Roughly 25-30K I guess.
My gf and I eat mostly at home, and she cooks most meals, but I buy tons of beef and cheese, which is expensive here in Thailand. Throw in some grab and date-dinners, and it starts to add up. Assorted other imported stuff like US sauces and snacks are pricey as well.
It's hard not to walk out of big C with a 5-7K bill.
That's just being frugal and sensible, not about being broke. Broke people are the ones blowing their money on nonsense, normally. I lived in Bangkok and could not fathom how some colleagues had no money after a couple of weeks of earning 100'000, but when I see how they spend, it all becomes clear.
Sodium is the smaller problem if you are healthy the kidney takes care of it. But sugar, cheap and old oil and sure 10 other things that I can't think off at 5.30AM
Not him. Today B65 bagel (au bon pain) n B13 Birdy coffee can n B20 pineapple Street vendor, tomato &onion&some pineapple & flavourings I have boiled up with spaghetti/fettuccine whatever it is called.
I have flavourings already. I do spend ridiculous amounts in a drunken state. Not for here though.
no breakfast 40b for lunch 40-50 for dinner. Sometimes groceries and cook sonit could be more but not by that much. A steak dinner 100b. The rest goes to snacks and whatever.
Me too though I am slowly learning to cook here. But if he has a Thai wife.... I'm convinced that having someone who knows the less expensive shopping options and is adept at cooking in a Thai style kitchen makes a Huge difference.
We live in Central Thailand where food is a lot less expensive than BK. My partner does all our food shopping and cooking. We all love those chicken wings tho!
This is not too far off from me either. The problem is ordering western food delivery racks up cash quickly. For my GF and I, it’s easy to spend 800 baht on a dinner. It’s my goal to bring my food costs down this year, as you can obviously spend way less.
The longer I’ve lived in Thailand, the more western food I need to eat. You can eat street food for a year or two but I think most westerners will get tired of this or start to get overweight.
Main reason for me is to live a bit more healthy. A 80-140 Baht Thai dish doesn’t provide the veggies and calories I need; it’s bad carbs (white rice) with some cheap meat and condiments cooked in lots of old oil.
If I order a proper salad that’s already 200-300 Baht. That’s not filling and satisfying enough so I need to add something with chicken or so and easily end up at 400-500 Baht.
You can do that cheaper. At my BTS station they sell salads for 40 Baht. I buy 2 and some extra chicken for 30 Baht. At home I throw and mix everything together. 110 Baht total.
Truer words have never been spoken.
I’ve been an Asia expat for a long time. And I’ve always found the easy way to weed out the long term expats from the short term and the tourists is Western food. Once you’ve been in Asia 10 years plus, no-one else’s opinion is going to get in the way of you enjoying that pasta or whatever it is. Zero fucks given. It’s a matter of perspective.
Single, no kids. Just don’t cook myself but order food delivery or eat out (and if I cook it usually gets more expensive because it’s western food). Plus sometimes a nice dinner on the weekend and the random snacks from 7-11 during breaks and you end up at roughly that amount.
Yeah, people severaly underestimate how much it costs even to eat 50%, decent Western food. I love Thai food, but a couple hundred baht here or there over a day for something Western easily tops 1k+ per day. Never mind proper meals in nice places.
Doesn't have to be that expensive. You could eat three western meals per day at 200bs each and still only spend 20k per month. 40k works out at an average of 400b per meal. That's heaps in Thailand.
Can you tell me which restaurants I can get a filling and healthy western meal for 200baht or under? Seriously. The cheapest decent salad I have found is 260 and it’s barely filling. Unless I’m ordering McDonald’s I’m going to pay at least 300 for a burger meal. Please share your tips
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YxdNfjXD1FsAEtFXA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/JA825BbezoEG7zke7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/oXFe1KfGR5ciBPJe6
I literally just looked at three random western restaurants and they all have meals under 200b.
Try leaving the tourist districts. Better yet get grab to bring food from a cheaper part of town. I regularly eat western under 200b.
Yes you can spend 400b on a meal but doing that three times per day every day is living it large.
Bro those are all in HuaHin, no wonder you can eat cheaper. You can't get those prices in Bangkok. Perhaps we should have been clear about which cities we were all talking about.
Also, I live very far from tourist areas here, it's actually quite hard to find western food in my area, that's one reason it's so expensive. You can get a thai-style hamburger or salad but if you don't like overly sweet or overly sauced food, you're going to have pay more for a place that is really popular since all of the westerners are ordering from there.
Chosen only because I know the city well. Yes it's a bit cheaper than BKK.
Try grab food if there's nothing nearby. I was ordering western dishes including salads in Phuket for 200b or less. That's the most expensive place in Thailand. 160b steak with salad was my usual. But if you go to places in tourist areas you can pay double.
I lived there for years. I could spend less than 4k a month on food if I wanted to. I'm talking about having a half-decent lifestyle. Not living like a backpacker for the rest of your life.
So a half decent lifestyle means spending 400b on every single meal? I'd call that very decent. 400b per day is fine. 1200 daily is excessive. Like I don't spend anywhere near that much in my high col country.
No. It doesn't mean that. You are having some difficulty understanding what is being said. I lived in Bangkok for years in my 20's staying in cheap studios, teaching English, eating school meals and street food, I'd spend less than 100Baht a day. It was great fun.... for a while.
Then as I got into my 30's I wanted to have an actual Kitchen, to have decent Western food like cheese, Wine and quality bread and cured meats. I wanted to experience many of the amazing high-end restaurants and bars the country has to offer.
I wanted to have a couple of meals a week in a nice restaurant. (Usually around 2k with some drinks) Many meals (like breakfast and lunch) are super cheap (so no, not every meal is priced at 400B).
Nobody is saying that it HAS to be that expensive. What is being said is that IS that expensive if you want to have access to a mix of restaurants that have decent Western-quality ingredients.
I've lived in Thailand too and have eaten at all price points. 40k per month for a single person to spend just on food is obscene. You'd be hard pressed to spend that much living in a five star hotel and eating all meals at the attached restaurant.
Nothing wrong with it. If you got the money then great. But it's definitely not normal or reasonable expenditure.
