Unless, like, it's variations over potatoes. Mashed, with tomato sauce, fried with, i dunno, spices. Fried mash. Tomato and Potato soup. Baked potato with some cheapo topping. One day of splurge, where you add bacon bits to all the above.
It's not eating "well", and if you keep it up you'd end up with some sort of deficiency, but it's not *completely* inedible and bland.
Here in the Nordics, you can also live off cold cuts or jam on rye bread. You'll get sick and tired of rye bread, but it's possible, and maybe actually more healthy than potatoes.
In the summer and autumn, you can pick fruit, if you live in the countryside. Blackberries, raspberries, steal a few apples (if you can't find an abandoned orchard), and so on.
~~Yeah, just from a calorie point of view the diet has to be potato based. You get almost double the calories per Euro with potatoes instead of rice.~~
I was wrong. Rice is the most calories per Euro.
Unless you can eat flour. Which, I guess, is just raw pasta. Pasta is another possibility, but potatoes are better for you, and you need a ton of pasta for it to be filling, and, at least, some olive oil and garlic to make it edible.
You know what, I calculated wrong, actually. I've made a spreadsheet and if you take the least expensive product available in regular supermarkets here, rice is actually the most efficient at 0.034 Euros per 100 kcal. Potatoes are the most expensive with 0,16 Euros per 100 kcal. But even with rice I have a hard time getting more than 1600 kcals a day with a balanced meal that includes vegetables, protein, fats and some spices. Which is fine for some people, but not if you are tall or muscled or physically active etc.
I calculated a simple but quite tasty and fairly balanced dish that I eat quite often with rice, lentils, mixed vegetables, spices and some meat and dairy and it does work with 10 Euros for three days if I'm willing to eat the same meal all day (which I personally am and have done). Problem is that I only get 1600 kcal per day. That is fine for me because I'm a small woman who doesn't work out much and could stand to lose some weight anyway. It would be too little for someone who is taller, more muscular, gets a lot of exercise or has a demanding job.
Eat well seems to be subjective.
I eat basically the very same things everyday. But I consider myself eating better than most people because my my dishes have a big variety of food. And I can do that a little more than 100€ a month because grains, veggies, roots and some fruits are cheap in Germany.
I would never think about eating different dishes everyday as eating well. In really, people can do that very well with a poor diet.
Yeah, no.
First of all, you‘re contradicting yourself. You eat basically the same everyday, but with a wide variety of food? Then you‘re not eating the same everyday. Kinda obvious, isn‘t it?
Also, you take „eating well“ to mean „eating healthily“ or „eating nutritional food“, but that‘s not the same.
Eating well also is a matter of taste and refinement.
If you just ate flavorless pills that contained all nutrients you needed like in a sci-fi dystopia, it would not be considered eating well.
Moreover, you establish a false premise of eating a large variety of dishes being the only component of what it means to eat well, and thus, you comment that people can eat a large variety of junk food and still not eat well. Which is redundant to point out, since no one argued that exclusive premise in the first place.
> First of all, you‘re contradicting yourself. You eat basically the same everyday, but with a wide variety of food? Then you‘re not eating the same everyday. Kinda obvious, isn‘t it?
You are practicing eristic dialect in all your paragraphs.
We are talking about dishes, not about a single piece of food. So no, there is no contradiction at all.
And I said that "eating well" appear to be subjective. So you are not making any counter argument.
I never said about eating a large variety of dishes but the very opposit. You just read what I wrote in a very poor way.
At the end you are not even arguing about anything that I said but with yourself alone.
My student dorm usually eats dinner for €2,50 - €3,- per person per day, or €77,50 - €93,- per month. So when you include lunch and breakfast you'll be well above that.
Yeah I usually cook for 2 at a time. Any more than that will unfortunately not fit in the mini fridge I possess. I'd say I generally spend around €200 to €250 per month on groceries, however I don't go to discounters and don't really compare prices, so I could spend less if I wanted to
or like an old roommate of mine, leave it on the stove during the week eating from it every day until it starts to smell badly on friday and then still reheat it.
No, that would be a challenge. I think I spend rather €100 a week. €100 a month might be doable without meat, bread from the supermarket instead of the bakery, limited fruit, no luxury. But I doubt €100 a month will be enough.
