Make Fast Food Cheap Again: This 2012 Taco Bell Receipt Will Ruin Your Day

We used to be a country, a proper country, where you could stuff your face with $5 worth of Taco Bell and be full for an entire day.

Not anymore.

Gone are the days of scouring through your jean pockets or going through your JanSport bookbags to find a couple quarters and dimes you could use to get Taco Bell after school. Instead we are in the dire times of the fast food industry and it's not looking good for anyone who may have the munchies.

Warning: If you don't want to be depressed on your Saturday, turn away. I apologize in advance for what I'm about to show my fellow taco lovers.

TACO BELL USED TO BE SO MUCH CHEAPER

There wasn't anything lovely about TikTok user @yo_lovelyocean's latest video when she randomly found an old Taco Bell receipt from 2012 and showed the prices that the fast food chain once offered. (I'm a little concerned about this person's laundry situation that they could find a receipt twelve years later but that's for a different day and a different article. Focus, people!)

"Two beefy five-layer burritos. Total $2.59. Can you even get anything for $2.59 from Taco Bell anymore? Like even one item?! Where did we go wrong?" she asked.

Scream it louder for the people in the back (and the Taco Bell CEO!)

What a time to be alive. Two five-layer burritos costing less than $3 bucks is what dreams are made of. If you were trying to order that today it would cost you over $7!

REMEMBER 50 CENT TACOS?!

The video has since gone viral with many people reminiscing about the 'good old days,' including when tacos would cost less than a dollar.

“When I was in high school the 7 layer burrito was $.79 and tacos were $.50... it's amazing how some change could get you so full!" one fellow Mexican food fan wrote. Another person tugged right at my Cheesy Gordita Crunch-filled heartstrings with this comment about the unspoken rule of just how much one was allowed to order from the fast food chain.

“I remember when you felt kind of greedy if you spent more than $10 there, because that meant that you must have an insane amount of Taco Bell," they wrote.

Nailed it. The guilt-ridden approach of coming back with too much Taco Bell cause it was so cheap but so delicious.

In fact, I'd argue that many people are still under the impression that Taco Bell is as cheap as it was back then. It's not, but fortunately for them (and unfortunately for the rest of us) prices have gone up everywhere so by comparison, the Bell is still one of the most cost-efficient options one can go for.

BRING BACK AFFORDABLE FAST FOOD

Taco Bell isn't the only fast food joint that's higher costs are making people angry.

I distinctly remember falling in love with Wendy's simply because its Dollar Menu was second to none. Being a junior in high school every bit of cash mattered but for $5 you would be set with the necessities if you needed: Food and Gas.

Our go-to move was to grab the $0.99 spicy chicken nuggets, the $0.99 junior bacon cheeseburger and either the $0.99 frosty or soda. For a grand total of $3.15 you could get a lovely variety of food that would be perfect as you were set to illegally drink the 12 pack of Busch Light that your friend's older brother charged you entirely too much for. And if you were low on gas for some reason the extra $2 was more than enough to confidently get you there and back in the suburban town you grew up in.

LET'S FAST FORWARD TO 2024...

And our food and gas situation absolutely STINKS.

Wendy's doesn't even have a dollar menu anymore.

Taco Bell isn't as cheap as it once was.

Chipotle is almost as expensive as going out for a sit down dinner while they still play us for fools by skimping on the size of their burritos.

And for God knows what reason McDonald's Big Macs are going for $18 in some place!

In this economy?

Yes, in this economy.

Word of advice for any political candidate out there. If you want to bring in the millennial vote? Promise to Make Fast Food Cheap Again.

As the hundreds of reactions to that Taco Bell TikTok story show - it'll work. People love voting with their stomachs.