New Luxury in Michigan That is a Sad Reality for Most

When was the last time you had fast food in Michigan? How often are you eating fast food? If you eat at a fast food establishment more than twice a week, you are living luxuriously, and data backs it up.

We all remember being a kid sitting in the back seat of the car on the way home asking your mom to stop at McDonald's only to be met with "We have McDonald's at home" or some other dad-joke-esque response to avoid saying no directly.

Of course, once you became a teenager, the phrase transitioned to "Do you have McDonald's money". Of course not, unfortunately.

In a bizarre turn, it doesn't seem like anyone has McDonald's money these days.

Fast food is a frustrating experience in 2024. Gone are the days of dollar menus and cheap, quick food. Fast food is just as expensive as most sit-down restaurants these days and takes just as long to get your food to you on a good day. The tradeoff is that the food is considerably worse for you.

Lending Tree recently conducted a study analyzing the fast food habits of Americans and found that half the country is avoiding the experience altogether.

According to the data, a whopping 79% of Americans eat fast food less than two times per week. A quarter of the country doesn't eat fast food at all.

The real kicker is that 50% of Americans see eating at fast food spots as a luxury at this point. Younger Americans and parents of young children are, naturally, even less likely to make a stop at a fast food joint.

As a millennial parent, I share a lot of the concerns here. Typically I eat at a fast food restaurant once a week on my lunch break every Friday as a reward for making it through the week.

But if the kids want McDonalds, I have to prepare to spend nearly $50. It's nonsense.

However, there are ways to lessen the hit. Places that have solid rewards programs in their apps can save you a quick buck. My lunch today at Jersey Mike's was $5 because my app rewards made my sub free. I get free food at Taco Bell all the time. These apps can help out with costs quite a bit, and save you some time too.

But, as the study concludes, price gouging, surge pricing, and tipping (yes, tipping) are warding off customers as soon as they place their orders. Customers may give in the first time, but they are more often refusing to be fooled again.