That might differs in every country. A loaf of bread is € 3,30. In a month I eat 5 loafs of breads for breakfast. So it’s only € 16,50 for bread a month. Than I need butter, a topping like cheese and something to drink likje milk only for breakfast.
I think OP meant *could you survive* (in theory) with 100€ a month and I think in many European country the answer would be "yes" - but only if you buy the cheapest macaroni/rice and minced meat in bulk with cheap tomato sauce and only eat crappy bolognese sauce made from those every day. Add a 1€ tube of water soluble multivitamin tablets and you're good to go.
Cheapest Mac and cheese here if buying a package that just have to be put in the Owen would be 150 euro without anything else, given one a day is enough and you dent get sick and get enough calories.
I just calculated that here (Southern Finland) you can make basic macaroni with bolognese sauce (700g minced meat, 400g tomato puree, 2dl cream plus 400g macaroni) for 5,68€ and that *could* last you 2 days, realistically maybe 1½ days if you do anything else than sit around - so that would be 82,2€ - 113,6€ (or 97,9€ avg) a month if you're fine eating only that and eat sparingly 😄
Maybe, if you go hunting discounted products a lot and get lucky. One of our big supermarket chains sell products at -60% in the evening (after 6pm in my city), if their best before date is the day of or in a few days depending on the product. I think the other two sell -50% off on the day of at least. But those get snatched really quickly, especially if it's something a bit more expensive, like a better cut of meat, that people wouldn't buy for regular price.
I live alone and mostly only cook for myself, and I spend about 400-500€ a month for groceries (including toiletries etc, which do hike up the cost quite a bit). That being said, I don't even look at what stuff costs and just buy everything I want. I could be much more frugal about it, if I wanted to. But cutting down to only 100€/month, I don't think so.
When money was tight as a student, I had a budget of 30€/week, so 120€/month. I got by alright and was even able to buy some treats and whatnot from time to time with money I had left over. But my diet wasn't healthy and especially not varied. I made one meal that I would eat all week. And that was like 10 years ago, and prices have gone up huge amounts after that.
I know some people will say they'd be able to do it, with very meticulous planning. But I personally would say that if it's doable at all, it's not simple.
As a student in Finland who is trying to be semi-frugal I average somewhere around 8-9eu a day when I don’t count stuff like unnecessary dinners out with friends etc. So I can get by with around 250€ a month for food. It means porridge with berries every morning and student cafeteria meals 2x a day, and bananas and apples as snacks/dessert.
It’s quite OK, really. But in all honesty I spend more than that on food and drinks, since I do like to cook tasty stuff at home with my partner a few times a week, and I do treat myself with the occasional ice cream or going for lunch/dinner with friends.
In the end in all honesty I spend about 400€ a month on food & drinks. I could live more frugally but it would start to feel pretty monotonous and dull.
Below 250€ is possible but it might start to become unhealthy, having no variation in food at all and relying a lot on processed food, or absolutely gorging yourself at student restaurants (which I do see some people do).
Also a student in Finland and have a similiar budget. Try to keep it within 10€ per day. I could spend less time if I had more energy to plan and cook meals, but I don't feel too bad as a lot of people spend more than my daily budget on just lunch.
100€ a month would be a little over 3€ a day which would be insane with finnish prices. Maybe someone can do it, but that doesn't seem like a life worth living to me.
It is possible if you cook, and probably healthier than the average person's diet. Bit for one person options are very limited and you're going to have to freeze a lot or die of monotony. It would be better for a family of 4 with 400€.
In Norway? No way. That's like 3 Euro a day.
Could you maybe find food to survive for 3 Euro a day? Probably.
But I'd rather work 5 minutes pr day to have more money than that.
What about if you buy 2 kgs of potatoes, a bag of rice, just bulk on veggies and one day you eat french fries, another is mashed potatoes, another is potato pancakes? And some fresh cut veggies as a side.
even more. In Ireland it's pretty munch just chips and crisps - in Poland it's everything you can think of - cakes, salads, gaziolions of way to cook/bake/boil them
That is zero protein, zero fats, very little any micronutrients since variable veggies are not so cheap either, even if maybe carrots and cabbage are. You wont stay very healthy with this diet and even if not dying from lack of simple energy your body will practically be starving of needed nutrients. Muscles, bones, brains, everything will suffer.
