You’re sitting at home on a lazy afternoon, hungry as hell with nothing to eat. Beyond having nothing to eat, you also don’t have any money to buy food either. You don’t get paid from your part time minimum wage job for another 3 days and you’re trying your best to get by until then. You don’t want to mess with your debit card because you’re too scared to even log in to your bank account because you don’t want to see how low your funds are. So you reach into your jar of coins that you have accumulated throughout the months and it totals up to five dollars!
If you’re currently in this situation or a similar situation, I’m here to help. In this article, I am going to tell you the best places to go to really stretch your five dollars if you’re craving fast food.
Taco Bell
So Taco Bell has always been my go to restaurant whenever I’m tight on cash. They sell a wide variety of tacos and burritos for ridiculously cheap prices. Taco Bell is also home to the insanely refreshing Mountain Dew Baja Blast! If you have 5 bucks in your pocket, I highly recommend you visit their site and take a look at their value menu. They have many items starting at lower than $1.50!
Costco Food Court
So this one is a bit tricky. If you don’t have a membership to Costco, you’re technically not allowed to use their food court either. You might be able to find some stores that might not check for a membership but if you want to be more on the safe side, call your friend that you know has a membership and ask them to join you on your cheap lunch. The food court items are so cheap, yet so delicious. Their most popular items include, the hot dog/soda combo, pizza, churros, and the really scrumptious chicken bake. Each of these items are pretty filling (including the churro) and they’re each under $5. The hot dog/soda combo is $1.50 and the pizza should be under $3, so you can get both items and you should be satisfied for the whole day!
McDonalds
McDonalds is definitely the most popular place on this list. Unless you live under a rock, you should already know how cheap McDonalds is. Because McDonalds is already fairly priced, people tend to forget about McDonald’s value menu which is way cheaper than their regular menu. If you’re up early, you can stretch your $5 pretty far on their breakfast menu as well! Some of the value menu favorites from both the regular menu and breakfast menu are, McChicken, McDouble, Double Cheeseburger, Sausage McMuffin, Sausage McGriddle, and the Sausage Biscuit.
(Pro Tip: If you download the McDonalds app, you can score some pretty exclusive deals there!)
7-Eleven
If you’re broke, and you simply have a craving for a warm and fast convenient meal, this is your go to spot. Some of the key hot items that they sell are hot dogs, mini tacos, chicken rollers (which look like logs of chicken), taquitos, nachos, cheeseburgers, and many more. Also, you’re probably already aware that 7-Eleven is a convenience store, so they have a wide variety of snacks and beverages that you can get on the side as well!
In-N-Out
(Sorry this is only for those of you living in select states) In-N-Out is hands down my favorite burger spot, whether I’m eating on a budget or not. There have been times that I’ve spent over $20 here all for myself. So the food items at In-N-Out might not be as cheap as the other restaurants mentioned, but if you’re craving a freakin tasty, quality burger you can definitely grab one here for under $5!
Jack in the Box
(Sorry again, this is only for select states as well!) Jack in the Box has seemed to take the crown of being the go to stoner fast food spot in California. I don’t know how they managed to do that, but I’m guessing it’s because of the quantity of food they serve for low prices. On top of that, they’re usually open pretty late as well! Jack in the Box has a wide variety of delicious, but cheap, food items that taste even better late at night. Some of their favorite cheaper items include their tacos and their chicken sandwich that’s on the value menu. They also serve breakfast all day, which also has a lot of low price, amazing items!
Wendy’s
Wendy’s is another fast food favorite! If you’re aware of Wendy’s, you’re definitely already aware of their specials. Wendy’s has a wide variety of delicious sandwiches. They have the famous 4 for $4 combo, which means they give you 4 items for $4 (before tax). Also, if you have $5 and some change, you can opt out of the 4 for $4 and get the $5 Biggie Bag (a juicy burger or a delicious chicken sandwich, along with 4 pieces of some chicken nugget goodness, some fries and a small drink!).
This list was created by a group of 5 young college students. Amongst the 5 students, only 3 of them have part time jobs and 2 of them are full time students. They don’t have the money to spend freely on food and their meals typically consist of microwave meals or food items that they buy in bulk from Costco. If you are a financially struggling college student and you would like to treat yourself to some cheap fast food, this list should be helpful to you!