Topic: How Much Does Food Cost in Your Country? - page 10. (Read 1222 times)

I'm trying to be frank! The restaurant that I often buy breakfast and lunch boxes from, the same usual menu, taste the same, I'm glad they taste look and smell exactly the same so I can be sure what I buy and eat is not some frankenstein products, straight to the point, the price is now 80% increased during 2020 to 2023, I remember it was $5 just before pandemic, but it is now $9 for a pax, shocking isn't it? It is probably the most steep price hike within a few years.

I am also from Indonesia, specifically on the island of Lombok.

Average income to be able to live on the island of Lombok, Indonesia for one month: $150 (this is sufficient and is the standard minimum wage in Lombok)

Cost of living:
1. House rent (including utility bills): $48
2. Transportation: $26-$30
3. Food: $65 *standard meal around $0.3-$0.5 we will get rice with small chicken and chili sauce, with mineral water too.

one meal per one person probably around $2,  you can eat in a restaurant, or you can cook, that's just my minimum estimate that a person could at least eat a decent meal.

Fish Tinola I guess, or fried fish. I use fish because it's the cheapest and more delicious than just eating vegi. No offense to vegitarians here. 

Around $250 per month. Though having a salary like that can still be considered poor but enough to survive as long as you know how to manage your finances, you know, like prioritizing your needs and not getting much loans.

About 4 years ago, I worked for a company in the city with an income that I thought was very good, converted to about $1500, and actually, with that income, living expenses were not a concern of mine. Because every month, I only spend about $200 for rent + $150 for food and transportation + incidental expenses of only <$100. But I have completely moved to a place that is considered quite rural, where the cost of living is no longer a problem because I can earn my own food every day, and growing food is quite comfortable.
I have a small house near the hill, and there are also ponds around. Perhaps few choose the life I have now because the friends who often contact me and also often meet at my house all say my life is simple. I'm not sure, but in the place where I live, which is considered a country with a developing economy, I think the amount that people can easily earn monthly regardless of the job is probably > $300. With such an amount of money depending on living needs, the spending, IMO is enough so that people don't have much pressure. But for those who have bigger goals in life, of course they have to make an effort to get a good job, so they can build a house, buy a car, get married,... Anyway, for me now life is quite peaceful.

I remember reading something here in the forum that the minimum wage for employees is only around $49. I thought that our country had the lowest minimum wage, but I was wrong.

Because here in our country, I can say that the minimum wage earnings are quite good when you are an ordinary employee here, because the minimum wage is around $350, which is not bad at all. Although the prime commodities here in our country are expensive, they are still able to survive.

Cost of living is increasing virtually everyday here in my country. As the economic inflation is getting worse globally. In my country, prices of things varies based on the location you find yourself and the truth is that non of it is cheap as they are all on the high side as a result of the dollar exchange rate as we virtually depend on importation whereby virtually everything we consume in our country are imported except for the few local products that is produced in the country and even at then, the prices are on the high side. House rent is  drastically on the rise, transportation is every day thing as fuel price is increasing too. So you can see that even in some countries, all prices for the same produce varies based on the location where you find yourself. I will do a proper findings to get the accurate  figures to update here because if one depends on the government figures, I bet you it would be wrong because they are not reliable as they have no idea what is happening as all they know is to embezzle funds.

Getting exact information will be kinda difficult because cost of things varies from location to location even in the same country. The things are more expensive in  city based areas than local places and again, what type of meal do you considered standard? Well, in my country, the average income is actually not much (about $30-$35) but likewise, the cost of things are not too expensive. Unfortunately, the recent economic crisis troubling every nation has inflate and skyrocket the cost of things but even with such situations, with $1.5 you can obtain a decent meal of rice, beans, salad or any other vegetables of your choice, chicken or beaf and cold drinks. You'll still have some little change remaining. This calculation and analysis is based on my current location and it's a local area where they engage in farming and animal rearing. To some, this might not be a standard meal but it is at least average considering the income.

If we are to talk about the house rent and other expenses, then we must also consider the type of environment you're living in. At this present place, it cost $80-$100 to rent a single room with bathroom, toilet and kitchen per annum. Other expenses like transportation and electricity depends on individual usage. You can spend up to $10 on electricity monthly depending on how many units you use per day and transportation depends on how far your place of work is. Averagely, $0.5 daily on transportation for to and fro.

It's still impossible for one to live comfortably with just a single means of income unless you have no plans for future. Its high time to look for alternatives means and increase the income in order to meet up with bills and other plans.

In the Philippines

The basic salary is around $195 monthly, and the average monthly wage is around $600.
Monthly income depends on the location, it can be as low as the basic or as high as $1700.

1. House rent excluding bills - $107
2. Daily food cost (single person) - $10
3. Gasoline per liter - $1
4. Meat - $1.98 per kilo

In Indonesia.

Average income: $200

Cost of living:
1. House rent (including utility bills): $65
2. Transportation: $10-$30
3. Food: $60-$100

All calculations per month, cost of standard meal around $0.64-$1.28 which usually you will get rice, fried chicken, some vegetables and ice tea.

Here are some Turkish figures as of Nov'23, keep in mind that food used to be much cheaper but now some items are even more expensive than their European counterparts because of disastrous economic policies by the government, and specifically corruption in the Agricultural ministry...

Ground Beef (1kg): 13-15 USD (depending on the city)

Sour Dough Whole Wheat Bread (800-900 grams): 1.3 USD

Free Range Egg: 0.2 USD

Tomatoes (kg): 1-1.5 USD (depending on quality)

Chicken Breast (kg): 6-7 USD

Olive Oil (1lt, extra virgin): 8-10 USD

Yes, maybe you're right. However, food price standards can often be used as a benchmark for other prices. The price of standard food is of course the price you buy at an ordinary food stall, not at a fancy restaurant. Like in my country, we only need around $1 - $2 to buy a standard meal, the menu provided is usually rice, chicken/meat and vegetables, plus a cold drink such as iced tea or orange juice.

Figuring out the standard cost of living in different countries is way more complicated than just looking at the price of a single meal.  There's a ton of costs that go into it.  Like in some places the food might be pretty cheap but good luck finding an affordable place to live or paying your power bill and  and what counts as one standard meal anyway? Is it ingredients you buy and cook yourself, so you just look at the price of the food but not the time it takes to make it? Or is it what you'd pay for a meal at a restaurant, but even then prices are totally different if it's fast food or some fancy place.  Theres so many things that impact it.  No way you can tell just by a single meal's cost.

I want to know about the cost of living and average income in each country. Can I ask that here?

For comparison, may I ask how much a standard meal in your country costs for one meal? what is the standard food menu? What is the average monthly and annual income in your country? Please those who answer can use calculations in USD

Note: I don't need the tables issued by the government because they are usually different from the reality on the ground