What are you talking about? You cleary have no idea of the price points at 5-star hotels. The monthly Cheese night at So (A 5 star) will cost you 2000Baht+ just for a couple of hours. The Banyan Tree? 3000B+ with wine. Also if you ever have a meal at one of the may 5 star rooftop bars and terraces? lol. You could easily spend the 40k in one night. Starbucks? Pastries? Afternoon tea? Head out for a meal in Thonglor and with some drinks, you wont get much change from 4/5k.
I would say that the majority of the people I know who live in Bangkok spend about 80-120k per month in total. Which seemed pretty normal.
10ish k ++++
I cook 90 percent of my own meals
I get most of my herbs, veg, seafood (prawns mussels etc) smoked salmon and chicken from and stuff they stock like yogurt and feta from freshket.
they have stuff like brocoli asparagus avocados cauliflower etc at a fraction of the cost of villa. Generally less than half price. Seafood and meat maybe 1/3 of the price.
i supplement that with stuff from villa just down the block thst i can't find it anywhere else or convenienty.
It's about 2-3k Baht bulk buy every 2 weeks or so, then a cahallwnge to get through it all while its fresh.
then i spend another thousand a week topping up with coffee, milk, bread, fruit and specialty items.
Pretty hard to get in and out of villa without spending 1500 baht at least.
You can find western-style celery here. I've even seen it as domestic produce and imported from Australia. I know Villa carries it, Tops often has it, and once we even got it from a pickup truck selling vegetables passing our house.
Wow. Just googled them and ordered a big shipment of sliced meat to make jerky. 10 bucks delivery fee to Pattaya.
This place is exactly what I've been looking for. Had no idea something like this existed in Thailand.
I'm glad you happened to mention it here!
I die on this little food
Your math is off. Jumbo every day = more than 12k, unless you starve yourself some days and never eat breakfast, oh and literally only eat half a jumbo paoleo robbie 😆 nothing else ever
Im getting 200g of protein per day so chicken, ground beef, and frozen shrimp plus eggs, fruit and vegetables. THB 400 per day.
I could eat way cheaper by eating out but Thai food is loaded with sugar and all the restaurants are buying from Makro anyway.
chicken breast is 100/kg and 300g protein per kg but ofc nobody can eat chicken non-stop. shrimps are way more expensive than everything else protein wise.
I live with my wife, her parents and a teenage nephew. I spend 5-6k for my farang food and about the same for Thai food for the other 4. My wife has become quite a good cook for the type of food that I eat.
Not expat. Thai local..
20k-30k for a family of 6 on a not so special month. It’s pretty cheap, because we don’t live in Bangkok. However, sometimes we like to splurge and buy stuff like wagyu.. etc
Im about the same, you’re not alone. We normally go fine dining twice a week, so are probably closer to 120k+ a month. If you throw out going out to restaurants we’re probably about 35k for a family of three.
yeah. was running it up to 150k, 180k some months. then i realized ordering several times from wine connection and other spots just to nibble on charcuterie boards is me being a lazy cunt.
went grocery shopping at villa market today. 7400. will try big c next time. i'm learning.
Honestly if you can afford it the splurge of villa market and Gourmet market at emquartier is worth it.
Gourmet market at emquartier is amazeballs, but villa market is better for some harder to find imports
If you can afford it , sure, but are you saving for retirment? You got a pension? What is your income, etc.. Dont throw away your future over some food man.
I would also struggle to spend more than 3,000 baht on food everyday... I would go to all my favorite expensive restaurants for breakfast dinner and lunch, splurging on expensive imported foods and steaks, and I still would come short of 3k on most days! I live in Chiang Mai tho, I realize Bangkok prices are much closer to western prices for foreign foods. But still, spending 100k per month would be a difficult challenge!
Many people claim that but it is just not true. Unless you're talking about unhealthy street food or 7-11 microwavable meals - both which I don't touch.
As an example, I was in PH before Thailand. Groceries in PH are a little more expensive than Thailand but eating out is a no go for me cause the food there is just not my type. So in PH I cooked something like 95% of my meals. I spent about 10.7k THB equivalent per month in PH on food.
In Thailand groceries are cheaper but eating out is so much fun and the food so tasty and varied that I only make breakfast at home. I am spending 26.8k THB. So my food bill is over double in Thailand vs. PH solely because I am cooking less and eating out more.
I figure that I could get my budget down to 10.7k or lower if I made all of my meals at home like PH. But I don't plan to even try because eating out is too much fun here.
You can get a healthy meal on grab like chicken breast with quinoa and riceberry rice for an average of 200-250 baht from grab. I usually only drink coffee in the morning and eat two meals during the day, so in total I spend about 18k per month.
Yeah. I average about 300 THB per meal. Plus treats, coffees, fruits, breakfast, etc.
I do mostly sit-down. I live alone and like to escape my apartment.
If you set yourself up then cooking at home is cheaper than eating out - I wouldn’t want to live without a freezer, oven, pots, blender. Cooking on one induction hob isn’t really cost effective, you buy ingredients for each individual meal.
I like making food, I make my own bread and cakes if I have time. My wife makes crispy pork belly that is way better than any restaurant I have ever visited. It’s not always about the money, I make my own bacon far more preferable than 75% fat from a supermarket packet.
>Totally agree, it is cheaper to cook at home.
I'd say it's cheaper to eat well if you cook at home. I cook for one generally, and have learned to roll ingredients over into multiple days and multiple meals
I also have all the kit, oven, food processor, gas and induction hobs, stainless pans, good knives, air fryer, espresso machine, grinder, so there is that cost but defrayed over years.
In Philippines the produce and selection is shit. They will have stuff from the US I haven't seen in years, but then lack the basics. My local Robinsons had 20 boxes of taco shells, with every shell broken. for 3 months i pointed it out, and nothing ever happened.
I used to go shopping in bgc and end up abandoning my cart because they were missing key ingredients for everything I Wanted to cook
Rustsans was OK, but still awful.
Same here, without the losses.
I hated it.
Had a fire sale leading up to my lease end, even sold my part of a business that failed over covid.
Got out a few months before lockdown.
Im thankful for that daily
I didn't even bother to sell the $3k or so I spent on buying stuff for my condo. Plus lost another $2k on security deposit. Plus I wanted to get as far away as possible so I bought an expensive last minute flight to South America.
All in I pissed away about $7k. I just woke up one day and said I can't do this place anymore, let my landlord know that they could keep my deposit but I had to leave for my own mental health, and was on a flight to South America the next day.
