Topic: How Much Does Food Cost in Your Country? - page 8. (Read 1317 times)

This question doesn't have basis nor direction. It's a plain question that is supposed to have a specificity because I don't understand how you want to know cost of living in a country when you know that there would be many answers because we have urban areas and rural areas. Even urban areas cost of living different and if you are been given wrong information, you can assumed that it's the truth but meanwhile, it's the wrong information.

Let me give you some instances: In nigeria, we have big cities like Lagos, Portharcourt, Abuja, this cities are the kind of place you will find everything, social life is there, Real Estate development and many more but do you know that we have more big cities like the ones I made mention? The problem with the other one might be challenging due to difference in religion, places like Kano is a big city but you can't socialize like that in Kano because of their believe and cost of living is different despite they are all big cities in Nigeria. We have other big cities I didn't mention and you cannot compare the cost of living in these areas because of differences in ethnicity, security and many more.

In the country where I live, food is considered expensive compared to the global average prices. But I want to note one important detail that the author of the topic missed: the quality of food is also different all over the world. Chicken fillet in the USA is very expensive, it is considered a healthy food, while it has almost no taste and smell. At the same time, in my country, the taste of chicken is excellent, you can always smell and taste. Therefore, sometimes it is better that the products are not cheap, but the taste qualities should be in the food! After all, gastronomic sensations are one of the greatest joys in life.

That's right, it's not just income and living costs that vary from country to country. Even regions and provinces within a country will have huge differences in prices and living costs. Therefore, the cost of living depends on the personal income of each person and each household and there cannot be a general assessment. If we have a low income, we will have a completely different spending level than those with higher incomes and vice versa.

When I was a worker, I only spent 2 USD/day on main meals or even ate at work to save money. But when my income improved dramatically and my expenses sometimes went up to $50 per day, it was hard to know what the average cost was.

Indian estimates according to my experience, it's huge country prices vary a lot.

In hotels you can get full size meal for about $2 (search Indian thali for image on Google). Most Vegetables start with 0.25 USD/KG. Rice-lentils start from 0.50 USD/KG (depends on quality, branded items cost more), milk 0.6 USD/KG.

Fast food costs 0.36 USD/plate, some items half of it.

Average income about 250 USD.

If you watch westerners exploring India on YouTube , you'll get better idea.

Because I live in a country with a very large area, there are many differences between salaries and living costs in each region, and I will share the places where I live.
The basic salary (if according to government regulations) is around $300
House rental fee $100 (with bills and this is a simple rental house)
Meal Cost $4.5-$6 = $180 (with 3 meals and varied menu)
Transportation $1-$1.5/day=$37.5-$40
The average person will find it difficult to save because their salary will automatically run out for just one month's living and they will get more when there is a bonus or when there are religious holidays.
However, this is not the full picture because even in big cities there are still people who receive wages below the standards set by the government so they will fall into the category of poor people and the government will routinely distribute assistance every month in the form of rice but unfortunately many poor people also do not receive this assistance.

Thanks for this one. I would like to ask some questions.
1. Which part of the region pays $300-400$? If you are talking about our highest minimum wage which is in NCR, I did calculate, and converted it, and if you worked for 24 days, you will only get roughly $244.74 (that's based on the current PHP/USD conversion).
2. Are you living in the NCR or in the province? Because I have a relative living in NCR, and he said that the average house rent there is more or less $200. I don't know if there's any house owner in the NCR that's renting their house for $80 per month. Correct me though.

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Food cost in our country is different in every region.

1. If you live in an urban area like NCR here in the Philippines, it will be hard for you to survive if you only have one source of income in your family because the prices of food out there are so damn high. From meat to milk, to vegetables, to rice, etc. I can't say a specific amount how much a family spends on food on a daily basis since I don't live in an urban area, but if I'll estimate it, the lowest would be at least 10$ per day, Of course, it will depend on some factors like how many are you in your family, where did you buy it, etc., etc.

2. Now if you're living in a rural area, or let's say a province like me, the cost of food might be lower, and it's because you can just plant in your backyard. In an urban area, I'm not saying it's impossible to plant, but it's harder than in the rural areas where they have large backyards where they can just plant any seed that they want. If you're industrious, and you have many vegetables planted in your area, that decreases that food cost since you didn't buy it. In some agricultural areas, some farmers don't buy rice because they have their own rice fields where they can just plant rice there. TBH, in rural areas, the amount of food that you can spend is more than half less than it is in urban areas.

Food cost in our country differs depending on what area you are living, but having only 1 source of income nowadays isn't enough to support a whole family of 3 unless that 1 source of income is giving you 6-digit income per month.

Because the staple food in my country is rice. So I will start with the price of rice. Well the price of rice here is around $1usd for 1kg of rice. At the beginning of 2023, the price of rice will only be around $0.72 USD per kg. But because inflation and price increases occurred in various sectors, they then rose and are currently $1 USD per Kg.
And 1kg of rice is usually enough to feed 2 people in a small family for one day. or for three meals. because usually here we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Then we also usually buy 1/2kg chicken meat per day. at a price of around $1.2 Usd per 1/2kg. we bought cooking spices for around $0.3usd which could even be enough for 2 days. And we also bought vegetables (lately I also bought vegetables because last summer the plants in my yard dried up and I gave up on watering them). I shop for complete vegetables per day, spending around $0.7 USD. This is just a rough idea. for more details, it's actually not much different.

so that I make food for 1 day which costs approx
rice = $1usd
chicken meat= $1.2usd
cooking spices= $0.3
Vegetables= $0.7usd
total = $3.2usd.

