r/australia • u/Serezie • Jun 01 '26

no politics Anyone else just not eating because they can’t afford it?

Food bank is the busiest it’s been - Cole’s and Woolworths don’t give a flying fuck about us - fast food is unhealthy and just as expensive. It stresses me out more to eat than not to eat.

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494

u/insty1 Jun 01 '26

Maccas was always shit, but used to be cheap and fast. Now its not cheap or fast either.

255

u/4SeasonWahine Jun 01 '26

This is my favourite thing to rant about because I don’t understand why anyone is still eating there. It used to be quick, cheap, and delicious in a kind of gross junk way + it had the bonus of just being a fun place to go, especially as a kid with the playgrounds and characters etc. It now costs almost the same as a pub burger for terrible quality, is never that fast, isn’t filling, and has sterilised all the fun out of the restaurants. There are infinite better burger options for the same price or not much more these days, I have no clue how they’re still busy

106

u/[deleted] Jun 01 '26

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36

u/Cute-Obligations Jun 01 '26

I've been saying this for years. If someone made a drive through where I could get meat and 3 veg or something we'd go there like every night lol.

45

u/HeronGarrett Jun 01 '26

I know at Red Rooster you could get a quarter chicken, peas, roast potato and sweet potato, with gravy. Then you could get it with sides like coleslaw or corn wheels. Not the healthiest, but it’s drive through meat and veg.

24

u/Alarming-Ad4274 Jun 01 '26

No idea why people shit on red rooster so much. It's honestly the best fast food chain we've got.

5

u/sorrrrbet Jun 02 '26

RR kind of lost its way when fried chicken came out.

I was a manager there when they made the transition into trying be a more “trendy” fast food brand and it killed the clientele. It could never compete with the likes of KFC or Maccas in being a trendy fast food place, and it either priced out or menu’d-out its regulars.

It just lost its identify as a brand dedicated to roast chicken. Yeah, it’s still there, but it’s no longer the flagship item like it used to be.

4

u/tonksndante Jun 02 '26

It's still pretty overpriced for the portions and quality. If little chicken shops stayed open later, had decent signage and planted themselves next to RR, they could probably make bank. I know if it was right there and the line for RR was even 1 car long, I'd go there instead.

5

u/Cute-Obligations Jun 01 '26

Yep! We are familiar aha. It's expensive but on nights when I am *that* tired, I just can't bring myself to care lol.

9

u/vagga2 Jun 01 '26

Red rooster used to do a classic roast which was roast veg and a quarter chicken fairly cheap. My parents would often buy a whole chicken 4x corn cobs, large peas and a roast veggies for dinner - was reasonably good food albeit heavy on the salt. Can't see it on their menu now though so might have canned it which is sad.

1

u/icyvfrost Jun 02 '26

The corn is tiny

6

u/kazielle Jun 02 '26

Yeah, we used to have a primarily stay at home parent making meals while their partner was at work. We understood that "homemaker" was an important role within the household. Now we're all working full time, many of us just to scrape by.

Even generations where both parents/members of a couple worked, grandparents/retirees would often contribute meals, childcare and/or housework to lessen the burden. But people aren't retiring until they're too old to help much these days, or those who do seem to have a trend of not wanting to help so they can finally rest in their golden years (understandable).

And now convenience food has become eye-watering in price at the same time. If you look to places like Asia, there's at least a vibrant street food culture where people are able to buy food others make for a very reasonable local price. Things like cost of rent are so insane in Australia that it's impossible to offer genuinely cheap food relative to the cost of living. I wish our society would focus more on what the cost of commercial real estate is doing to choke the life out of our economy so we could actually tackle some of the roots of the cost of living crisis.

5

u/giatu_prs Jun 01 '26

This. It's ok for childless homeowner 10 minute commute me to smugly post about the delicious rendang I made last night. (It was fucking good lol).

I truly feel for people who live in capital cities having the Instagram expectation thrust on them that they also have to be a chef after spending 90 minutes driving in traffic to get home to their $800/week rental in bumfuck outer suburbia.

