Use This Genius McNuggets Hack To Save Money At McDonald's

Fast food simply isn't the same cheap, tasty alternative to slow food that it used to be. Operational costs continue to rise, as do food costs and corporate greed. These powers combine to create generally higher prices, make restaurants charge for condiments that used to be free (like Taco Bell sauce packets) and cut off fun freebies for loyal customers in favor of elaborate loyalty points systems, like how (and why) Dunkin' Donuts stopped giving out free birthday drinks.

Fast food mainstays like McDonald's are investing a lot of energy into their mobile apps, AI-fueled technology, and order screens in order to personalize offerings and maximize profits. Rather than waltzing into a McDonald's location and ordering from an actual value menu with an actual human, customers are now encouraged to place their orders on mobile apps, or on giant in-store touchscreens that can be finicky. Sure, using the McDonald's app can save you money. But just like any other massive chain massively relying on technology and self-checkout options, customers are increasingly being asked to ask themselves: would you like fries with that?

All to say, it can be hard to find the value in a value meal these days. Any little fast food order hack is a tasty treat when dining on a budget during late-stage capitalism. Matt Granite, otherwise known as The Deal Guy, has built a savings-based social media empire. Granite has even fried up a clever way to save on McNuggets, with a few order modifications.

As The Deal Guy, Matt Granite advises in a 2023 video that fans of the six-piece McNugget meal get a little bit creative when ordering to save a few bucks. Normally, in 2023, ordering a six-piece chicken McNugget meal, complete with fries and a drink, cost around $6.69 before tax. While prices and savings may vary, Granite's hack promises to save around $1.70 when ordering The Deal Guy way.

Here's how he does it: instead of ordering the standard six-piece McNugget meal, Granite says to order the much cheaper kids' McNugget meal, then around $4.49 before tax. Then, Granite says, modify the order by switching the kids' meal standard apple slices for fries, and switching the kids' meal standard milk container for a fountain drink. With the modification of fries, the meal then came out to $4.99.

"This meal has the exact same quantity of everything in the standard six-piece McNugget meal, for a buck-seventy less," Granite says in The Deal Guy video.

While Granite's hack is a solid entry in the battle against supersized charges, McDonald's has gotten crafty with its menu options, and has largely stripped the six-piece McNugget meal from its menus, in favor of stand-alone six-piece McNuggets, a 10-piece McNugget meal, and the kids' six-piece McNugget Happy Meal.

McDonald's has freshly revamped their value menu so that purchase of a six-piece McNugget order allows an "add one" for a dollar option of an item from the McDonald's McValue menu. Released on January 7th, 2025, after years of cultural critique for heightened prices and turning away from value options, the McValue menu is an answer to some fans' disappointment with McDonald's pricing.

While the McValue menu options may trip up some followers of The Deal Guy's hacks to the letter, it spells potential for further order hacking and savings. Granite's hack is dependent on modifying an order with simple, low-cost switches in-app or at the in-store touchscreen kiosk. Because these order methods purposely cut out the human middle-person interaction, the clever hacker can try countless permutations of combos, switches, and substitutions to game the system without clogging up the in-person McDonald's line. The true genius hack to save money at McDonald's is patience, and spending a lot of time getting creative on the McDonald's app. If you make a great discovery and decide to post a video about it, perhaps you will be the next season's Deal Guy-level savings hero.