The $74.95 Pizza Order
How can people survive?
Monday, July 28th, 2025
Writing to you from Uruguay
It had been years since I ordered a pizza…
But, after a good day of flying and studying I had a craving for a Domino’s pizza loaded with toppings, 16 buffalo wings, and their oddly good (but also crappy?) chicken alfredo.
That sounded good and I couldn’t wait…I didn’t even look at the price.
Less than 30 minutes later I get a knock on the door, rush to grab the food I’d been waiting for, and feel hungrier than I have in a long time. That was until I saw it…
$74.95 printed on the receipt.
That much for 1 large pizza, 16 wings, and pasta - from Domino’s? The pizza didn’t smell so sweet after that. Actually, it didn’t taste all that great either.
How people are surviving doesn’t make any sense.
This happened back in May when I was in Denver, Colorado. Every day looked pretty similar there: I was studying all day or doing flight training and studying. There were only three places I spent any time in - the flight school, at home, or at a BJJ gym. So, I didn’t get out much to notice any significant changes in the world around me.
But, that number on the receipt was a glimpse into it all.
Let’s Run Some Numbers
I had ChatGPT run through the numbers and estimate what the cost of that order would have been in 2013 (not including delivery fees). Here’s what it came up with:
Item Estimated Average Price (2013):
Large pizza (one‑topping) $7.00 – $8.00
16-piece chicken wings $15.00 – $17.00
Chicken Alfredo pasta dish $7.50 – $8.00
That comes out to about $33.
Now, let’s add the $1.00 - $1.50 delivery fee (per 2013) as well as a $5 tip on top of that. After working as a pizza delivery driver in 2023, I can tell you that most people don’t tip - at least not in Idaho. So, we’re being generous here. That brings us to a total of $39.50. Taking that total cost estimate from 2013 and comparing it to my total of $74.95 means that there has been an 89% increase in cost over 12 years.
The Fact is: Most Are Trapped in a Room Flooding With Water - No Escape in Sight
This is a pizza order we are talking about - one large enough to account for about 2 meals for myself. A family would run through that order in 30 minutes.
Hundreds more dollars would have to account for every other meal of the week, not to mention gas, bills…
Saving money by cooking meals at home isn’t so easy of an option for some because they don’t have the time. Their hours are spent at a job - or several jobs - to pay the bills.
Back in May when I was still in Colorado, I was talking to one of the valet guys in the apartment complex I was staying in. Now, this guy is awesome, down-to-earth, and energetic. He reminds me of my uncle - and looks like him too: shorter, big beard, and a stocky build. I could talk to Adam (let’s call him Adam) about anything and everything.
Anyway…
Adam and I were talking one day and I asked him how things were going. He replied, “Ah alright. I’ve been going back and forth between working here and at another location after my knee injury because I can’t get enough hours in. I’ve been asking to get 40 hours a week here, but they haven’t given it to me.”
“Really, why not?”, I asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s tough. You know, I’m trying to make enough money to pay my ex for child support, give extra money for my daughter, and make enough money to support myself. Shit, I’ve gotta live too man.”
It’s terrible. Especially because I respect the guy for always being sincere, no-BS, helpful, and on top of things.
The question is…
How much harder is life for him when a meal costs $74.95?
Without Any Lifeboats We Have to Learn to Swim
There’s no chance of not being dealt a blow by the ever-decreasing value of the dollar coupled with the breakdown of a fragile economy.
The crash of 1929 and depression that followed it hurt everybody.
Those who not only survived, but made the most out of it, did so by gaining a vast number of skills (perhaps unintentionally) in order to find more work opportunities. Louis L’Amour was one of the best examples of this that I have.
Here’s a list of some of the occupations Louis found himself in after leaving home at 15:
Cattle skinner
Circus worker
Miner
Seaman
Longshoreman
Lumberjack
Cow hand/ranch hand
Short story writer
Tank Corps Mechanic
From the 1920s to the WW2 he was seeking work and adventure wherever he went. The number of skills he picked up by doing this is hard to put into words. And, his skills and experience left him bulletproof to the collapse around him.
“I never noticed when the Great Depression began. I was working for a dollar a day and found, to my surprise, that many others were now willing to do the same work for fifty cents. The Depression crept into my life without changing it a great deal.”
-Louis L’Amour, Education of a Wandering Man
For L’Amour, the walls weren’t creeping in.
On top of that, stories had always captivated Louis - he read constantly. And now, with all of his life experience, he was able to write stories that captivated others.
After coming out of WW2 he became a full-time writer.
Sure, he had trouble in the beginning in trying to learn how to write well and sell his stories, but as of today more than 300 million copies of his books have been sold around the world. He saw great wealth in the latter half of his life, accumulating an estimated $10-20 million ($25-50 million in today’s money).
Not only was he a man of many talents, but his skills and vast experiences came together to set the stage for his massive success in a seemingly unrelated field.
As a young man, I believe that Louis’ path is similar to the path most young men should take to gain success and certainly avoid being crushed by external, unchangeable factors.
Gain lots of skills, gain a great deal of new experiences to develop your view of the world and how things work, and bring virtue to the table. Teddy Roosevelt had it right when he said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
If you truly follow that you may not need to fear the troubles of the world, total economic collapse, or a $74.95 pizza order.
-Maxim Benjamin Smith
Consider putting together some cold cuts, good bread And live on some sandwiches. If you have simple cooking I have the recipes. cook enough for two meals. Go to Sam's get a rotesierire chicken for $5 & have four meals....
In the sixth month of 2013 the average price of gold was $1,389 per ounce. Today the price on the spot market, per Kitco, In the middle part of last month the price was around $3,380, a difference of $1,991, about 1.4 times the 2013 price. I suspect that the retailers are narrowing their profit margin on food items and keeping their profit margin on drinks as is tradition in retail food sales.
It is good to learn to swim. Uptown at 3030 Broadway in New York city is a gym named after Marcellus Hartley Dodge. When I was a freshman at Columbia they told me that Dodge had made a restricted donation which Columbia accepted to build the gym, name it after him, and include a large swimming pool (75 yards long it was) provided that every entering freshman would be tested to see if they could swim, and required to take swimming before graduation if they could not. It seems that Dodge lost family members and friends on the RMS Titanic. I aced the test and took fencing.
There is another sort of fencing that I've done involving barbed wire. It is one of the many less-than-skilled types of labour where work is often available in rural areas. For skilled trades, I often suggest locksmithing and welding, as there is always a need for these. Just last night three men were busy working to get into a locked car that one had left the keys within near where I'm staying. Of course, welding tools aren't so heavy if someone else is providing the gas and power. Locksmith tools fit in a small case or tote.
As always, these updates are very welcome and helpful. Thanks.