So in the past 7 days, I ended up subsisting some super-cheap foods that were actually pretty good. For most meals, I ate at a noodle shop near my apt, which prices most dishes anywhere from 5-10 RMB and has generous portions:
Day 1:
9/25: Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
9/25: Drink/Refreshment (450 mL) - 3 RMB ($0.45 USD)
Day 2:
9/26: Lunch with a friend - Free
9/26: Noodles (拌面) - 9 RMB ($1.36 USD)
Day 3:
9/27: Beef "knife-sliced" Noodle Soup (牛肉刀消麵) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
9/27: Beef Fried Rice (牛肉炒飯) - 6 RMB ($0.91 USD)
Day 4:
9/28: Sichuan lunch w/ friend incl. lamb, chicken, soup, veggies, & rice - 34 RMB ($5.13 USD)
9/28: Drink/Refreshment (600 mL) - 4.5 RMB ($0.68 USD)
9/28: Drink/Refreshment (2000 mL) - 5.8 RMB ($0.88 USD)
Day 5:
9/29: Dumplings - 3 RMB ($0.45 USD)
9/29: Noodles (拌面) - 3 RMB ($0.45 USD)
Day 6:
9/30: 2 Peaches - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
9/30: Fried Rice (蛋炒飯) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
Day 7:
10/1: Noodles in Scallions Sauce with a side of Soup (蔥油拌麵) - 6 RMB ($0.91 USD)
10/1: Fried Rice (蛋炒飯) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
Weekly Total: 99.3 RMB ($14.51 USD)
Okay, so I did have a few leftover snacks and fruits from my Sanya trip, which came in handy when I got too hungry. But then again, if I didn't spend a third of my one week allowance on one meal, I would have been comfortably under the margin - outside of the 34 RMB meal, I averaged less than 10 RMB a day.
I didn't really run into any problems (i.e. I wasn't really hungry) until the last couple of days when I just ran really low on funds, and wished I didn't splurge 34 RMB in a single meal. As a result, this whole experiment, did come with a few side effects, most noticeable towards the very end:
Side effect #1: I think I got thinner. Combined with some minor exercise, I definitely lost some weight. I have no idea how much since I don't have a scale nor is it important since weight is not a very accurate measure of fitness. But if I was in the business of diet fads, I could probably coin this the "poor man's diet", the "miser's diet", or the "I'm broke" diet. Lose weight and save money at the same time! What a concept.
Side effect #2: I started noticing food tastes really good. I mean, really good. I don't think it has tasted this good in a long time. In fact, I can better appreciate how salt trade was so important in the past, and why oil is so necessary today (just kidding about the 2nd part). Really, all you have to do to learn to appreciate one of life's finer enjoyments (i.e. good food, or even just food in general, good or bad) is to try not spend any money and eat less.
Don't worry, I will eat more normally next week.
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3 comments:
Interesting!
My monthly spending in middle school was 200RMB. While more than 10 years have passed.
-Xiao
Reading about noodle soups and a week's worth of food makes me hungry. I think poor people might take offense if you called it the "I'm broke diet," but otherwise it would be very entertaining. But actually, if you were actually poor, you'd spend most of your money on cheap, manufactured, unhealthy, fattening foods, so you'd end up gaining weight and fat. Unless you really had no money. In which case you'd just starve.
I think what you say is true for the US; in China, your options are not quite the same - instead they might be cheap, artificial, dangerous foods pumped full of chemicals and not all that fattening.
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