by Lisa H Warren

Created on: August 23, 2007

The most inexpensive way to get a meal at a fast-food restaurant is as follows:

Women and Children: One sandwich from the dollar menu. Sandwiches include such items as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Whopper Juniors, or sometimes a version of a chicken sandwich.

An alternative to a sandwich would be the side salad, which most fast-food restaurants offer.

Other under-$2 (but sometimes slightly over $1) items are often wraps, some version of chicken tenders, or items such as yogurt parfaits.

Any of the above items makes a meal for most women and children.

Teenage Boys and Men: Buying two of anything from the dollar menu or selecting one of the under-$3 sandwiches (fish sandwiches are often in this price range) may make a more filling meal.

After selecting the main meal item, adults and children may wish to add (for about another $1) apple slices (McDonalds), orange slices (Wendy's) or applesauce (Burger King). If someone prefers french fries or something like Burger King's Cheesy Tots over fruit the price for those are similar to the price of the fruits. Burger King and Wendy's both offer chili at reasonable prices.

Adults can add coffee, tea, water, or a small soda and still eat on very little money. Children can add milk, juice, water, or a child-sized soda.

Fast-food restaurants often often two for $3 breakfast items. McDonalds' breakfast burrito is, I believe, less. There are breakfast items on the dollar menu as well. If two people got two breakfast sandwiches for $3, adding coffee or juice for both people would bring the total bill to (in the area of, but probably less than) $6. In other words, both people spend $3 for breakfast.

Other ways to save money (depending on the ages, appetites, and genders of the people involved) are to split things like french fries, onion rings or (in the case of two women) larger sandwiches.

An inexpensive lunch for two young children could include two hamburgers and a shared side salad with two child-sized drinks. Two women could share one of the larger sized salads.

Finally, senior citizens should remember their senior discount when it applies.

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