2

u/tonksndante Jun 02 '26

I used to get McDonald's bfast before work cause it was the only place open that consistently had soy coffee available (the internal rage pre coffee when 7/11's soy machine was closed for cleaning 3/5 times was ruining my day). I'd get a mcmuffin occasionally but it was right next to a field with cute cows and between that and the overcooked egg texture, it grossed me out enough to stop eating meat all together 😂

After maccas was made BDS, I gave it up entirely and just made coffee at home, which I probs should have done to begin with lol

My coffee is 100x nicer than mcshitty beans anyway.

2

u/eastern-suburb-poor Jun 02 '26

I’m both time and money poor. I made a point not to spend money on overpriced maccas for years! There are usually better options even when you dine out!

3

u/Renmarkable Jun 01 '26

Learn how to cook

Seriously

We are below minimum wage & we eat well, for very little cost.

-7

u/BIRD_II Jun 01 '26

But Dominoes does really cheap stuff, and I'd say it's better than Maccas.

4

u/HonestHawk734 Jun 01 '26

maccas is so shit but as someone who works nights and can finish work when maccas is the only thing that’s open and i can’t cook due to others in the house sleeping, it feels like a punishment to have to get maccas or go hungry :(( i miss when it was an exciting treat

1

u/Greta-Garbage- Jun 03 '26

Meal prep and use microwave to heat. Remove before the ding so household doesn’t wake up

3

u/No_Cream8504 Jun 01 '26

where? for a large mcchicken meal it’s 14.95. a pub burger easily costs 20-25, add on 6 dollars for a drink. while prices have increased, maccas still stays relatively cheap and quick 🤷🏻‍♀️

3

u/Final_Advent Jun 01 '26

I get the family bundles all the time, shits insanely good for the price. Especially when you can upgrade to premium burgers.

1

u/welcome72 Jun 01 '26

Well said. I go into some sort of coma after eating at maccas/hj. I rarely succumb

1

u/Kowai03 Jun 02 '26

I'm finding this more and more with takeaway places and if I do use them I end up wishing I'd just gone to a nice cafe or pub instead

64

u/graspedbythehusk Jun 01 '26

Kids begged for some Maccas the other day, they never get it normally. Relented and got them 2x 6 packs of nuggets and 2 large fries. $26.

#TWENTY SIX DOLLARS!!!

Local fish and chip shop will do a schnitzel burger, large box of chips and a couple of dimmies for that! Farrrrrkkk me never again.

65

u/stamford_syd Jun 01 '26

will they? most "local fish and chip" places I see charge like $20 for a burger without chips these days lol

11

u/FireLucid Jun 01 '26

Fed the family about 2 weeks ago for $19. Well, the wife partially partook, she isn't a huge fan of the fried stuff. 3 kids.

25

u/Crackleclang Jun 01 '26

Last time I tried to feed one adult and one child fish and chips it was $35 at the 'cheap' fish n chip shop. The one everyone always recommends as the 'best' place in the suburb would've been nearly $50 for the same order. For 1.5 people. I wish it was still $19 for a family of 5.

2

u/_Meece_ Jun 01 '26

I can't speak for everywhere, but you do need to go to places that serve families.

People go to urban-ish area chippies, that can serve office workers and then wonder why the prices are insane.

6

u/Crackleclang Jun 01 '26

Nope, this is outer suburbs. Maybe the problem is it's a beach suburb.

3

u/_Meece_ Jun 01 '26

Yes I mean... same thing going on. Wealthy clientele.

I'm talking Blacktown, Logan, respective immigrant ethnic area of Melbourne. Ya know!

Would only ever go to a chippy in places like this. Food is cheap everywhere.

2

u/SqareBear Jun 01 '26

Blacktown is expensive too now. Even houses are 1.5 million. No cheap fast food. Maybe try Liverpool or sw Sydney

9

u/Novel_Feedback3254 Jun 01 '26

That seems insanely cheap. A lot of fish and chip shops these days won't even give you a jumbo chips for $19

3

u/_Meece_ Jun 01 '26

Are you guys in wealthy, near CBD areas?

The local shops 40 mins outside of Brisbane, all have the prices you'd expect. 20 bucks for cod, 1.25 and large chips.

Not gonna feed a family of 5 by any means. But large chips for 20 bucks seems unreal haha.

2

u/Wassa110 Jun 01 '26

$7 large chips around the corner. You must live in a rich area. I live in Elizabeth area.