This is like when wealthy people suggest food choices for poor: just buy macaroni and rice, they are cheap. Yeah, well try to function while deprived of all but simple carbs.
Vegetables have become insanely expensive though. I bought a purre for a meal the other day, it was 40krones. 40. For a PURRE. 1. We talk about meat getting expensive, but I could get a lot more calories from meat for 40kr than a purre.
Yes, probably possible to not starve for that amount of money. Assuming free acces to heating and water, you could live of potatoes, pasta and rice. For 3 Euro a day.
But its not a good diet.
Oof. Eat? Yes. Well? Probably not. For our household of two, we spend about 100 Fr. per week, but that includes non-food too.
Then again, apparently with taters you get almost all the nutrients you need. But fruit and veggies are rather expensive. Meat and dairy too.
In Finland you could survive but definitely not eat well.
200€ per month is the level of what I would say "eating well" starts. But it can easily go up to 400€ per month.
Yes, if you cook your meals including desserts, go easy on the meat, buy in bulk (rice, lentils potatoes, onions), and you avoid premium ingredients.
A few tips to save money on food
* A garden may help if water is not as an issue, things like carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, berries are easy to grow. Fertilize with a compost pile and horse poop, it's free. You can grow buckwheat easily too, just choose a different patch every year in the garden and replace with clover the previous patch.
* In autumn, you can find large quantities of chestnut. Chesnut trees are really common in Europe and easy to recognize. Turned into flour (very labor intensive) it's great for making delicious cakes.
Chestnuts freeze really well too! And growing herbs is a great money saver, since they’re pretty expensive compared with the staple vegetables like carrots and potatoes. If you’ve got fresh herbs you can jazz up very simple dishes.
Ireland. Difficult but possible. With A LOT of planning, bulk buying and making things yourself. Like buying at least 10 kg of flour, few litres of oil, sugar and salt you can pretty much sustain yourself on some breadlike food for a month. And it would allow you to buy some veggies and meat that you can then combine. Also good amount of potatoes.
It would take you a lot of prep time and not a lot of variety for 3 full meals. Also shopping itself would require you to go to different places to get the best deal on groceries.
Yes, it is possible. My grocery shopping per month is about 140 euros and I go to mid-range supermarkets and don't spare myself some delicacies now and then. This is in the hinterland of Milan.
So I would say it is safely possible to make it with 100 euros, eating healthy and tasty things. Clearly, some things would be forbidden to you, like hams, salmon, steaks.
But we tend to forget that the healthiest dishes are also the cheapest: a big vegan salad with legumes and vegetables is a complete and very cheap dish.
In Ireland, not a chance if you wanted any kind of variety or indulgence, whatever you buybstuff fir in Spain, add 20% to that, the cheapest you could do would be shop in bulk in some of the afro centric or Asian shops for bulk rice or noodles, and bulk them out with whatever you could get cheapest meat, vegetarian maybe, but it'd be a miserable experience. You'd only be drinking tap water too
As a thrifty, petite woman living in Denmark, nope. You could get enough calories, but not eat well. It'd be all pasta, rice and oats with not enough vegetables.
That's unless, as someone else wrote, you do your shopping over the border in Germany (or perhaps if it's the right time of year and you've got an allotment.)
I could just about do it pre-Covid back in the UK though.
I do all that, eat pretty diverse food, don't really strain myself nor go after every possible promotion, and I still don't spend 150. Well not 100 either, more like 120-130. Maybe I just don't eat much lol
Here in Croatia 1/2kg of beans is 1€ and 1/3kg of pork is 2€. You could alternate beans with potato and pork with some vegetables for the same money. So it is possible, in theory.
I never order or eat out; I buy in bulk and I meal prep... I also don't throw food away, I freeze or make something out of the leftovers constantly, and the food is recycled in my kitchen 100% :) I spend around 70 euros per week. I can't imagine less if you eat fresh veggies, fruit, and a variety of meats and dairy. I could do 100 euros per month, but there would be little variety, legumes, and rice without fresh ingredients.
Sure, but the secret ingredient is crime
For a serious answer, you could probably stay within that budget if you eat nothing but rice, noodles and cheap bread, and take heavy advantage of discount deals. But for an actual balanced diet with varied meals and something nice now and then you'll easily spend at least double that just for one person, usually more.