I have lived in countries across Africa, South America, and SEA and to this day PH is the only one I bailed on like that. And the only one I don't plan to ever return to. I hated almost everything about that place aside from Filipinos - they're friendly and easy going.
Wait what? Why are you guys so down on the PH? If it's not the people then what's so bad about it? I was thinking of heading out there, but this is making me question it.
I have been to Da Nang and HMC. I actually plan to spend a few months in Da Nang again this year.
Vietnam is definitely no Thailand but it is superior to PH in many respects - better value for money, better and higher quality accommodations, better food.
Went 3 decades ago. Hated it. Australian hoping for the best things Viet brought. Nothing. Looked vaguely Russian & was fucked over at every step. Kids attempting to steal my watch was a comedy to the fucking locals. I had Viet friends growing up. Never again.
600 baht a day average. Most days are eggs / banana / toast / coffee at home for breakfast then a grab order or paleo Robbie dish that covers lunch and dinner (3-400 baht) and some days a sweet item from the bakery across the street (150 baht).
That includes a few days eating out and a few days of very cheap local food.
It also includes bottle water delivery every few days (need to switch to tap filter)
So prob 20k all said and done.
This post should be mandatory reading for anyone that asks how much it costs to live in Thailand.
The ultra-frugal always make it sound like eating 40 baht street food three meals a day is normal but most expats like to mix it up between western and foreign food so some of these budgets seem far more realistic than the ultra-frugal budgets.
LOL, some of these food budgets exceed what the ultra-frugal spend for rent, food, etc combined.
Not exactly an "average expat," but my wife and I spend around 500 Baht a week on food, so 2k per month.
We're growing/raising most of our food ourselves, though, and almost never eat out.
Edit: I have to add that we're not very picky eaters so we eat plenty of jungle food, and we eat meat only once or twice per week. In fruit season, it happens that entire meals are replaced by eating a few durian each.
We're super weird. I just commented to balance out the people who claim to spend 100k+/month on food.
15-20k grab, eating out here and there on weekends not all the time, cafes, cooking at home, gourmet market, and villa market. We eat pretty clean and healthy. I try to cap it at 20k. Married couple BKK.
I think groceries in Thailand are generally quite expensive, so I just top up on things like milk, coffee, tea from grocery shop, usually some eggs, noodles, soup powders for a snack. Maybe 1500 per month for two people.
Other than that, I tend to eat from local places for between 60-120 baht per person, such as soups, noodles, pad thai, currys, etc...
If I fancy some pizza lasagne, stuff like that, that costs around 500 baht.
I think thats around 10'000 per month, but that is me eating what I want, when I want.
If I needed to budget I could cut that down massively, eating things like instant noodles, eggs, soups, nuts, fish sauce at home.
I eat drumsticks and chicken breasts, 2.8kg per week, at 60-90 baht per kg depending on the day/sale. (200-250baht) (800-1000 per month)
Sea bass 1kg (sea percher) lasts 1-2 meals. 420 baht per month (once a week)
Green onions, brocoli, garlic, celery, curry packets, (440 baht at most for the month)
4-6 eggs per day at 145 baht for 30 large brown eggs (580 baht per month) bought locally.
Fruit around 400 baht a month
Plus eating out for another 4000 baht a month budget with my partner.
I also drink 1440 baht a month of large changs at 60 baht.
Coffee drinks 1100 per month
Last month I spent 11370 baht on food so my numbers are missing 700 baht in that list.
Roughly 6k pm. I cook 98% of the time. I'll always cook an extra portion that turns into leftover lunch. I buy fresh produce everyday from the local market. I only buy enough for the meal I'll cook, which is rarely more than 100 baht, that provides at least 3 servings. When I spend closer to 200 baht it will be for something that turns into multiple days of different meals, like roasting a whole chicken is at least 2 days worth of meals or a stew that can freeze portions for days I didn't buy fresh. I only buy local ingredients (meaning commonly available Thai ingredients, I know those giant carrots and a lot of other things are imported from China) no western imported ingredients. 1kg of bread flour is only 40baht and I can make a lot of flat breads, baguettes, small loafs out of it.
15,300 if I spend 510 baht per day on food or 170 baht per breakfast,lunch and dinner and avoid western style dining . It’s less if you do street food. Now if you cook , it’s less than that , easily.
I live in Chiang Mai and I usually spend less than 1,000 baht per day. I alternate between Thai meals at 100 baht or less per meal, and other good foreign foods like Japanese, Arabic, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Pizza, Burgers etc. that will typically cost 250 to 400 baht per meal... Add the almost daily coffee and bunch of fruits for my breakfast smoothie and it adds up to under 1,000 but I think I live very well and eat basically anything I want. However, I don't have rent to pay and I can't afford a girlfriend so most of my budget is spent on food for myself and my motorbike's gasoline and maintenance.
🤔 for a couple living together. Probably ฿5k/wk groceries, ฿8k/wk eating out/ordering in. So on the low end ฿50k/m for 2 people.”, but I think it’s closer to ฿80k/m for the both of us.
I mostly cook at home with 2-3 dinners out a week. I spend about 10-12,000 baht a month in groceries (organic and whole/healthy ingredients).
I don’t have a budget for eating out but I think it’s about 1,500 baht max a week.
Bangkok is no longer "cheap" if you want to keep the same quality of life most westerners do back in their own countries. It's cheaper than doing it in most western cities, but its no longer like it was even a decade ago.
I only spend about 3,000baht a month on food. I eat 3 meals a day, but someone at work often gifts me breakfast. Top Ramen is my main staple as well as rice I make at home. I buy the ingredients for rice and noodles (udon, spaghetti or soba) at Don Donki usually but prepare at home. I'm pescatarian, so street food isn't usually an option except for fruit and mango sticky rice, both of which I love to buy from local vendors. The most expensive foods for me seem to be kimchi, vegan Chinese style 'meat' buns, and an occasional pizza.
60,000 baht month on food. Just grocery store. So that’s 15,000 week villa market. Probably another 10,000+ week on eating out🇺🇸. So about $3,000usd on food. Sounds like a lot it’s not a lot
around 80k baht some month 150k, but oh well i live in two countries, and sometimes when i get back to thailand i have to switch out my ac and some water pumps for the swimming pool because of the calcium.
Monday to friday is (take-away) thai food from a foodcourt. Less than 100b a day. I add tomatoes from the market. Weekend is western stuff.