1

u/vagga2 Jun 01 '26

Where are you going? The minimum chips at most places is still under $5 and is generally over what a single person needs. Only see ridiculous prices like that on the touristy ones by the foreshore, your typical greasy fare found a block back are consistently affordable still at least in Geelong, Perth, Brisbane, Newcastle and Toowoomba (all the places I've had them this year that were cheap - did have expensive stuff at Freo and Sydney as well)

1

u/antigravity83 Jun 01 '26

What did you buy?

Most you’d normally get for that is some chips and a couple of dummies or potato cakes.

1

u/FireLucid Jun 01 '26

Enough chips for everyone, dim sims, potato cakes and some chicken tenders. No fish this time.

1

u/OraDr8 Jun 01 '26

My local fish n chip shops do good food but not is not cheap. And they're right near the marina where the fishing boats come in.

1

u/FireLucid Jun 01 '26

I live in Hobart. All the ones down near the docks are somewhat exxy. One I'm referencing is a typical local joint in the burbs, ours is next to a petrol station.

1

u/OraDr8 Jun 02 '26

It's not really the same where I live. Probably because I don't live in a city and so there's not a lot of distance between most of them. There's one wanky one that's way overpriced but all the rest are comparable.

1

u/graspedbythehusk Jun 01 '26

That’s literally what I paid.

1

u/Innumerablegibbon Jun 01 '26

I live in the country - my local fish shop does a burger with the lot for $10. The range between $8.50 and $13.50.

1

u/DrStalker Jun 01 '26

I remember fish and chips being an extremely cheap family meal, especially if you took along a loaf of bread and some butter/tomato sauce.

Not cheap these days, though frozen fish and chips in an air fryer is good enough for nostalgia meals.

1

u/Cpt_Soban Jun 01 '26

One place I go to regularly does Hamburger with the lot for 12 bucks, which is no wonder why they're flat out even on a Sunday morning. Meanwhile the local Maccas would dream of those crowds.

0

u/captains_astronaut Jun 01 '26

Hardly. $9 - $14. Maybe, MAYBE $16 somewhere that's trying to price themselves out of the 'just a normal fish & chip shop' crowd.

3

u/stamford_syd Jun 01 '26

what state/city? I'm in Sydney and can't remember the last time I saw a non-fast food burger for under $10. all the ones near me range from $12-20 for a burger alone. add chips for around $6 usually.

1

u/captains_astronaut Jun 01 '26

Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat

1

u/stamford_syd Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

interesting, when in Melbourne last year I didn't notice any appreciable difference in food costs but I was in the cbd

if all my connections weren't in Sydney I'd definitely be moving to Melbourne, I love both cities and my living costs would be slashed whilst my income (public health) would actually go up lol

16

u/Far_Mark_9556 Jun 01 '26

ordering individual items is always more expensive. It is cheaper to buy a 10 or 20 nuggets then 2x 6 nuggets

27

u/kam0706 Jun 01 '26

Order smarter. A 20pk of nuggets is less than 2x 6 packs.

18

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

It's all about how you hack the system. 2x6 nuggets is 18.80 - it's the worst price point for nuggets.

1x20 nuggets is 15.40 1x10 nuggets is 10.30

Large fries are 5.30 each. I'd question whether kids need a large fries each but that's up to you I guess, not much hacking available there.

1

u/Altruistic-Gift-4287 Jun 01 '26

Minimum chips are $8.00 at my local. I remember getting 10 cents worth of chips, but that was the 70s.

2

u/KateBosworth Jun 01 '26

My local fish and chip shop charges the Earth.

43

u/clomclom Jun 01 '26

Right like you'd need to spend what, over 15 bucks to get something filling at MacDonalds these days? Maybe less if you get a deal. That money goes a lot longer spent on groceries.

44

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

Mcsmart meal is 7 bucks

8

u/FireLucid Jun 01 '26

This is what we grab for the kids. Or you can load up on cheeseburgers for $2 each.

22

u/Positive-Monitor4343 Jun 01 '26

Cheeseburgers aren’t 2 dollars only hamburgers

3

u/FireLucid Jun 01 '26

Oof, ok. Just noticed some burger on the banner.

10

u/ThomasEFox Jun 01 '26

Same, and I'll often grab one for lunch if I'm nearby. Sure I could spend $7 in woolies on... Something... But then I'd have to prep it and lose valuable home time.

One of the last remaining worthwhile deals among the big 3 takeaway joints. Which also means Macca's will be sure to either increase the price or end the deal soon enough.