Maybe I didn't take into account the additional costs of gas and electricity. but if I calculate it will only add costs around $ 1 USD. but that includes electricity needs for everything. so I don't include it in food costs.

So I can serve food for 2 people in my house and only spend around $3.2 USD per day. This is just for standard food, OK? And I have to admit that the cost of food in our country is quite low when compared to other more developed countries. I could even save more if I started planting vegetables again in my yard.

Meanwhile the average income here is probably around $300usd per month for a typical employee. But I don't want to reveal my own income. So I will measure by the average employee income here. So if you can spend $3.2 USD per day then in 30 days we (3.2 x 30 = 96) well we only spend $96 USD per month on food for 2 people at home. But this is just food costs. Electricity, gas, mobile credit, health and home maintenance costs and others. then $300usd won't actually have much left to save. Unless 2 people in the house work together so they earn $300x2=$600usd. So $300 USD can be enough for the needs of 2 people and the remaining $300 USD can be saved and invested.

The standard of living costs in various countries is of course different, it is very difficult to find out how much each person actually costs for one meal because people's tastes are different. Some places may offer very cheap food, this strategy is implemented to attract buyers to visit their place. Meanwhile, other places that offer all comfort facilities for visitors will charge higher prices. I think spending on one meal depends on each individual's lifestyle, I personally prefer to buy food in simple places to maintain monthly economic stability. The taste of food sold in ordinary food stalls and food sold in luxury restaurants is almost the same, the place and way of serving it are different, making a huge difference in price.

The average monthly income here is around $270. That's according to a survey. I have doubts. It could actually be lower in reality. Before anything else, please note that the income disparity in this developing country is very wide, with the top 1% earning 17% of the national income while the bottom 50% shares only 14%.^[1]

Although this could highly vary from one place to another, in my city, you can live with more or less $4 a day for food. That's composed of rice and one dish, either meat or vegetable or fish. That's if you prefer to eat at a lowly eatery.

With this income, you still have enough money left for your other expenses like rent, fare, and so on. But you are barely living. Figuratively, you're not even living; you're merely existing. But that's the general condition of the working class here. You wake up, go to work, go home, sleep. You repeat that until you die.

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[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/11/24/ph-reducing-inequality-key-to-becoming-a-middle-class-society-free-of-poverty

Everyone has their own way of managing the needs they need in a month and also expenses in the village are of course very different from expenses in the city, because if we live in the city of course we have to think about how to rent a place to live and also the cost of necessities is high unlike in the village We can still get our basic needs cheaper than in the city and if we can manage our finances well there will certainly be no difference between living in the city and living in the village.

Many Indonesian member post the cost of living in Indonesia, but I am really sure it depends on what city and village you live in. I ever heard my friend who lives in Vilage can live with only $100 a month. that's cost an impossible thing today when we live on city where that $100 can spend at all only 3 days. I have experience even been economical after I don't have a job 10 years ago, I just can live with only $50 a month. I don't rent a home for sleep, because I sleep in the mosque after that I clean it and and get a free breakfast from Donatur. So with this situation, cost for live is just a number, to realize it is depend on how you manage it.

To save money, I can cook my own meals that could last for one week for one adult. Here's the cost breakdown:

• Chicken meat = $3/kg
• Regular quality rice = $1/kg
• Medium quality beef = $10/kg
• Ready-to-drink mineral water = $1.5/gallon
• Instant noodles = $0.2/piece
• Chicken eggs = $3/kg
• Salt = $1/kg
• Spices and seasonings = $3 for a week of cooking

For my weekly food budget calculation, it amounts to $20 (w no beef), which is enough for one person. That means I need at least $2.8 per day for meals. If I choose to eat fast food, it might cost me around $5 for three meals in a day.

The average monthly income in our country (Indonesia) is $150 - $320 - this is the data in the local thread.

About the comparison it depends on the lifestyle and where one lives, if one lives in the city then costs can be expensive including rent, bills, internet etc. then food needs for a month with that salary is still quite normal and covers their life.

When it comes to normal food that many people buy in the general public may spend $2 to $3 on ready-made food at the store, but there are some who buy groceries and cook at home.

I am from Bangladesh, currently the price of goods has increased a lot in our country. In our country, everyone has different monthly income. Depending on where I live, a day laborer's monthly income is around $120-130. A private company job earns different salaries, some get $140-180 monthly salary, some get more and some get less. Government employees have different salaries, some have a monthly salary of $200 to $300, and some have more and some have less. And those who do business have different monthly income according to the business.