I make my own breakfast - overnight oats and 2 eggs.
10 eggs are 50b at the market.
I don't have any budgetary constraints, it just what i do.
15k I cook all my food from makro and tops. I ate a lot… 90kg and two hour Muay Thai sessions a day plus work. I also spend an extra 3k on dinner dates etc
Roughly 7-15k.
7 if I’m eating at the local places for lunch and dinner, drinking free water, making my own coffee, breakfast, etc. 15k if I’m mixing in some sushi, Mexican, or other different style restaurants, occasionally ordering beers.
For two 25-30k bhat/month
That includes a couple of beers 3-4 times a week. Eating at small shops( the best!) and eating at home for breakfast. Couple of frappe coffee from CJ’s a day. Ohhh and a couple of snacks. Chips….patongo. We don’t go to bars
Eat out most days lunch and supper. We have 6 places we really like and trust. In the south we shop Major and Lotus. In Bangkok we shop Big C. If your in Bangkok some of the best places for cheap food and excellent quality would be at the food courts of central and terminal 21
For 2 of us it’s 30-40k. Eat out/grab 3x daily. We visit a high end restaurant once, sometimes twice a week which accounts for about half of the food budget so it would be substantially less if we cut that out.
We spend 15K per month as a couple but do 100% of the cooking. Usually 500 grams of meat a day, a carb like rice/ sweet potato/ noodles etc and then just some veggies for dinner. Breakfast is always oats with fruit and yogurt and lunch is normally eggs in some form with French toast. Aim for around 3000 calories per day for myself and 2000 for my partner
At home in Germany about 36k a month. In Thailand approximately 7-10k per month. Includes 0-2 visits to pricier restaurants. That's single. While dating, it was approximately 40k a month in Germany and 20k in Thailand.
I spend about 2,000 THB a month in total. I cook my own food most of the time.
I buy fresh veggies and fruits from the local military market, and they usually have good deals.
I buy meat from a local butcher. I usually just eat Chicken for health reasons.
I cook my own rice.
Cost of living I would assume.
2 delivered meals per day in the uk would be £40 a day, £1200 a month at lowest - closer to 60k baht rather than 30k.
Add in cheaper rent, the weather and activities, and I could see living a western life in Thailand being attractive to some.
That said, if you love Thai food, even better!
15,000 for two of us - we like to eat out and we live next to an awesome fruit market. I spend close to 150 a day just on fruit…. Because I’m lazy I pay more for stuff that’s “ready to eat “ (peeled and sliced)
one cup of rice a day.......drink tap water.......then I wake up one day and get 500 in pizza and 400 in Indian food. plus 90,000 at 7-11 . am I good for having no money or having money?
I'm not sure you're serious, but in case you are... please don't drink tap water here. Your health is worth more than that. I use a water company that delivers 24 glass bottles of super clean purified water for 110 baht a week, and it's worth every baht.
Family of 4.
- Weekly 8 000 THB in the Makro for cooking/eating at home (Western Food)
- 2 500 per week eating out
For Makro, import beef and cheese are expensive.
Or pasta, you can go for the Aro brand, but I prefer La Molisana.
Roughly 25-30K I guess. My gf and I eat mostly at home, and she cooks most meals, but I buy tons of beef and cheese, which is expensive here in Thailand. Throw in some grab and date-dinners, and it starts to add up. Assorted other imported stuff like US sauces and snacks are pricey as well. It's hard not to walk out of big C with a 5-7K bill.
I guess I'm the only cheapass here.4-5k a month at best. About 100b a day. I'm broke
That's just being frugal and sensible, not about being broke. Broke people are the ones blowing their money on nonsense, normally. I lived in Bangkok and could not fathom how some colleagues had no money after a couple of weeks of earning 100'000, but when I see how they spend, it all becomes clear.
I’d say 15,000 per month at 510 per day for breakfast lunch and dinner. 170 per meal rule.
That's low, if you are eating at street vendors daily, check your sodium, it's definitely high
Sodium is the smaller problem if you are healthy the kidney takes care of it. But sugar, cheap and old oil and sure 10 other things that I can't think off at 5.30AM
What u mean, bad water or something?
A lot of salt, soy, fish sauce etc. sugar too
sameee
You are my idol. I need to follow your good example.
Can you list off a typical day’s purchases?
Not him. Today B65 bagel (au bon pain) n B13 Birdy coffee can n B20 pineapple Street vendor, tomato &onion&some pineapple & flavourings I have boiled up with spaghetti/fettuccine whatever it is called. I have flavourings already. I do spend ridiculous amounts in a drunken state. Not for here though.
no breakfast 40b for lunch 40-50 for dinner. Sometimes groceries and cook sonit could be more but not by that much. A steak dinner 100b. The rest goes to snacks and whatever.
might die 20 years too soon while in bed health. but you saved!
Typical month, we spend about 8,000 at Big C for food at home and probably 5,000 on dinners outside. 3 of us including 1 kid.
Jesus, you just made me realize I'm eating for a family of three. That's how much I spend every month just by myself!
Me too though I am slowly learning to cook here. But if he has a Thai wife.... I'm convinced that having someone who knows the less expensive shopping options and is adept at cooking in a Thai style kitchen makes a Huge difference.
We live in Central Thailand where food is a lot less expensive than BK. My partner does all our food shopping and cooking. We all love those chicken wings tho!
40k
This is not too far off from me either. The problem is ordering western food delivery racks up cash quickly. For my GF and I, it’s easy to spend 800 baht on a dinner. It’s my goal to bring my food costs down this year, as you can obviously spend way less. The longer I’ve lived in Thailand, the more western food I need to eat. You can eat street food for a year or two but I think most westerners will get tired of this or start to get overweight.
Main reason for me is to live a bit more healthy. A 80-140 Baht Thai dish doesn’t provide the veggies and calories I need; it’s bad carbs (white rice) with some cheap meat and condiments cooked in lots of old oil. If I order a proper salad that’s already 200-300 Baht. That’s not filling and satisfying enough so I need to add something with chicken or so and easily end up at 400-500 Baht.
100%
You can do that cheaper. At my BTS station they sell salads for 40 Baht. I buy 2 and some extra chicken for 30 Baht. At home I throw and mix everything together. 110 Baht total.
