Fast Food
November 11, 2009
I read somewhere about a year ago that the average family spends $613 at McDonald’s per year.
So not all fast food, just McDonald’s, and this is an average. Let’s see how that stacks up against books. If I had that $613 to spend at the Bunch of Grapes today, I could walk away with:
Eat This Not That, The Lacuna, The Help, Guess Again, The Night Before Christmas (the really pretty cut paper one from Candlewick), A Long Way Gone, Crime & Punishment (the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation), Maisie Dobbs, Await Your Reply, White on White: Churches of Rural New England, The Secret of the Old Clock, Assassination Vacation, Waddle, Alphabet (by Matthew Van Fleet), Goodnight Gorilla, Alice in Wonderland (the gorgeous illustrated hardcover one we’ve got), World War Z, Tentacles, The Big One, True Compass, Something Missing, all 7 books in the Harry Potter series and a big old lined Moleskin notebook to write down all my new treasures.
My total (including Mass. sales tax): $611.52
I did not scrimp here… only two books less than $10 (the Nancy Drew
and Goodnight Gorilla), I included quite a few hardcovers, even one beautiful coffee table book for $85. And I probably could have gotten a couple more if I participated in the frequent buyer program.
Is that worth skipping McDonald’s?
How about for one meal? The last time I went to McDonald’s I spent about $7.50 on an extra value something or other. With that, I could have bought Fahrenheit 451, and gotten a book that changed the way I thought when I first read it in high school.
Ah, but you’re forgetting something … have you seen SuperSize Me yet? Add to the $613 the healthcare costs that you will incur by eating that much McDonalds, and you will probably buy yourself another shopping spree at the bookstore.
You must be psychic Ann: health care is the cost we’re looking at in tomorrow’s post.