not, I'm able to keep my per meal cost to a dollar or less. Plus I like my own cooking a lot better than fast food."


Also knowing enough nutrition, making own meals from whole foods as they were grown is much healthier

 

[RVTravel]

I tend to draw the line at all you can eat places since all it does is encourage obesity.

 

[Annie W]

re 'all you can eat places ... encourage obesity'. Mostly also true. Except for "All you can eat SALADS".
When you leave off their usual dressings......... Add your own say Almonds, & Sunflower seeds, & even Lemon juice you have a good meal.

Of course then you might as well just prepare such meals at home for a tiny fraction of the cost

 

[Jeffrey Lee]

As said, making your own meals is almost always the best deal.

But if you're going to eat out, the Culver's SnackPak combo has got to be one of the best deals around: your choice of nine different burgers, along with a small fry and a small drink, all for around five bucks.

 

[IamMe]

Of you want cheap fast food, get the MsDonalds app for your phone. It changes what is on sale or special. 2 weeks ago it was spend $1 and get any sandwich they make for free. This past week it was any sandwich they make for an$1

 

[RVTravel]

Whoa...good deal at Mickey D's. Must. Get. App. ; )

 

[Annie W]

Arby's for months has been selling Sliders, a small version of their reg. sw, with like 2 ozs. meat for $1 . Fix a big salad with it.
+
Papa Murphy's PIZZAs we've kept all their coupons with no expiration date on them, so on Tuesday go maybe 4x/year