Each family spends differently. Let me mention what is usually required for 3 meals in my family and how much it costs. Main food in our country is rice and fish.
 *Price of 2 kg of rice = $1.10 (approx).
 *Onion required 150g approx price=$0.18 (approx).
 *Fish per kg = $1.5-2, 500 grams is enough.
 *100 grams of green chillies = $0.13,
 *Cooking oil 100 grams = $0.17.
 *For vegetables and spices = $1.
 *If beef is eaten 2-1 days per week beef = $7 per kg
 *Also various other expenses not mentioned.
Total cost for a typical 3 meals a day = about ($3.45).
There are many families who spend more than this, while some families spend even less. Now due to the increase in the prices of goods, the life of the common man has become difficult. It can be seen that common day laborers cannot save easily during the year. There are many people who save in this too. There are some who spend all their money on their daily food.

So far, the most expensive commodity today is the tomato; last week it was around 1.75$ per kilo, but now it has increased too much; it hurts the pocket, honestly speaking, because it is now at the price of 2.3$ per kilo, followed by potatoes, which last week were around 1.9$ per kilo and are now at a price of 1.8$ per kilo.

Although the others have gone down, they can still be considered expensive. That's why we can't do anything; we really have to survive and find a way to get a source instead of complaining and stressing.

I am from the Philippines, and I do bring my own car to work, and I can tell that it's not for everyone. Gas prices may be a dollar per liter, but given the traffic situation in the metros, your car can easily gulp a liter or two of gasoline for every 10 - 12 kilometers of travel, and that's not economical at all. As for food cost, I can say that I spend much less than that for the whole day, given I prepare my own food and only stick to what my body needs.

If I were to re-write this, here's what my expenses look like:

1. House rent: $200 for a 40-sqm, two-story apartment
2. Daily food cost: $5 that covers breakfast, lunch, and dinner
3. Gasoline consumed per day, 3 liters for a 10-km drive due to traffic, so that's $3

I can still tighten that budget if I wanted to, though I think I might be restricting myself too much if that happens. Indulgence happens once every two weeks, so I'm still feeding myself good. Compared to what I receive for my monthly pay, my expenses is quite negligible and I'm saving 70% of my pay.

The cost of everything has pretty much risen to 100% for some products, nearly doubling in price. Unfortunately, the majority of these goods are daily groceries, such as meat, cleaning supplies, fruits and vegetables, pasta, and so on. The minimum salary in Greece is €667 after taxes, while an average one ranges from €700 to €850. The average rent, on the other hand, for a 40- to 50-square-meter one-bedroom apartment is approximately €370 to €400, or about 50% of your entire salary. It's completely ridiculous.

I used to buy chicken fillet anywhere between €6 and €7 per kilo; now it's up to €10; pasta has also risen by over 20%; and dairy products and olive oil have skyrocketed. Don't get me started on fuel or energy costs. Wages, on the other hand, haven't seen a significant increase in the last few years, with all this increasing inflation of over 15% in the past two years alone.

I am from Indonesia, Indonesia has a large area so prices will differ from one city to another. But I will tell you based on the city where I live. Standard meal prices are $0.7 - $1.3. The food menu usually contains rice, chicken and vegetables, and if I want to save more then I only need to spend $0.4 to buy rice and vegetables.

The average income in my city is around $150 - $250. In my city, lots of vegetables and rice grow, so in reality we don't always buy food at food stalls and often eat at home and cook for ourselves/the family so food costs are cheaper. Average monthly cost of living is around $80 (single)

This has always been a weird concept when you think about it. What do you mean by "food"? I mean if we are talking about just being able to say I was fed, then I would say 100$ could be enough, or at least 200$ would be enough, per month. How? Well you would eat pasta everyday, or rice, something very cheap, and it should be very cheap to live like that, shouldn't really cost much, plus you can buy in bulk, I can buy one years worth of supply and make it VERY cheap. However, are we talking about proper food? Like including meat, which everyone should eat to be healthy? Are we talking about what we want to eat? Yes, we are not all rich eating caviar, but are you capable of buying a simple burger outside? If we are talking about something big like that, it could go as high as 500$ or more. Just a simple meat could cost you 30-40$ here, just today I bought a very small amount, 300 grams, and it was 15$ for example, all for myself, just that alone, twice a week, would be 30 dollars per week, 120 dollars a month, and that's just meat, not even talking about other 5 days and the breakfast, and don't get me started on lunch too, I already removed lunch from my life to make it cheaper. So all in all, I would say anywhere between 200 to 500 dollars for a normal person, that should be decent enough, you can spend more, like if you go outside to eat somewhere, then yeah, you can have a lot more, but I am talking about just eating and cooking inside, with ingredients you buy, not fast food, not going out, if you go out once a week, and order fast-food to home once a week, it may go as high as 1000 dollars a month, but it would also be unhealthy, I do not suggest that.

agreed

it’s not only the price of the ingredients you have to consider but as well what you use to cook the said meal like gas and stove or electricity for example

this is a complicated topic even if i tell you the price of a “standard meal” here you’re probably gonna think it’s cheap especially if youre in the US but again in my country 50% of my countrymen identify as poor
food is expensive here because salaries are low minimum wage workers literally get the bare minimum not even worth the job they’re doing