Yes, the largest margin is in the drinks. Mostly municipal water.
The fries are in the middle. Potatoes are cheap; there's some prepraration that goes into the final product but it's still just one ingredient and pretty minimal labor in cooking and serving.
The sandwiches have the lowest margin. Multiple ingredients from different vendors, and the most labor to cook and assemble.
The McChicken patty is about 2.5oz before cooking. I see the cheapest chicken breast as $3.49/lb on Instacart, so a bit cheaper in person, but that would be $0.55 for the chicken.
Of course, it still is cheaper to make food at home. A chicken patty, a bun, and some lettuce and mayonnaise cost maybe a dollar or so overall. A small handful of frozen fries, far less than a buck. You just have to take the time to put it all together, which we usually do. Making food at home is the ultimate price point for stingy folks, and our default mode of operation (and one reason you can retire on a lot less than you think - my next blog entry).
There's nothing in there about needing to buy food one meal at a time, and if you're trying to live cheaply to retire sooner you're likely buying relatively large packages and freezing/refrigerating across multiple meals.
1/4 lb tri tip is a great sandwich for about $1.5
We buy chicken under $2, pork under $3, and beef under $4.
As a result, many vegetables are more expensive per lb.
Also, not everyone wants to spend 30 min extra to save $2. I guess he acknowledges this at the end but it’s only after berating dumb people for shopping poorly the whole post.