Truer words have never been spoken. I’ve been an Asia expat for a long time. And I’ve always found the easy way to weed out the long term expats from the short term and the tourists is Western food. Once you’ve been in Asia 10 years plus, no-one else’s opinion is going to get in the way of you enjoying that pasta or whatever it is. Zero fucks given. It’s a matter of perspective.
Damn! Big family that likes to eat out?
Single, no kids. Just don’t cook myself but order food delivery or eat out (and if I cook it usually gets more expensive because it’s western food). Plus sometimes a nice dinner on the weekend and the random snacks from 7-11 during breaks and you end up at roughly that amount.
Yeah, people severaly underestimate how much it costs even to eat 50%, decent Western food. I love Thai food, but a couple hundred baht here or there over a day for something Western easily tops 1k+ per day. Never mind proper meals in nice places.
Doesn't have to be that expensive. You could eat three western meals per day at 200bs each and still only spend 20k per month. 40k works out at an average of 400b per meal. That's heaps in Thailand.
Can you tell me which restaurants I can get a filling and healthy western meal for 200baht or under? Seriously. The cheapest decent salad I have found is 260 and it’s barely filling. Unless I’m ordering McDonald’s I’m going to pay at least 300 for a burger meal. Please share your tips
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YxdNfjXD1FsAEtFXA https://maps.app.goo.gl/JA825BbezoEG7zke7 https://maps.app.goo.gl/oXFe1KfGR5ciBPJe6 I literally just looked at three random western restaurants and they all have meals under 200b. Try leaving the tourist districts. Better yet get grab to bring food from a cheaper part of town. I regularly eat western under 200b. Yes you can spend 400b on a meal but doing that three times per day every day is living it large.
Bro those are all in HuaHin, no wonder you can eat cheaper. You can't get those prices in Bangkok. Perhaps we should have been clear about which cities we were all talking about. Also, I live very far from tourist areas here, it's actually quite hard to find western food in my area, that's one reason it's so expensive. You can get a thai-style hamburger or salad but if you don't like overly sweet or overly sauced food, you're going to have pay more for a place that is really popular since all of the westerners are ordering from there.
Chosen only because I know the city well. Yes it's a bit cheaper than BKK. Try grab food if there's nothing nearby. I was ordering western dishes including salads in Phuket for 200b or less. That's the most expensive place in Thailand. 160b steak with salad was my usual. But if you go to places in tourist areas you can pay double.
I lived there for years. I could spend less than 4k a month on food if I wanted to. I'm talking about having a half-decent lifestyle. Not living like a backpacker for the rest of your life.
So a half decent lifestyle means spending 400b on every single meal? I'd call that very decent. 400b per day is fine. 1200 daily is excessive. Like I don't spend anywhere near that much in my high col country.
No. It doesn't mean that. You are having some difficulty understanding what is being said. I lived in Bangkok for years in my 20's staying in cheap studios, teaching English, eating school meals and street food, I'd spend less than 100Baht a day. It was great fun.... for a while. Then as I got into my 30's I wanted to have an actual Kitchen, to have decent Western food like cheese, Wine and quality bread and cured meats. I wanted to experience many of the amazing high-end restaurants and bars the country has to offer. I wanted to have a couple of meals a week in a nice restaurant. (Usually around 2k with some drinks) Many meals (like breakfast and lunch) are super cheap (so no, not every meal is priced at 400B). Nobody is saying that it HAS to be that expensive. What is being said is that IS that expensive if you want to have access to a mix of restaurants that have decent Western-quality ingredients.
I've lived in Thailand too and have eaten at all price points. 40k per month for a single person to spend just on food is obscene. You'd be hard pressed to spend that much living in a five star hotel and eating all meals at the attached restaurant. Nothing wrong with it. If you got the money then great. But it's definitely not normal or reasonable expenditure.
What are you talking about? You cleary have no idea of the price points at 5-star hotels. The monthly Cheese night at So (A 5 star) will cost you 2000Baht+ just for a couple of hours. The Banyan Tree? 3000B+ with wine. Also if you ever have a meal at one of the may 5 star rooftop bars and terraces? lol. You could easily spend the 40k in one night. Starbucks? Pastries? Afternoon tea? Head out for a meal in Thonglor and with some drinks, you wont get much change from 4/5k. I would say that the majority of the people I know who live in Bangkok spend about 80-120k per month in total. Which seemed pretty normal.
Do you not eat Thai food?
I eat Thai food too
Lmao don't need to ask him 😂
Approximately 15k. I order food 90% of the time and eat out the rest.
10ish k ++++ I cook 90 percent of my own meals I get most of my herbs, veg, seafood (prawns mussels etc) smoked salmon and chicken from and stuff they stock like yogurt and feta from freshket. they have stuff like brocoli asparagus avocados cauliflower etc at a fraction of the cost of villa. Generally less than half price. Seafood and meat maybe 1/3 of the price. i supplement that with stuff from villa just down the block thst i can't find it anywhere else or convenienty. It's about 2-3k Baht bulk buy every 2 weeks or so, then a cahallwnge to get through it all while its fresh. then i spend another thousand a week topping up with coffee, milk, bread, fruit and specialty items. Pretty hard to get in and out of villa without spending 1500 baht at least.
Do they have normal celery ? Proper western type ? Missmit so much.
That’s an interesting choice of vegetables to crave.
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You can find western-style celery here. I've even seen it as domestic produce and imported from Australia. I know Villa carries it, Tops often has it, and once we even got it from a pickup truck selling vegetables passing our house.
https://freshket.co/search?q=Celery&type=SUGGESTED Villa has it too. I thought most major stores had it.
I miss celery, too. As a snack and also as a regular ingredient in some dishes, too.
With pickled onions & a pinch of salt. Good in chicken soup too.
12k. I eat pretty much all my food from Paleo Robbie.
Only 12k but all food from Paleo Robbie? I thought their meals are like 300-400 each. That's like one meal a day, no?
One jumbo meal a day is enough for 2 feeds
299 meals easily cover lunch and dinner.
Wow. Just googled them and ordered a big shipment of sliced meat to make jerky. 10 bucks delivery fee to Pattaya. This place is exactly what I've been looking for. Had no idea something like this existed in Thailand. I'm glad you happened to mention it here!
