Cheap food: can you beat this price in your country?

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Brazil.

252$ minimum wage. Most people earn this monthly.

Holy crap! 

Now this is what I'm talking about; I love discussions like this and I'm reminded of my masturbation-fantasy thread which I'm going to unlock so's I can get some colorful input in my brain instead of the dark gray cloud that seems to be going around like some kind of psychiatric contagious disease.

Brazil is beautiful from what I've heard, and I'm shocked that the cost of living is that low.  OP, there's nowhere in the US where you can get a meal as cheap as the one you described (am I correct in assuming that's USD in your post?).  Even the dollar menu at McDonald's is now like the $5 menu, and if you can easily spend $15 just for an unsatisfying sandwich, fries, and a watered down soda.  It's no better anywhere else as far as I know, and I think it's only going to get worse.  There's an egg shortage now?  WTF?

[Yatsan]

It depends on the resources when it comes to the price of food; matter of demand and supply. If you are living in an agricultural country or area wherein ingredients are just there to be picked up, then expect for a lower food expense. But once import and export are involved, then for sure it would reflect to the price; making it more expensive. Same thing applies with restaurants in city wherein they'd be needing to compensate for the importation of goods from different areas plus their costing of the restaurant itself, which would add to the raw market value of the meal. In my country, a complete set meal of rice, side dish, and main dish would cost around 1.5$ because of inflation and monopoly with raw materials.

[coupable]

Compared to the price in the restaurant you found, many countries in the world have regions that sell food at low prices. In general, the raw materials for these foods are all from local products, including the way these foods are made. In those same cities, you will find restaurants that serve expensive food.
In my country, there are restaurants that serve cheap dishes with simple ingredients. These same foods are served at expensive prices in tourist areas and luxurious neighborhoods.

[JoyMarsha]

The place one resides will determine how much he is to spend on feeding per day. I have been to a place where I spend close to 0.50$ per day. Why I have such low spending on feeding because I was staying in a rural area where foodstuffs are been harvested in the community. The place is an agricultural area. What took me to that locality is the immunization of kids.

Where I am staying now, eating 3 meals per day in a restaurant would cost you close to $3 due to the price increase of foodstuffs. I can only eat once a day if am ought to, which is a dollar price

[Cryptomiles1]

There's in my country though we call it fast food or Papa put, where you can eat rice, beans and fried egg for about $0.5 which about NGN 380 or even $0.7 which is NGN 500 actually the queue most at times is very discouraging where most people finds it difficult to wait and have their breakfast. This food are most being booked by student in the college and transporters.

[milewilda]

Just found a restaurant where the individual meal costs only 0,57$! Meal composed by rice, toasted cassava flour and black bean stew with few pieces of pork meats. Feeds one person decently and the taste is good. You can eat the whole month for less than 35$, considering lunch and dinner daily! That is perfect for cutting expenses with food!

Do you know any restaurants which serve cheaper meals than that where you live? It must be a meal, not snacks.

Basing up and looking around on where i do live then i would be able to see that you could eat up $1 per meal in minimum which if we do count on 3x meal a day which it is impossible for most people on here to eat twice only which means that $3/day and thats $90 per month but considering this amount is the most basic and not really that much sufficient i would say but if you are on a budget then you could actually live on this way.
Each country does have their own economic status but there might be no big differences i would say but if ever you do live on a country where food is cheap then be thankful.
not all people would be experiencing on the same situation.

[KennyR]

When it comes to food, it is upto the end user who makes it. There are families that live the entire month with the same $35. Between different countries this changes and restaurants offering such low price meals is really impressive and when the competence is high, to stay on the top it is a must to compromise on the price. Over time the price will be increased, which is the base of business. Lets see whether the price is being increased over time.

[philipma1957]

When it comes to food, it is upto the end user who makes it. There are families that live the entire month with the same $35. Between different countries this changes and restaurants offering such low price meals is really impressive and when the competence is high, to stay on the top it is a must to compromise on the price. Over time the price will be increased, which is the base of business. Lets see whether the price is being increased over time.

yeah even here in the states careful shopping you can get a lot of food cheaply.


A local supermarket had a deal for chicken soup.

cleaned checked breast no bones or skin. 4 pounds

2 lbs carrots

1 quart broth

2 pounds celery

1 pound of noodles

add a quart of water.

and a 20 oz bag of broccoli


cost is $12 for 4 pound of chicken breast.
the bag of broccoli is 1 dollar
all the rest was free as a promo

total is $13 dollars and  add the time and gas to cook it is 3 hours and about 50 cents in gas.
 
grand total of $13.50

this is a very large pot of chicken soup.

very little carbs lots of protein good quality food.

About 10 plates of soup or ten meals.

 So $1.35 a high quality food /meal home cooked.

I was able to buy this deal 4 times and my wife and I ate 40 dishes of it.  I played around and added more veg and some cheese so grand total may have been 4 x 13.50 = 54+6 or 60 bucks

say $1.50 a meal.

This type of deal is not constant I may get it one month a year.

Maybe a few other deals and I can be low cost  and diabetic friendly which is hard to do for me.

[browsiek]

The place determines the selling price, especially in a luxurious place, the selling price is definitely higher, even though the type of food is the same.  usually the selling price is cheaper in a village that adjusts to their income if in urban areas the price is more expensive, here what is known as cheap food called Nasi Kucing which consists of rice, eggs, crackers, and tempeh is usually sold near universities because most  those who bought it were students but there were also many employees who bought the food. At a price of $ 0.4, you can already eat delicious and healthy food.

[Hispo]

An individual lunch can cost somewhere between 4$-10$ here, depending what you ask and where you are.
The best cost effective meal I recall having was back in December, I ordered a combo of hot dogs at my local mall, they cost about 2$-3$ for two hot dogs and a small ice tea.