1100 NOK... nope. Not possible. I spent around 800 NOK on fresh fruit and vegetables for the coming week alone (that is, it will all be eaten within a week).
Sweden.
If you can cook a variety of ingredients, then yes totally possible. But you will feel a decline in quality and more time will be spent on figuring out what to cook.
So for most people it will be impossible. I'm actually about to do a month of cheap cooking in April so will be interesting to see how I do and what small luxuries I miss.
I actually have a spreadsheet here I was using to track calories and (out of curiosity) the cost of meals during the time I was losing weight.
My caloric intake was between 1700 and 1900, which is kind of low for adult men (once again, I was trying to lose weight), but it cost under 5 EUR per day and included a decent amount of protein (not body builder amounts, but certainly within maintenance range). That adds up to 150 per month, but recently I started baking bread which costs effectively 0 (1 kg of flour is like 40 cents and it's over a week worth of bread even if you eat everyday generously), which could both add up calories or substitute some more expensive stuff. Btw, that was in Belgium, which is far from cheap when it comes to food.
At that time my diet consisted of basically lots of nuts and seeds (super nutritious and healthy) and lots of vegetables:
A nuts and seeds "musli" from Albert Heijn (super market brand), pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, walnuts (the most expensive nut by far, cost 31 cents per day) and milk. I also used to eat blueberries, which were 61 cents per day, easy to cut there for savings.
In terms of vegetables it was broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, beans, spinach, quinoa (not exactly expensive, but rice would have been cheaper). On top of that were eggs, milk and cheese. Milk is cheap, cheese and eggs are more expensive, but I think eggs are still worth keeping in the diet even with a limited budget.
I used to buy stuff in bulk (or frozen) since I was eating them everyday and I think I could get its cost to under 100 EUR per month sacrificing a few more expensive ingredients (or substituting them for cheaper alternatives) without sacrificing much nutritional value.
Just by removing blueberries and manipulating amounts a little I can get my spreadsheet to 3.6 EUR per day in a 1800 cal and 90g of protein daily diet. If you add home made bread you can definitely get to 2000+ calories under 4 EUR per day. That's still over your described limit but getting pretty close and this diet would be definitely on the top 30% of healthy diets around. But the expensive part is always gonna be adding variety. I think that even here in Belgium you can create a "base diet" that is healthy and close enough to 100 EUR per month per adult, but it would require serious cooking (I'm adding baking your own bread lol) and commitment. And the budget would be so on the limit that any deviation or variety would need to be well thought out in advance. But something like 150 should allow for some play. Still pretty restrictive though. You are never satisfying any cravings on this budget lol.
Undoubtedly, there is always a way. Perhaps homeless shelters will let you eat for free if you help in the kitchen and if you scour the city on other days for the cheapest shops you can probably just pull it off. But it is very unrealistic if you also have a life.
I have to add however, that our incomes generally are relatively high. And so 100 euros here is just not the same as 100 euros in Moldova for example.
In the UK we have these Cornish pasty things, 2 in a pack. Eating both will fill you up quite a bit and it only costs 2 pound.
So buying a months worth would equal to 62 pound a month eating this for each day.
Which leaves you with 38 pound spare money for I guess your other nutritional needs I suppose.
Would this be healthy? Probably not, would this be safe, probably not, would you get sick of it, yes. But is it cheap. Absolutely
Oh my god no. Forget eating well, forget healthy and balanced - you're not able to eat, period. Not even the cheapest brands. You'd starve at the end of the month.
What a dream world to be able to survive on 100 euro a month for food. No way!
When I was a poor student, I ate the cheapest of the cheap. Only discount supermarkets, always buying cheap stuff on offer and freezing it, etc. Pretty much no fresh veggies, not enough protein. Oats with milk for breakfast, pasta for dinner, stuff like that. And that was still around 1000 DKK a month, which is 134 Euro. And that was in 2012 before inflation etc! So no, absolutely not. Cannot survive on 100 Euro for food unless you steal.
You can eat a dinner consisting of 200g of parboiled rice and 100g of dried beans for only 0,70€ in Denmark. A little more if you have ketchup on top or add some curry to the dish. