It took me very long to get over this...
My wife was coaching me for very long...
I mean... who buys a la carte at McDonalds?
It's always the set meal right?!
Like we buy a burger, then add around $2.50 more for the fries and a drink.
A la carte fries itself is already $2.30 or something which means the drink is $0.20.
Definitely everyone should be getting a set.
This issue started becoming more obvious recently, cos we like the nasi lemak burger.
And she likes the chendol flurry, and she likes the coconut pie too.
Generally, we don't like sweet gassy drinks.
So logically, we would be getting.
2 nasi lemak set meals + 1 chendol mcflurry + 1 coconut pie
Total cost around 2 x $8.80 +$3 +$2 = S22.60
Everyone does this right? Buy the sets, then top it up with whatever add-ons.
And I'd eat most of it. Totally bad for health cos my wife can only finish around half a burger and maybe half her fries. So I end up eating 1.5 burger, 1.5 fries, half the chendol mcflurry and half the coconut pie.
The drink we just take a few sips and dump it.
After a few times this happened, I was thinking "Hell, this is stupid. To avoid wastage, I have to force feed myself."
Come on, most guys are like that, we finish up what's left right...
Then my wife's opinion has always been, "Why are you making yourself suffer? Just order a la carte, it's a no brainer."
So one day, I resisted my normal instinct to buy set meals and just went along with her plan.
We bought 2 x nasi lemak burger + 1 chendol mcflurry + 1 coconut pie.
Total cost 2 x $6.50 + $3 +$2 = $18.
We don't really need a drink.
(Prices may differ depending on which McDonalds you go to.)
So ok fine, there's no economies of scale cos it's cheaper if we buy the sets right...
But actually, we "save" $5. Cos we didn't spend it. Duhz. And I don't gorge myself silly just to finish up her food.
So it's actually cheaper and a better experience.
Although I do have this nagging feeling that I could have gotten more "economies of scale" if I bought the set.
But that's not the point.
Spending more to save is NOT saving.
It's called up-selling by the merchant.
After that experience, I've learnt not to be stubborn and just buy a la carte if necessary.
I still buy sets if I'm just eating by myself.
Cos I can get a burger, fries and a drink (usually bottled water).
But if I'm with my wife, I'll get a la carte, or a mix of a set and a la carte for her.
It's cheaper and I don't feel like I'm exploding after the meal.
It did take me a lot of time to get over this mentality though. But now I'm pretty convinced that it's the right way to go, of course, depending on the situation.
These fast food chains played this game really well. Cos they give a deal which is pretty much "too good to miss" and us, as consumers, we think, we are passing up a good deal cos it IS more expensive to buy in parts. But yet, they are up-selling the consumers cos, the set meal may not be what the consumer really needs.
Just sayin'
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