For that price I was expecting it to be rather a small snack but those came very well charged with a lot of dressings and toppings, got me really full. 

I have the impression here in my homeland one can find rather cheap groceries, instead prepared meals.

[Darker45]

Actually, you can find a lot of eateries, locally named carinderia, here in my country where you can have a meal as cheap as $0.57. That meal comprises of a cup of rice and a simple viand, vegetable dishes usually or different kinds of noodles. They could come with tiny slices of meat also. In many carinderias, soup is also served for free.

So, you can also live here with just $35 a month for food and the meals are nutritious enough, although in relatively small servings. But could you endure those kinds of meal everyday?

[libert19]

I could get full meal with variety of dishes for double of amount you mentioned. My appetite is less, we could even manage 2 — I guess that could counter the offer in title

[xSkylarx]

For sure, you'll get sick eating it all day and all night. I know it's cheap, but we should consider it healthy. Talking about cheap meals, here in our country, you can eat one meal, like for lunch, for only $.40, and you can select a chicken foot with rice. It also depends on the seller if he includes a free juice or not. We call them street foods, and most of them are made for students and workers with tight budgets. You can see a lot in here, and they are delicious, but again, you can save if you cook more and eat healthy if you are the one who cooks.

[Plaguedeath]

Meal composed by rice, toasted cassava flour and black bean stew with few pieces of pork meats

Lack of vitamin and nutrition because it's full of carbohydrate and protein, you can't eat for everyday because you will suffer obesity and heart problem. You need to compare it apple by apple, not the unhealthy dish. I read on an article where minimum wage in Brazil is 2265 BRL/Month or $440/Month [1], how it's possible you're saying the minimum wage is only $25/Month.

Anyway, if you want to have a frugal lifestyle, it's stupid to save your money by eating cheap unhealthy food, health is the most important, so make sure you eat a healthy food even it's will cost a little bit more.

[1] https://take-profit.org/en/statistics/wages/brazil/

[mindrust]

Just found a restaurant where the individual meal costs only 0,57$! Meal composed by rice, toasted cassava flour and black bean stew with few pieces of pork meats. Feeds one person decently and the taste is good. You can eat the whole month for less than 35$, considering lunch and dinner daily! That is perfect for cutting expenses with food!

Do you know any restaurants which serve cheaper meals than that where you live? It must be a meal, not snacks.

There are family restaurants in where I live which make home made meals and each meal costs around $1.06-$1.1 The quality is OK but not that great and I wouldn't eat there as long as I have a very very tight budget. These prices may look funny to the forum members but there are many people who work for the minimum wage (which is $450) and they still struggle to pay those prices.

I wouldn't reduce my food quality just to cut my expenses. Eating quality food makes me happy.

[salad daging]

When I worked at the old place I found a restaurant with dishes for $1 per portion I often order this meal because it is economical and can fill the stomach but behind the food honestly there is no protein that is healthier mostly oily food where the side dishes are all fried, so indeed this effort is to save expenses in each particular area but at the same time we don't think about health about the protein.

My minimum wage has increased, so of course I choose healthier food for the good of my health. I choose nutritious food to take care of my body better. Health care is more than nothing.

$35-$40 is enough for a month of eating in my area with snacks.

[TopTort777]

I know places in my city where a person can eat cheap. There are two categories of them. First is sort of a canteens located in huge manufacturer or places where average Joes or people with low income work. Example - a canteen for city bus drivers, located in depo. For 3 EUR you will get soup, meat, garnish, vegetable salad, drink. But there is one problem - locals cant get there. Either you have to work there, or have a friend there. Second place - small canteens in sleeping quarters or outskirts. Cheap food (less than 5 EUR for a portion), but the taste if awful. Basically no taste. Cheapest place to fill stomach. Cheapest place to get diarrhea. For comparison - I spend around 10 EUR when go out for a lunch during working days.

[rat03gopoh]

This is a traditional restaurant that I can find around me, more or less 2km radius. Only offers 1 type of menu with many variants. It's only about $0.4 per serving, as they claim on the banner, that they offer the lowest price in the world for this type of dish. The following is the nutritional content for 1 serving of Soto Ayam in general : Calories: 312kcal | Fat: 14.92g | Carbs: 19.55g | Prot: 24.01g ect...[1] https://www.fatsecret.co.id/kalori-gizi/umum/soto-ayam

[Maslate]

Just found a restaurant where the individual meal costs only 0,57$! Meal composed by rice, toasted cassava flour and black bean stew with few pieces of pork meats. Feeds one person decently and the taste is good. You can eat the whole month for less than 35$, considering lunch and dinner daily! That is perfect for cutting expenses with food!

Do you know any restaurants which serve cheaper meals than that where you live? It must be a meal, not snacks.

That's very cheap, but if you want to survive, then you have no choice but to eat cheap food. Well, in our country, there are also inexpensive food options, but if I have the money, I would certainly go for food that is full of nourishment to live healthily. Due to inflation, prices are rising, and the quality of life is getting harder, if you know what I mean. So, it's a blessing to find such cheap food to feed the poor and help them survive in these trying times.

If I had to spend money on food only to survive, I think the minimum I would need is maybe $22 a month for two meals per day.

[BRINIRHA]

it seems hard to find a restaurant or eatery that serves food at a lower price than what the OP found if it's in a developed country. but in developing countries I think you will find a lot of the same or cheaper prices. and I think in Indian and Indonesian as well as in Malaysia there will still be many restaurants at low prices. but to be honest it seems like it will be very rare to find. unless the restaurant is in a suburban area or in a small town.