Topic: How Much Does Food Cost in Your Country? - page 9. (Read 1222 times)

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

It's true, this difference is caused by Indonesia's geographical location which consists of islands. In my experience when traveling. The average cost of living in various regions of Indonesia, especially the islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Madura, Lombok-Sumbawa, Bali and East Nusa Tenggara, is still somewhat reasonable and almost the same. This depends on how we choose. $300-$450 is more than enough to live in any city on the various islands, sometimes you can have extra money left over.

For eastern regions such as Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua, the cost of living there is more expensive, it can be 2 to 3 times the standard of living on Java or the other islands I mentioned earlier. This is influenced by the location of the island which is far from distribution or production centers. This results in higher costs for delivering goods and services. This is the factor that causes basic commodities there to increase up to 2-3 times.

Having a salary of 139 dollars per month in a guard position is very low and still very dangerous. It's a very difficult situation for a guard, especially if he has a family to feed, and even if he only has one child, it's sure to be very difficult to budget his salary if this is the only expectation for them to survive in their lives.

Probably in this situation, they always approach the lending companies, where they don't care about the size or height of the interest.

I'll just answer one question amidst this interesting dialogue. However, keep in mind that the location where I live is an archipelago within a large country, so food prices in each area vary quite a lot. However, at my current location, fast food prices are still affordable. For just one dollar, I can get a plate of rice and various side dishes, including chicken, chili sauce, tofu, tempeh, and lalaban.

However, this depends on a person's personality, because the cost of eating at a restaurant can be much more expensive than at a roadside rice stall.

And because I belong to the middle economic group, of course when I buy something I look for the cheapest one, including when buying food, because when it comes to taste, everyone has their own taste, only prestige is the difference between eating at a restaurant and eating at a food stall.

Here in the middle of somewhere around the world, the standard of living is very expensive now, if I begin to compare it to the past 8 years. In my country, employees are paid monthly and not hourly like some countries do, and the minimum wage for some side hustle like working in a supermarket, a gas station, or just some normal employment without any degree is just about $20, but if you are multitasking like taking up two jobs, you can be earning $40–$50, and that's what most people do. You can get breakfast for $1, lunch for $1.5, and dinner for still $1, it depends on you budget and what you can consume. Utility bills are now more expensive.

I'm from Indonesia.

The price of the food varies depending on the choice.
One meal is about - [$1.2 - $2] depending on the side dish you want.
If you eat three meals a day, you'll need about $6 or more.
Standard meal: Chicken, eggs, vegetables and other side dishes.

The average salary is known to be $200-$300 depending on the position and job title, if it is just a factory worker then it will average $200.

Rent, bills, and other necessities are enough from the salary you get, but it will be difficult to save or invest because the salary can be said to be mediocre.

It all depends on how you manage your finances.

I'm from Indonesia, the basic salary is around $210 per month, this monthly salary depends on the work placement, and happens to be placed in a remote village.

I happen to cook myself
1. Chicken thighs 1/2 kg = Rp. $1
2. 1kg rice = $0.8
3. Raw vegetable soup =$0.2
4. Baput 1/2 ounce and Bamer 1/2 ounce = $0.3
5. 13 chilies = $0.2
6. Masako 2 = $0.1
7. Ketchup = $0.2
8. 1/4 sugar = $0.6
9. Salt = $0.4
10. Crackers 1 bks = $0.2
11. Shrimp paste 1 bks = $0.1
12. Fried chicken seasoning = $0.3
TOTAL = $4.4

The ingredients above are enough for three meals a day, I have to save money because renting a house costs $70 per month. When I leave the house, I usually go to a cafe for coffee and spend $15 and this is rarely at least 4 times a month, and for petrol $8 per month, and I save the rest of the money.

I live in one of the third world countries with the lowest minimum salaries on the planet. Despite this, food prices were, until recently, very low for two main reasons: First, because we are an agricultural country that relies for food production by more than fifty percent on its own resources. Secondly, because the state subsidizes all products that it is forced to import from abroad, such as vegetable oils and domestic gas.
Unfortunately, the situation has not remained as it was since the emergence of the Corona virus and the economy was forced to enter a recession that it has never experienced in its history. Then the matter got worse with the beginning of the Ukrainian war, which caused a shortage in grain supplies and an increase in their prices, in addition to the energy crisis that entered the global economy as a whole, which affected small economies terribly.
My country was suitable for living despite its limited resources, and today living there has become very difficult due to the high prices of everything, coupled with the lack of solutions and opportunities.

I gotta say, I'm pretty jealous of folks who live in places where you can grab a good meal for just a buck or two.  I'm from this tiny country in the Western Balkans where you'd be lucky to find anything decent for under $10 and  even if you buy all the ingredients yourself and cook it at home, its still not cheap.  But it's not just the food - I wish I lived somewhere with an average monthly income of $2,000-$3000 or more.  Here, most folks earn $1,000 a month if they're lucky.  You really need some fancy college degree to land one of those cushy jobs that pays well.  This means that most of our monthly income goes to food alone. When you add housing costs to that, we are left with nothing.  I know the grass always seems greener, but man it'd be nice to catch a break on simple things like cheap meals or rent.

If you have heard about Indonesia then I come from that country, our country is in the developing country category and people's income here is still in the low category (average $200/month), here the cost of living for a person or family actually varies, depending What city or region do you come from, but usually in the Indonesian capital (Jakarta) the cost of living there is quite high, it can reach $250 at the cheapest, besides that there are quite a few job opportunities so many people have to be willing to work in places that pay low wages.

