While rising food prices may be prompting some consumers to eat out less and cook at home more, others have been lured in by the price-dropping tactics of fast food and chain restaurants. And it’s hard not to be—value menus and dollar deals abound, taunting the few coins jingling in otherwise empty pockets. But are these “deals” really any cheaper than cooking at home? And how much do you have to sacrifice your health and waistline when forgoing home cooked meals to eat under the golden arches?
Burger King Value Menu Breakfast
Burger King, home of the 1,260-calorie milkshake, recently came out with a dollar menu, which includes such gut-busting breakfast items as fried French toast, a sausage biscuit, and a ham and cheese omelette known as the hamlette. Breakfast for a buck seems like a steal, but is it?
Checking prices at a Safeway in San Francisco, arguably one of the most expensive cities to food shop, I found these:
- Pillsbury Biscuits, 12 @ $4.00 = 33¢ per serving
- Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage, 6 servings @ $3.99 = 63¢ per serving
For a total of 96¢ per sandwich, saving you 11¢
The initial outlay is greater, but the leftover biscuits could be frozen and used with another six sausages for six more breakfasts. Though the difference you save is pennies, and may not be enough to forgo the ease of not having to wash your own dishes, the at-home version, though by no means health food, would still be healthier than the BK version. It has roughly the same number of calories (390), but theirs contains five grams of the heart sabotaging trans fat, along with 1020 milligrams of sodium (versus zero grams trans fat and 760 milligrams sodium in the homemade one).
What about the French Toast?
Made at home:
- Multi-Grain Bread, 18 slices @ $3.39 = 18¢ per serving
- One dozen eggs, $2.89 = 24¢ per serving
- Sugar, $1.49 box = 01¢ per serving
- Cinnamon, $1.35 = 02 ¢ per serving
- Syrup, $5.39 = 15¢ per ounce
- Butter, $3.99 = 06¢ per serving
For a total of 66¢ per serving—saving you 41¢.
Since Burger King fries their French toast, it has 13 grams of fat (2 of which are trans fats), and the ingredient list contains enough chemical additives to make your head spin. The homemade version is not only cheaper, but when made with whole grain bread, is a more nutritional bang for your buck—less refined carbohydrates, less fat; more fiber and nutrients.
However, not too many of us have time to make French toast or sausage before work, hence the allure of fast food. But breakfast at home can still be fast. Buying a six-pack of whole-wheat bagels and a block of cream cheese will cost you $4.50 at the store, which works out to 75¢ per breakfast, and all you have to clean is a knife.
Biscuit photo source: sheilaz413 on flickr (cc)
French Toast photo source: sheilaz413 on flickr (cc)
Coffee
This is certainly one of the most clear-cut examples of how the dollars add up. Although nothing beats the convenience of grabbing a cup of joe on the go, nothing adds up quicker, either. For instance, a Starbucks Venti café au lait is $1.95 and that’s one of their cheapest drinks.
Made at home:
- One pound Starbucks beans = $9.95
- One gallon milk = $4.00
A pound of coffee makes 30–40 cups of coffee and a gallon of milk would provide 32 servings (1/2 cup each), so a conservative estimate gives you thirty cups for $15.00, or roughly 50¢ a cup, a savings of $1.45 per cup. If you normally go to Starbucks or a similar coffee shop say, three times a week, forgoing the trip and making it yourself would save you over two hundred dollars a year, almost enough for a tank of gas.
Since the ingredients are the same, the calories are too—except that the size of Starbucks cups are likely to keep you drinking more than you would at home.
Starbucks photo source: webgrl on flickr (cc)
Coffee photo source: lil miss priss on flickr (cc)
