Nutrition Facts

It is important to teach your children how to budget money. I have a college-age daughter and a college-age son that have different ideas of what that means. They are polar opposites. My son can save money, while my daughter can't. In an effort to help my daughter, I have tried to lead by example. She has $40 that she can spend each week on food. As I am in California during the week, I thought I could show her how easy it is to do.

I leave my house in Utah on Monday mornings at O-Dark-Thirty and catch a plane to the Bay Area. When I arrive, I hit the ATM and get $40 for cash. I use that cash during the week to buy food as well as transportation to and from the airport. Generally I go shopping on Monday night and try to cook all my own meals. Sometimes that works well and other times am running from work to another activity and have to resort to a meal-on-the-go.

I really do try to eat healthy, but sometimes I find myself at the McDonalds drive-thru ordering a couple McDoubles (two patties of beef with two slices of cheese on a hamburger bun). At a buck each, it is a very economical meal. Especially if you leave out the fries and soda. When I get tired of cheap hamburgers, there is always Taco Bell with their 89 cent tacos among a plethora of other fast-food choices. This begs the question of how healthy fast food really is. Here is a list of restaurants with links to their nutritional data:

Arby's
Burger King
Carls Jr.
Dairy Queen
Five Guys Burgers & Fries
Hardees
In-N-Out Burger
Jack in the Box
Little Caesars Pizza
McDonalds
Pizza Hut
Subway
Taco Bell
Togo's
Wendy's
White Castle

After compiling this list, I can see why obesity is such a problem in the United States. Even if you are eating "healthy" sandwiches at Subway, you have to leave off the mayonnaise and cheese and who does that? Nutritionally bankrupt food is really cheap and costs less than healthy food. No wonder we are so fat as a country.