US$5 hot rotisserie chicken from Costco is cheaper than a whole raw chicken from grocery outlet. In addition, I have to pay for the electricity and seasoning to cook the chicken.
this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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What they hate even more is that we're splurging on living indoors with running water and flush toilets.
Hahaha! I will tell you, my own mother (70s) buys rotisserie chicken because it is cheaper per pound of meat than a raw chicken and is just as good or better than if she bought the same size chicken and roast it herself in her own oven. Something to know about my mom is she is frugal. She coupons, and will always seek out the best deal. Whoever wrote that WSJ article truly has no idea what it is to budget is what I see. Additionally, some of the neighborhoods that were listed, are some of the richest parts of NY, so of course people who have money will also go out and buy easy meals rather than spend time cooking.
Of course.
Rotisserie Chicken is a loss-leader. But that smell stimulates your appetite and gets you to buy more.
Plus you're gonna want some high-margin foods to go with it. Maybe some veggies, potatoes. Box mash is a pain in the ass when the chicken is already cooked, may as well get the pre-made heat-and-eat stuff. It's right here next to the chickens...
Plus if you get box mash you need to get milk and butter too...and walk nearly the entire rest of the store to get all three.
This is basic supermarket psychology.
The rich and out of touch commenting on the poor. Seems to be the norm now.
the difference is: we read their crap, but they don't read ours.
I don't want them to read our stuff, our stuff may include plans such as pouring raw sewage into the intakes of their bunkers when shit goes side ways like they plan for.
Do they really not understand how a $5 chicken costs less than a house?
I think they're hating on genz and millenials because of boomer embaarrasment that they've handed them a world on fire.
Rotisserie chicken is in some ways cheaper than raw chicken... and I know place where it is the case. Like is eating now a crime to these people?
Existing While Poor is a crime to those people. It has always been.
Hey kids, did you know eating is bourgeoisie?
if they cant have chicken maybe they can eat the rich instead.
Insult and injury on top: If you use EBT for food, you can't buy warm food. Despite deli counter food often being fairly cheap, you aren't allowed to enjoy a nice warm meal. You can't buy a $10 baked pizza, 24 pieces of chicken for $26, or the $5 rotisserie. No, you must always homecook, with all the extra effort and time that requires.
EBT is good, but the richies obviously think that poverty is inherently a sin. The carrot is also a stick, and will be used to paddle the backside of people who aren't "good" in the eyes of the wealthy.
$5 day old rotisserie chicken or $11 for an uncooked chicken and also prep and cooking costs.
I was OOTL on this one and had to search for it. The article is kind of hard to find, but I was very amused by the fact that there apparently is another article from the WSJ that essentially nullifies the entire claim of rotisserie chicken being a "splurge".
Pfft, stupid millenials and gen z wasting all of their monies on fancy rotiserrie chickens and non processed fresh food. If they just lived on a starvation diet, they could afford their rent and insurance. They are just bad with money.
But wages have never had more buying power! The CPI and inflation adjusted numbers say so, and although we've changed the way it's counted to understate it, 2-3% from 5-8% under the old unimproved metric for the last half century, just by 2008, you can totally trust we wouldn't in bad faith understate the numbers to give every worker, every retiree, and every fixed income a pay cut every year automatically, and transferring that money to investors in gate keeping corporations. /s
I never bought rotisserie chicken because they were cheap to the point of being suspicious (i.e. what sort of corners are they cutting).
Sort of the opposite of what I would consider a "splurge."
They take chickens that are on the sale by date and cook them. At least when I worked deli! So maybe not the nicest chickens but all fine!
I remember working on the deli when we'd markdown the chickens. Folks knew when we put them out and how long we waited before doing it. There was generally a little crowd of 2 to 3 folks when we'd do it on the weekend. Sometimes they'd get impatient and ask us if we were gonna come do it. Which, to be honest, I don't really blame them. I don't remember how much of a savings it was but it was significant. It's sort of like "hey buddy, let's stop the charade, I need to get going, can you come mark these down a few minutes early?"
(i.e. what sort of corners are they cutting)
In case you really want to know:
TL;DR: Rotisserie chickens are smaller on average and price per pound usually more expensive except at stores like Costco. So you see similar numbers but don't notice the size.
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These rich fucks would complain if you were left nothing but dirt to eat and got an extra grub in a mouthful.
I know this is preaching to the choir here, but that is so very out of touch for many/most/all of us.
Those things cost like $5 - $9 in my area, and you can even get the "old" ones for a couple dollars cheaper at times. It costs very little more than raw chicken, and in some cases, the rotisserie chickens cost less. Then you factor in time for cooking, clean-up, products for clean-up, and other time / material costs, and the difference comes out a wash.
So, they are apparently suggesting that having chicken in a meal at all is a splurge. Sure, in some idealistic world where we all eat a vegan diet to save the earth, that might fly. But in the real world, it's literally insane propaganda to suggest that chicken is a splurge.
And rotisserie chicken is tasty, filling because it's high protein, and healthy/low calorie.
The Costco ones are brined in all kinds of chemicals.
The chemicals: water, salt, rice starch, sugar, vegetable oil, tetrapotassium pyrophosphate, sodium triphosphate
Nothing concerning in that list, although the last two sound scary when if don't know what they are
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Yeah I just want to know what grocery store food Wall Street journal is going to call Gen Alpha privileged for eating. Store brand hummus? Whole wheat bread?
Hummus?? BROWN bread?? thats rich people food
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I thought they were saying they had a new fettish
If saving 5 bucks on your grocery bill is the thing that keeps your head above water... you're probably already deep enough to meet the ghost of that OceanGate CEO.
WSJ is absolutely on the money here. We shouldn't be eating rotisserie chickens with all of these plump billionaires to feast on.
If you cook them down enough you can make Boullionaire
Maybe a nice billiongnese sauce.
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It’s one rotisserie chicken, Michael. How much could it cost, fifty dollars?
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