I don't know what good this survey will bring to you, but I would like to say that even if I live in my country's city, let's say any small city, it does not mean the rates in a country are the same everywhere. The rates at my place cannot be the same as they might be in another city. But to give you a hard guess, for simple food in my city, which is roti and salad, we have to pay at least 150 to 200 pkr per meal (in dollars, it becomes $0.52 to $0.7). These are very high due to inflation, but if we go somewhere else, like a big city, the rates can exceed $1.

As food eaten in different places is different, the rates are also different, but to get an average, you can say we have to pay $1 for one meal, which is the simplest.

And average monthly salary is around 30k ($104.53) pkr to 40k ($139.37) pkr issued by the government for the lowest labor, even if they are working in the private or government sector. But as you stated, you don't need tables issued by the government due to their vilification, so the same happens here. I would like to say my father's monthly salary is only 20k pkr as a night security guard.

I am USA based. All sale prices, but there are a lot of sales.

Eggs are now down to $1.20 a dozen
Fucked up treated milk $3.49  a gallon
Good milk not treated $6.99 for a ½ gallon

Pork loin on sale $1.49 a pound
Pork spareribs on sale $2.49 a pound

Whole Turkey $1.99 a pound many are 20 pounds

Chicken drumstick $1.29 a pound
Chicken thigh $1.29 a pound
Boneless skinless Chicken breast $1.99 a pound

ground beef $2.50 a pound
steaks many cuts 8-20 a pound it varies.

Frozen veg 1.29 for ¾ pound

cheese varies
mozzellara untreated $5 a pound
ricotta untreated $4 for 2 pound container.
cheddar untreated $5 a pound

Note USA uses growth hormones to treat dairy in my opinion it is not healthy I do not buy it. I buy untreated dairy it costs more.
As far as I know only the USA does hormones for its dairy. A lot  of the above are 2x the price if you can not find a sale.

In the Philippines, the average salary is about $300 to $400

If I eat like bare cost for a day which is 3 meals, and cook at my house, I'd probably spend

around $8

I'll cook rice in the morning maybe half a kilo which will cost $0.5, it's up until the evening, will just reheat.

Then I'll cook eggs, hotdog, bread, or rice in the morning + coffee - $1.5

In the afternoon, I'll cook a viand - $4

In the evening, I'll cook another viand - $4

The sad part is that this budgeting of meals is just for 1 person, so imagine if you have a family to feed.

Average house rent is around $80 and bills at $30 to $50.

So it is advisable here in the Philippines, if you have a partner, both of you should work to afford above minimum salary meals, save before having a child.

Average Income: 200-400 USD per month

Rent: 60-100 USD per month
Food: $8-10/day (Single person) / 12-15(married)
 Breakdown (Have family)
   1. Rice - 1kl - $1
   2. Beef - 1kl- $6
   3. Others - $2

Fare: $2

Total overall expense: $20 per day i should say (married person)

This is why if you dont really have that extra income source and getting that low amount of salary
then you would really be struggling on making a living. This is why it would be ideal that you
should really be finding another income source or having some business. So it does vary on how someone
would really be handling himself into this hard life.

Same. I also come from Indonesia, specifically on the island of Sumatra. I myself am currently still unemployed and have no income from work. However most monthly incomes in my area are also around $150-200 as this is the minimum wage standard.

When talking about the cost of living, of course each region is different. Moreover, living in a small town means the cost of living will be cheaper than in a big city. Lombok is a tourist area, of course the cost of living is slightly higher. However, what is clear is that in each region in Indonesia the cost of living is definitely different.

Cost of living in my area:
1. House rent (including electricity and jet pump bills): $35
2. Transportation cost is about $10 - $15
3. The food was probably about the same, about $50-65 for three meals a day with standard meals and we also got hot tea.

You have said it all. The price of things have so skyrocketed that it is quite difficult to say exactly what meal is actually a standard meal or not. What might be a standard meal to one person might not be called a standard meal to the next person.  This is as a result of the differences in purchasing power of these individuals.  In my country,  many people are  just eating to survive,  it doesn't matter if it is a balanced diet or not because they are preparing what they can afford. Food wastage has decreased greatly. Who would want to waste a meal you spent fortunes to prepare? This is the situation of things now, not just on foodstuffs but on all commodities and  services that have a price tag.

Wow, this is a huge increase. In my country everything returned to normal after the pandemic was over. What causes prices not to fall after the pandemic is over? are you from Europe?


Monthly income in your country is very high, but the cost of living is also very expensive.


Can you predict why prices will rise and not return to normal after the pandemic is over? Does your country mostly import food commodities?

It is difficult to tell the price of each thing separately but I just want to say that the price of food in our country has doubled from the normal situation at present the same food which used to be bought for 10 dollars but now we have to spend 20 dollars. People have expressed a lot of anger about the increase in commodity prices, but the government has not shown any positive hope to the people. The price of food has increased, the price of daily necessities has increased, the cost of schooling for children has increased, but only a father's salary has not increased. Celery is the same as it used to be, but now the price of only essential items has doubled due to which now it is a war situation with families.

Japan average monthly salary ~2500 USD (It may reach 7K as an average income)
Prices vary greatly depending on the region, but I will mention the prices in my region:
Rice $1
Ramen: $6.
Sushi meal: $15.
Bread: $2.
Dinner at an average restaurant: $40.
Coffee: two dollars.
Transportation: $2 to $16.
Rent: starts from $200.
Average cost of living for an individual: $1,000.
Average cost of life for a family: $2,500.