5 Fast Food Meals for under 3$

Image by brtsergio via Flickr

5 Fast Food Meals for under 3$

If you’re anything like me (a poor college student), then you are probably always on the lookout for a cheap edible dinner from a fast food restaurant. Here, I give you five ideas for five decent fast food dinners you can eat for under three bucks each – a good deal by any definition. To be enjoyed as an occasional treat only.

I have ranked them in order from best to worst.

1.       KFC: Buffalo Sandwich, potato wedges and a drink combo: In my opinion, this really is the king among super cheap fast food meal deals. The sandwich is an excellent value, both size and taste wise, for the money, and the potato wedges are very filling. Best yet, it only comes in at about 750 calories – enough to fill you up without making you fat in the long run.

2.       Wendy’s:  Baked potato, small chili, and value drink: This is another good meal that I buy almost as much as the KFC deal. The baked potato makes a great quick meal, especially when topped with delicious chili. Better yet, the whole combo has only about 550 calories (if you hold the butter on the potato) and is probably slightly healthier for you than most fast food.

3.       Taco Bell: Three dollar gordita combo:  This is another solid option for a cheap but edible fast food meal. The Doritos add a nice kick to this meal, letting it beat out the number four entry.

4.       Wendy: Value size double stack combo: This is another nice and cheap option for someone looking for a value meal. Obviously, you could do this in several places, including Burger King and McDonalds. However, what pushes Wendy’s over the top here is their fries, which are just plain better than the competition’s fries.

5.       Del Taco: Six tacos and water: This is a decent option for anyone who really wants as much food for as low of a price as possible. In fact, it’s so much food that I can only eat about ½ of the tacos during a single trip, making it possible for me to turn this into a 1.50$  meal.

These meals, while cheap and edible are best only eaten about once or twice per week, and only if you’re eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables in between. Still, in a pinch, they can be used to fill a stomach without depleting a pocket book.

Related articles

• a call to die - day 32: fasting (follow2serve.wordpress.com)
• You Deserve a Break Today (mohighlibrary.wordpress.com)
• Paris Hilton "Not Eating Fast Food Anymore" - Are You? (fitsugar.com)
• Hot Trend in the House: Fasting Lawmakers (newser.com)

How To Get The Best Value Out Of A Cheap Walmart Bike

Walmart sells some cheap, terrible bicycles. However, the cheapness and terribleness of Walmart bikes can be mitigated somewhat if you follow five simple steps when you buy a bike from Walmart.

1. Ride the bike around the store before you buy it: To me, if the bike doesn't even ride correctly when I'm in the store, there is no way that I'm paying money to take it out of the store. Specifically, before you buy a bike from Walmart or any of the other big box stores, check to see if a) both the front and rear brake work correctly and b) the bike shifts through all of the gears on both the front and the back. By far the easiest way to check this on a bicycle is to get on the bike and ride it down a couple of aisles. If it doesn't pass muster, look at another bike.

2. Take the bike to a shop and get everything checked and tightened: Before you ride the bike any further, I would take it to a local bike shop to get everything tightened and checked. The employees who assemble bikes for Walmart are usually the same people who assemble the patio furniture, meaning that they don't understand how a bicycle works mechanically or how tight they should tighten the bolts. The adjustments will likely only cost around 20 dollars or so, and it will save you from having dragging brakes, misaligned gears, etc. later.

3. Get the tires upgraded to road/hybrid tires: If you don't take your bike off-road at all and you want to spend about 30 or so dollars more, you can get the tires upgraded to road/hybrid tires. This will literally save you probably about 10-20% off your total trip time if you're riding on the highway or sidewalk. In fact, this is the easiest upgrade of which I am aware that you can make to a cheap bike that will make a significant, immediate impact on your commute time for a novice or average rider.

Well, I hope that this gives you some starting points for buying and making the most out of cheap bikes from a place like Walmart. Good luck riding!

Related articles

• REI Announces its Exclusive 2011 Novara Bicycle Line -- New Mainline Collection Covers a Continuum of Distances (prweb.com)
• Women's Road Bikes Under $1,000 (metaefficient.com)
• Smiles for Miles (eon.businesswire.com)
• How do I winterize my bike in a rainy city? (ask.metafilter.com)
• Carbon fiber bike weighs only six pounds! (slashgear.com)