Walmart is taking over Madison County! (Huntsville, Decatur: coupons, Home Depot, buy)

[FAL50]

Originally Posted by BMW Dave

but if stuff is going bad and you have no money, I would assume those people would be eating at McDs .....

That really is the dumbest thing to do if you have no money.
Junk food places are expensive.
Much cheaper, and healthier, is buying a loaf of bread and some lunch meat.

[FatTails]

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

China owns, what, about 1/3 of all US bonds.

Eh, it's actually scarier than that. China only owns about 10% of our debt (contrary to what most people believe). The scary part is how the Federal Reserve manipulates our economy by printing money and controlling interest rates.

As for Walmart, I don't think the number of stores is above average for a city of this size. Walmart has a habit of knocking out smaller, independent stores all over the country. I try to avoid Walmart simply because their food sucks.

[BMW Dave]

Originally Posted by FAL50

That really is the dumbest thing to do if you have no money.
Junk food places are expensive.
Much cheaper, and healthier, is buying a loaf of bread and some lunch meat.

Unfortunately the poorest folks aren't usually smart enough/care enough to do that...

[CoreLysium]

It's not being smart or not, it's a bad pattern that they've been taught by others or themselves.

That said, I've been "working poor" before. After rent and utils having only $150 per month. When you're that poor, you never run out of food on hand. A McD's combo = a couple of days of gas to get to work. A bad trade. Pasta and cereal ftw.

The bad pattern comes in when enough money is had to do more. Will the person move out of the war zone, or finally have the money for those tattoos they've always wanted. Or throw parties and aspire to be Ghetto Fabulous.

[BMW Dave]

Originally Posted by CoreLysium

Or throw parties and aspire to be Ghetto Fabulous.

They just want to be "Dollar Menunaires"

lol

[dijkstra]

A few years ago I was standing having a conversation with a few guys and some how the topic came up. One of them was talking about how his wife stops at fast food places and picks up dinner for them and their two kids every day because it is cheaper than going to a grocery store and then cooking dinner. I just smiled and listened to his nonsense. Unless they have king crab and lobster if they cook at home, I have no idea how they think $20 at McDonalds is cheaper than $2 worth of ground beef and a $1 box of hamburger helper. lol

They are the same type of people who after they get their income tax refund go buy a car that is really worth $1500 from a "we finance" lot, pay $1000 down, go buy $3000 wheels for it, pay the car payment for 2 or 3 months and then it gets reposessed. Next year, repeat cycle.

Those are the types of people who will always be broke.

[CoreLysium]

Well, there is a tipping point that, until you reach that, "street food" is cheaper. Street food in the US would be Taco Bell bean burritos.

That tipping point is when you own a stove. Or a bowl and spoon. Or maybe know how to open up poptarts.

Very low benchmark.

[Reactionary]

The McDonalds Double Cheeseburger is 'the greatest food in human history':

What is “the cheapest, most nutritious and bountiful food that has ever existed in human history” Hint: It has 390 calories. It contains 23g, or half a daily serving, of protein, plus 7% of daily fiber, 20% of daily calcium and so on.

Also, you can get it in 14,000 locations in the US and it usually costs $1.

...Junk food costs as little as $1.76 per 1,000 calories, whereas fresh veggies and the like cost more than 10 times as much, found a 2007 University of Washington survey for the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. A 2,000-calorie day of meals would, if you stuck strictly to the good-for-you stuff, cost $36.32, said the study’s lead author, Adam Drewnowski.

“Not only are the empty calories cheaper,” he reported, “but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.” Where else but McDonald’s can poor people obtain so many calories per dollar?

...If the macrobiotic Marxists had their way, of course, there’d be no McDonald’s, Walmart or Exxon, because they have visions of an ideal world in which everybody bikes to work with a handwoven backpack from Etsy that contains a lunch grown in the neighborhood collective.

That’s not going to work for the average person, but who cares if they go hungry because they can’t afford a burger anymore? Let them eat kale!

The greatest food in human history | New York Post

[CoreLysium]

Price per calorie = vegitable oil.
Palatable price per calorie = Dollar store candy.
Healthy price per calorie = dry beans.
Easier beans = canned.

Meanwhile, since I dropped $25 on Five Guys yesterday and ate until I hurt, I'll stop yammering on this subject just in case I need to keep some of my hypocrisy for later.

[insert argument that Wheat Chex, while being one of the most expensive cereals out there, is still a cheap meal, as is all cereal. And wheat chex rock.]

[FAL50]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

Those are the types of people who will always be broke.

Friends of us, he and his wife have both a good paying job.
Live in a house way to big and way to expensive for them.
Vacation, boat, TV's, anything is paid with AM EX CC.
They find out that their church give a class of how to limit your debts and start saving money.
After the class they receive a certificate that get framed and hangs above the open fireplace.
He learns that he can save money by doing service work himself on their cars.
He goes to Harbor Freight and buys all needed (and not needed) tools, including a compressor, hydraulic press, engine hoist, engine stand, etc ...
And pays all this with ...... AM EX CC ...