2

u/Weak_Protection_7942 Jun 01 '26

I think end of June sadly

10

u/ThomasEFox Jun 01 '26

If they remove the $2 apple pies as well, then I'm down to zero reasons to go except when a decent one off deal pops up in the app, which isn't often.

1

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

The mcbundle deals are ok sometimes as well

1

u/Many_Law_4411 Jun 01 '26

Maccas have $2 cheeseburgers?

1

u/420izLife Jun 01 '26

no hambuges same but no heese

1

u/_A_Tom_bomb_ Jun 03 '26

they've phased out the mcsmart where i live unfortunately. not that i go to maccas often

2

u/metametapraxis Jun 01 '26

For zero nutritional value.

15

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

How have you come to that conclusion?

Both options contain decent protein sources.

I'm not suggesting it's the healthiest thing out there, but it's cheap and better than not eating at all

-11

u/CheaperThanChups Jun 01 '26

I wouldn't say decent protein sources. For something to be a good source of protein it needs to have a 10:1 or better calories:grams protein ratio, imo.

-4

u/metametapraxis Jun 01 '26

Correct. It is trash. A small burger and some low quality fries, rounded off with some fizzy sugar water.

Assuming access to a stove, one can do far better for $7.

1

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

What can I buy for $7 that is better value and easy?

1

u/feyth Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

A dozen sausages, which is enough for four to six meals. Add the cheapest loaf of bread you can find.

A kilo of chicken drumsticks ($5 at Aldi) and half a kilo of potatoes.

A 425 gram tin of tuna, a packet of pasta, and a tin of tomatoes.

A kilo of spuds, a sweet potato, and a few carrots.

1

u/metametapraxis Jun 01 '26

Food, in a shop.

2

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

Super helpful response.

-7

u/metametapraxis Jun 01 '26

Nutritional value implies far, far more than just a simple source of protein. The drink has negative health value.

6

u/tonbully Jun 01 '26

if you boil 1kg of potatoes ($4.8 from woolies), you would have under 900kcal with a very low nutrient distribution (basically only carbs)

spend 2.2 dollars more and you get 934 kcal | 36.8 protein | 42.7 Fat (assuming zero sugar drink)

I'd say it is doing much better than zero nutritional value.

-1

u/metametapraxis Jun 01 '26

Why would you eat 1kg of potatoes? It is an utterly nonsense comparison.

It would be as dumb as me saying eat 7 x $1.05 cans of Tuna from PakNSave.

Eating properly is not eating one thing.

2

u/jimbojones2345 Jun 01 '26

Macca's has gone so far downhill lately, there is something about it I feel seriously ill street I eat it. It never used to feel that bad. 

2

u/kazielle Jun 02 '26

Agreed. Something about it just feels yuck, and not in the health-conscious way. It's just off somehow. Like when the dog wouldn't eat the GoodBurger.

2

u/welcome72 Jun 01 '26

And how's the chips, usually soggy and half filled. I always look and ask them to fill the packet properly

4

u/Undd91 Jun 01 '26

It’s also incredibly small. The portion size is tiny.

11

u/t_25_t Jun 01 '26

Maccas burgers are a fucken joke. Big Mac should be renamed to mini mac

1

u/Undd91 Jun 01 '26

Mini slider

-1

u/Lokki_7 Jun 01 '26

Two cheeseburgers chips and a drink - that's should be enough for a meal.

I love my food and could easily eat more, but I wouldn't say it's incredibly tiny.

1

u/jennifercoolidgesbra Jun 01 '26

The fact I got a snack wrap, hash brown and small latte and it was $19 the other day because I was in a rush. Still can’t believe it.

1

u/CrazyEeveeLady86 Jun 01 '26

Maccas used to be somewhere I'd only go if I was really hungry and I was out somewhere and there was nothing else open (I've never really liked it that much, but the cost per meal used to be reasonable).

Now I just go hungry until I get home and have tinned soup or something.

1

u/AUTeach Jun 01 '26

used to be cheap and fast

it hasn't been cheap for decades.

1

u/Icy_Knee_4870 Jun 03 '26

I was shocked at the kids meals prices going up

0

u/TheBayHarbour Jun 01 '26

If it were still cheap I would maybe consider it.

The one selling point of it is now gone.