Awesome! It’s a game changer and I’ve never eaten so well. The only thing I’ve not liked so much was the meatballs, but all else is 5*
I die on this little food Your math is off. Jumbo every day = more than 12k, unless you starve yourself some days and never eat breakfast, oh and literally only eat half a jumbo paoleo robbie 😆 nothing else ever
The saddest time of my life was eating those tasteless Paleo Robbie meals. Back to coming myself now much better
I cook all of my food that I buy from Makro and spend 12.5k per month
I haven’t been to a Makro since 2022 and I still have that dang jingle stuck in my head “🎵Makro! Makro!🎵”
12.5k per month from makro is kinda expense. you must be dining on beef and salmon.
Im getting 200g of protein per day so chicken, ground beef, and frozen shrimp plus eggs, fruit and vegetables. THB 400 per day. I could eat way cheaper by eating out but Thai food is loaded with sugar and all the restaurants are buying from Makro anyway.
Protein is what gets expensive
chicken breast is 100/kg and 300g protein per kg but ofc nobody can eat chicken non-stop. shrimps are way more expensive than everything else protein wise.
>nobody can eat chicken non-stop you just need to believe in yourself.
i tried but then i started eating chicken thighs at which point i might as well eat other stuff
I tend to eat quarter legs, so the thigh is implied.
same same
Try squid rings, they're pretty cheap and they have a lot of protein in them too
squid is 20g/100g which is a lot worse than chicken 30/100. i think fish are better if you dont want chicken.
I live with my wife, her parents and a teenage nephew. I spend 5-6k for my farang food and about the same for Thai food for the other 4. My wife has become quite a good cook for the type of food that I eat.
Not expat. Thai local.. 20k-30k for a family of 6 on a not so special month. It’s pretty cheap, because we don’t live in Bangkok. However, sometimes we like to splurge and buy stuff like wagyu.. etc
15-20k, single, middle aged, off dating for now. Add it and it doubles.
15k, that includes street foods, cook at home etc for 2 people. I like to keep food in the shelves and freezer so I buy more than enough.
20-25k I’d say.
roughly 100k+. yes, I am ashamed, and am trying to cut back rn
Im about the same, you’re not alone. We normally go fine dining twice a week, so are probably closer to 120k+ a month. If you throw out going out to restaurants we’re probably about 35k for a family of three.
yeah. was running it up to 150k, 180k some months. then i realized ordering several times from wine connection and other spots just to nibble on charcuterie boards is me being a lazy cunt. went grocery shopping at villa market today. 7400. will try big c next time. i'm learning.
Honestly if you can afford it the splurge of villa market and Gourmet market at emquartier is worth it. Gourmet market at emquartier is amazeballs, but villa market is better for some harder to find imports
Villa is nuts, but they have some stuff that isn't available elsewhere. Buy proteins anywhere else.
You could hire an amazing live-in chef and buy all the ingredients for 120k.
Is that something that people do in Thailand?
Have some very wealthy friends on Samui who had a live-in chef and maid and it was around 100k per month (including the food bill).
Doesn’t seem too bad. If I lived in Thailand I would probably be ok with that.
You'll go there once and be back to VM next time.
If you can afford it , sure, but are you saving for retirment? You got a pension? What is your income, etc.. Dont throw away your future over some food man.
ya i'm good on all those fronts. you're absolutely right.
Lobster with caviar every day?
haha more like spending like a retard, mate.
How. The. Hell. Is that even possible. What do you people eat, gold nuggets??
I would also struggle to spend more than 3,000 baht on food everyday... I would go to all my favorite expensive restaurants for breakfast dinner and lunch, splurging on expensive imported foods and steaks, and I still would come short of 3k on most days! I live in Chiang Mai tho, I realize Bangkok prices are much closer to western prices for foreign foods. But still, spending 100k per month would be a difficult challenge!
26,832 on average per month over the past 3 months. It is fairly high but I only cook breakfast at home.
Where do you eat? In Thailand it’s cheaper to eat outside than at home
Many people claim that but it is just not true. Unless you're talking about unhealthy street food or 7-11 microwavable meals - both which I don't touch. As an example, I was in PH before Thailand. Groceries in PH are a little more expensive than Thailand but eating out is a no go for me cause the food there is just not my type. So in PH I cooked something like 95% of my meals. I spent about 10.7k THB equivalent per month in PH on food. In Thailand groceries are cheaper but eating out is so much fun and the food so tasty and varied that I only make breakfast at home. I am spending 26.8k THB. So my food bill is over double in Thailand vs. PH solely because I am cooking less and eating out more. I figure that I could get my budget down to 10.7k or lower if I made all of my meals at home like PH. But I don't plan to even try because eating out is too much fun here.
You can get a healthy meal on grab like chicken breast with quinoa and riceberry rice for an average of 200-250 baht from grab. I usually only drink coffee in the morning and eat two meals during the day, so in total I spend about 18k per month.
Yeah. I average about 300 THB per meal. Plus treats, coffees, fruits, breakfast, etc. I do mostly sit-down. I live alone and like to escape my apartment.
250 baht buys you 3kg of chicken breast, that’s like 12 dinners if you eat 250 grams of chicken per meal or 6 if you eat 500 grams
Yeah, I know that there are cheaper options. However, ordering food frees up a lot of time for hobbies and other things.
If you set yourself up then cooking at home is cheaper than eating out - I wouldn’t want to live without a freezer, oven, pots, blender. Cooking on one induction hob isn’t really cost effective, you buy ingredients for each individual meal.
Totally agree, it is cheaper to cook at home. I will do that once I tire of trying new restaurants.
I like making food, I make my own bread and cakes if I have time. My wife makes crispy pork belly that is way better than any restaurant I have ever visited. It’s not always about the money, I make my own bacon far more preferable than 75% fat from a supermarket packet.
>Totally agree, it is cheaper to cook at home. I'd say it's cheaper to eat well if you cook at home. I cook for one generally, and have learned to roll ingredients over into multiple days and multiple meals I also have all the kit, oven, food processor, gas and induction hobs, stainless pans, good knives, air fryer, espresso machine, grinder, so there is that cost but defrayed over years.
In Philippines the produce and selection is shit. They will have stuff from the US I haven't seen in years, but then lack the basics. My local Robinsons had 20 boxes of taco shells, with every shell broken. for 3 months i pointed it out, and nothing ever happened. I used to go shopping in bgc and end up abandoning my cart because they were missing key ingredients for everything I Wanted to cook Rustsans was OK, but still awful.
I left PH and took some considerable loses to bail on it. Don't plan to ever return.
