We stopped at McDonald’s on our way to visit family before Thanksgiving. We sat down at a table where someone had left their receipt. Their total was over $35. This other customer had ordered a 10 piece mcnugget meal for $10.39. We had ordered a 10 piece, a large fry, and a large soda, and we had spent about $2.50.

This thought to share these details was resurrected when my sister complained that she stopped at McDonald’s for two meals and spent $30 to feed just two people. It takes a minute or two of your time, even if you pull into a parking spot and place the order right there, to save a significant amount on your order.

MOBILE APP

Some restaurants only offer earning rewards with each purchase, to then be redeemed at a later date (e.g., I redeemed points earned in the Chick-Fil-A app for a free medium waffle fry). There are others that occasionally send a reward to you with a quick expiration date (e.g., Chick-Fil-A will send a free chicken sandwich if you haven’t ordered recently). While other restaurants may offer deals like coupons within the app (e.g., 50% off a 10 piece nugget).

In the era of scanning your own groceries and placing your own restaurant orders at kiosks instead of a cashier, it’s not surprising that companies are attempting to entice you into mobile ordering with deals. Not all fast food places have as robust of a ‘deals’ section as McDonald’s, which is probably why we almost only stop at McDonald’s on our road trips. However, it’s noteworthy that each McDonald’s restaurant offers different deals. Some may be completely different, while others may just be a different price (e.g., a 40 piece nugget for $9.99, or a 40 piece nugget for $13.99).

THE PROCESS

We typically use my phone and Mr. ODA’s phone to place two orders so we can take advantage of two deals. I fully acknowledge that this is all ‘extra.’ Most of the time, I don’t have the patience to put all that effort in, but Mr. ODA does. He knows the general menu prices so he can quickly evaluate where the best deals are. One time, I was given no instructions on placing my half of the order, and I picked the deal for $1 coke. For a while, that was a big deal because they had raised the price of soda so much (and took away the $1 anytime any size promotion they had run for a long time). It turns out, sodas are now $1.29 on the menu, so the $1 deal isn’t great when there are other deals to be had (like free fries). For McDonald’s, you can only use one deal in a 15 minute span. That means we’ve also placed an order to eat at the restaurant, and then placed another order once we were there and able to on the app.

For my local restaurant, the deals currently offered are:
– Free double cheeseburger or 6 piece nugget when you buy one
– 50% off a 10 piece nugget
– $0 delivery fee with a $15 purchase
– 20% off any purchase of $5 or more
– 30% off any purchase of $5 or more
– Free any size fries with a $1 purchase
– $5 daily double, double cheeseburger, or mcdouble, medium fries, and medium soft drink
– Free 10 piece nugget with a $3 purchase

First, you want to verify that the restaurant address is the correct one you’re going to. You need to utilize the deals of a specific location, and you need to pick up your order at that location.

With a family of 5 (and 3 kids who are 5 and younger…picky eaters), we don’t stray from what we know very much. But let’s delve into the deal options. A large fry is $3.29, a medium fry is $2.99; a McDouble is $2.79; a 6 piece nugget is $3.49, a 10 piece is $4.99, a 20 piece is $6.69, and a 40 piece is $9.49; a small, medium, or large coke is $1.29. McDonalds also has the $1 $2 $3 menu, even though nothing is ever $1 anymore (mine has a McChicken for $2.19, McDouble for $2.79 (glad that’s consistent on the menu), $2.29 small fry, and $2.59 4 piece chicken nugget).

The McDouble deal would be $2.79+2.99+1.29=$7.07. You’re saving $2.07 by utilizing the deal.

The 10 piece nugget meal is $8.39. A la carte, the cost would be $4.99+2.99+1.29=$9.27. You’re saving $0.88 by making it a meal. If I were to use the deals, I could order a medium fry and medium drink for $4.28, hitting the $3 minimum purchase requirement, and get the 10 piece nuggets for free. Then I’m saving $4.11 from the meal price.

We typically will order a large fry and utilize the 10 piece deal on one phone. Then we’ll use my phone to order a coke and use the ‘free any size fry’ deal. Depending on the situation, we may add one or two McDoubles or McChickens to the order. If we order two sandwiches, we’re spending $9 to feed 5 of us.

SUMMARY

We don’t eat from restaurants very often. Sometimes we feel like going out to eat, or running an errand that will include a meal (like a Costco food court meal haha). Most of the time, we’re eating at a restaurant out of necessity (yes, a necessity because I refuse to live off pop tarts and granola bars for a 12 hour drive).

This entire post is a plug to utilize rewards systems and apps to help your money go further. This doesn’t even scratch the surface of mobile ordering, which would include delivery apps like UberEats. Menu prices on these food delivery apps are higher than the restaurant, charge fees, and you have to tip. I don’t think people fully understand how much extra money they’re spending when they use an app like that. But as I said, that’s not the point of this post. If you’re driving to a fast food restaurant (or even a fast casual like Chipotle or Qdoba), join their rewards and take advantage of their app-only deals.

Be strategic and intentional on how you’re spending money. Put the one full minute it takes into placing a mobile order to cut your cost in half!