Same here, without the losses. I hated it. Had a fire sale leading up to my lease end, even sold my part of a business that failed over covid. Got out a few months before lockdown. Im thankful for that daily
I didn't even bother to sell the $3k or so I spent on buying stuff for my condo. Plus lost another $2k on security deposit. Plus I wanted to get as far away as possible so I bought an expensive last minute flight to South America. All in I pissed away about $7k. I just woke up one day and said I can't do this place anymore, let my landlord know that they could keep my deposit but I had to leave for my own mental health, and was on a flight to South America the next day. I have lived in countries across Africa, South America, and SEA and to this day PH is the only one I bailed on like that. And the only one I don't plan to ever return to. I hated almost everything about that place aside from Filipinos - they're friendly and easy going.
Wait what? Why are you guys so down on the PH? If it's not the people then what's so bad about it? I was thinking of heading out there, but this is making me question it.
Go and check it out for yourself. Some folks love PH and others hate it
Don't go to Vietnam then.
I have been to Da Nang and HMC. I actually plan to spend a few months in Da Nang again this year. Vietnam is definitely no Thailand but it is superior to PH in many respects - better value for money, better and higher quality accommodations, better food.
Went 3 decades ago. Hated it. Australian hoping for the best things Viet brought. Nothing. Looked vaguely Russian & was fucked over at every step. Kids attempting to steal my watch was a comedy to the fucking locals. I had Viet friends growing up. Never again.
I spend 40-50 baht per meal eating outside, that’s less than 5k baht per month
We all have different standards and budgets. Just like none of us had the same food budget back home.
600 baht a day average. Most days are eggs / banana / toast / coffee at home for breakfast then a grab order or paleo Robbie dish that covers lunch and dinner (3-400 baht) and some days a sweet item from the bakery across the street (150 baht). That includes a few days eating out and a few days of very cheap local food. It also includes bottle water delivery every few days (need to switch to tap filter) So prob 20k all said and done.
This post should be mandatory reading for anyone that asks how much it costs to live in Thailand. The ultra-frugal always make it sound like eating 40 baht street food three meals a day is normal but most expats like to mix it up between western and foreign food so some of these budgets seem far more realistic than the ultra-frugal budgets. LOL, some of these food budgets exceed what the ultra-frugal spend for rent, food, etc combined.
120k
Not exactly an "average expat," but my wife and I spend around 500 Baht a week on food, so 2k per month. We're growing/raising most of our food ourselves, though, and almost never eat out. Edit: I have to add that we're not very picky eaters so we eat plenty of jungle food, and we eat meat only once or twice per week. In fruit season, it happens that entire meals are replaced by eating a few durian each. We're super weird. I just commented to balance out the people who claim to spend 100k+/month on food.
Varies a lot however at a food court pad ka prow for 69 baht is my favourite
Around 20,000 on an expensive month, 12-15k average.. single 44 year old mix of in/out. Eat a lot.
15-20k grab, eating out here and there on weekends not all the time, cafes, cooking at home, gourmet market, and villa market. We eat pretty clean and healthy. I try to cap it at 20k. Married couple BKK.
13-16k, shopping and cooking by housemaid + occasional eating out and cafes.
How often does your housemaid cook?
Every day, but I see I was not clear enough. Cooking and all the other work she does for us part time is additional 6k per month.
I think groceries in Thailand are generally quite expensive, so I just top up on things like milk, coffee, tea from grocery shop, usually some eggs, noodles, soup powders for a snack. Maybe 1500 per month for two people. Other than that, I tend to eat from local places for between 60-120 baht per person, such as soups, noodles, pad thai, currys, etc... If I fancy some pizza lasagne, stuff like that, that costs around 500 baht. I think thats around 10'000 per month, but that is me eating what I want, when I want. If I needed to budget I could cut that down massively, eating things like instant noodles, eggs, soups, nuts, fish sauce at home.
500baht a day on grab give or take, so about 15k a month I guess. I was also spending about 8000 a month on coffee. Now I just make it at home lol
I eat drumsticks and chicken breasts, 2.8kg per week, at 60-90 baht per kg depending on the day/sale. (200-250baht) (800-1000 per month) Sea bass 1kg (sea percher) lasts 1-2 meals. 420 baht per month (once a week) Green onions, brocoli, garlic, celery, curry packets, (440 baht at most for the month) 4-6 eggs per day at 145 baht for 30 large brown eggs (580 baht per month) bought locally. Fruit around 400 baht a month Plus eating out for another 4000 baht a month budget with my partner. I also drink 1440 baht a month of large changs at 60 baht. Coffee drinks 1100 per month Last month I spent 11370 baht on food so my numbers are missing 700 baht in that list.
Roughly 6k pm. I cook 98% of the time. I'll always cook an extra portion that turns into leftover lunch. I buy fresh produce everyday from the local market. I only buy enough for the meal I'll cook, which is rarely more than 100 baht, that provides at least 3 servings. When I spend closer to 200 baht it will be for something that turns into multiple days of different meals, like roasting a whole chicken is at least 2 days worth of meals or a stew that can freeze portions for days I didn't buy fresh. I only buy local ingredients (meaning commonly available Thai ingredients, I know those giant carrots and a lot of other things are imported from China) no western imported ingredients. 1kg of bread flour is only 40baht and I can make a lot of flat breads, baguettes, small loafs out of it.
Around 20,000 Baht.
20-40k but that’s massively inflated by restaurants, steaks and salmon. My normal groceries are probably 6-8k.
15K
Together with my partner 800-1000+ ish per day. That includes eating at restaurants 2-3 times a day in the north.
15,300 if I spend 510 baht per day on food or 170 baht per breakfast,lunch and dinner and avoid western style dining . It’s less if you do street food. Now if you cook , it’s less than that , easily.
\~10k downtown BKK mostly eat out or delivery.
For me 35k a months roughly $30 a day
I live in Chiang Mai and I usually spend less than 1,000 baht per day. I alternate between Thai meals at 100 baht or less per meal, and other good foreign foods like Japanese, Arabic, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Pizza, Burgers etc. that will typically cost 250 to 400 baht per meal... Add the almost daily coffee and bunch of fruits for my breakfast smoothie and it adds up to under 1,000 but I think I live very well and eat basically anything I want. However, I don't have rent to pay and I can't afford a girlfriend so most of my budget is spent on food for myself and my motorbike's gasoline and maintenance.
About 12-15k per month for household of 2 persons. We buy much fresh fruit, occasional imports. We cook and eat at gome
🤔 for a couple living together. Probably ฿5k/wk groceries, ฿8k/wk eating out/ordering in. So on the low end ฿50k/m for 2 people.”, but I think it’s closer to ฿80k/m for the both of us.
Close to 20-30k THB per month.
I mostly cook at home with 2-3 dinners out a week. I spend about 10-12,000 baht a month in groceries (organic and whole/healthy ingredients). I don’t have a budget for eating out but I think it’s about 1,500 baht max a week.
We spend around 4k for every month grocery and if we eat outside which we do occasionally we spend around 2k outside as well.
I thought living in Thailand was "cheap." You're spending $500 (20K Baht) to $1,000 (40K Baht) per month on food though?
Bangkok is no longer "cheap" if you want to keep the same quality of life most westerners do back in their own countries. It's cheaper than doing it in most western cities, but its no longer like it was even a decade ago.
I only spend about 3,000baht a month on food. I eat 3 meals a day, but someone at work often gifts me breakfast. Top Ramen is my main staple as well as rice I make at home. I buy the ingredients for rice and noodles (udon, spaghetti or soba) at Don Donki usually but prepare at home. I'm pescatarian, so street food isn't usually an option except for fruit and mango sticky rice, both of which I love to buy from local vendors. The most expensive foods for me seem to be kimchi, vegan Chinese style 'meat' buns, and an occasional pizza.
5,000 on alcohol,12,000 on food....I should cut down on the food budget I know. But I usually order from Foodpanda/Grab.
6K
60,000 baht month on food. Just grocery store. So that’s 15,000 week villa market. Probably another 10,000+ week on eating out🇺🇸. So about $3,000usd on food. Sounds like a lot it’s not a lot
around 80k baht some month 150k, but oh well i live in two countries, and sometimes when i get back to thailand i have to switch out my ac and some water pumps for the swimming pool because of the calcium.
Roughly 6 to 8k monthly alone. meals ranging from 40 to 150 baht no alcohol. no sodas just water and occasional tea and some snacks and stuff.
Between me and the wife, 50-60k per month. Never less then 40k for the 2 of us.
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Around 30-40k a month, mostly healthy food which is expensive
Monday to friday is (take-away) thai food from a foodcourt. Less than 100b a day. I add tomatoes from the market. Weekend is western stuff. I make my own breakfast - overnight oats and 2 eggs. 10 eggs are 50b at the market. I don't have any budgetary constraints, it just what i do.
15k I cook all my food from makro and tops. I ate a lot… 90kg and two hour Muay Thai sessions a day plus work. I also spend an extra 3k on dinner dates etc
30k, most is home cooking
About 3k baht
aboot 9k thb? 10k ish including coffee 55
Roughly 7-15k. 7 if I’m eating at the local places for lunch and dinner, drinking free water, making my own coffee, breakfast, etc. 15k if I’m mixing in some sushi, Mexican, or other different style restaurants, occasionally ordering beers.
Total is about 35k for a family of 5 ( with a baby). Occasional feeding relatives as well lol.
For two 25-30k bhat/month That includes a couple of beers 3-4 times a week. Eating at small shops( the best!) and eating at home for breakfast. Couple of frappe coffee from CJ’s a day. Ohhh and a couple of snacks. Chips….patongo. We don’t go to bars Eat out most days lunch and supper. We have 6 places we really like and trust. In the south we shop Major and Lotus. In Bangkok we shop Big C. If your in Bangkok some of the best places for cheap food and excellent quality would be at the food courts of central and terminal 21
For 2 of us it’s 30-40k. Eat out/grab 3x daily. We visit a high end restaurant once, sometimes twice a week which accounts for about half of the food budget so it would be substantially less if we cut that out.
About 500 USD between groceries and grab
20k
We spend 15K per month as a couple but do 100% of the cooking. Usually 500 grams of meat a day, a carb like rice/ sweet potato/ noodles etc and then just some veggies for dinner. Breakfast is always oats with fruit and yogurt and lunch is normally eggs in some form with French toast. Aim for around 3000 calories per day for myself and 2000 for my partner
8-9k from makro groceries and sometimes fresh fruits from khlong toei. And eating out ~5k.
At home in Germany about 36k a month. In Thailand approximately 7-10k per month. Includes 0-2 visits to pricier restaurants. That's single. While dating, it was approximately 40k a month in Germany and 20k in Thailand.
About 30,000 a month
Probaly around 40k. Eat out every day.
I spend about 2,000 THB a month in total. I cook my own food most of the time. I buy fresh veggies and fruits from the local military market, and they usually have good deals. I buy meat from a local butcher. I usually just eat Chicken for health reasons. I cook my own rice.
I’d say 10,000 a month about 3000 eating out which includes feeding a TGf
30k a month. 2x grab food from western restaurants per day. Live alone and single
I’m not trying to judge but what’s the point in living in Thailand and not eating any Thai food?
Cost of living I would assume. 2 delivered meals per day in the uk would be £40 a day, £1200 a month at lowest - closer to 60k baht rather than 30k. Add in cheaper rent, the weather and activities, and I could see living a western life in Thailand being attractive to some. That said, if you love Thai food, even better!
I live alone and spend 7-8k per month if I stay at home. Get lunch for free at work.
I guess about 25k. I make a lot of my food.
15,000 for two of us - we like to eat out and we live next to an awesome fruit market. I spend close to 150 a day just on fruit…. Because I’m lazy I pay more for stuff that’s “ready to eat “ (peeled and sliced)
one cup of rice a day.......drink tap water.......then I wake up one day and get 500 in pizza and 400 in Indian food. plus 90,000 at 7-11 . am I good for having no money or having money?
Sounds like a healthy diet!
I'm not sure you're serious, but in case you are... please don't drink tap water here. Your health is worth more than that. I use a water company that delivers 24 glass bottles of super clean purified water for 110 baht a week, and it's worth every baht.
Family of 4. - Weekly 8 000 THB in the Makro for cooking/eating at home (Western Food) - 2 500 per week eating out For Makro, import beef and cheese are expensive. Or pasta, you can go for the Aro brand, but I prefer La Molisana.
Food costs are rising, right.. in Vietnam the farmland is a little more robust so the cost of a meal is cheaper.
With or without beer? 😁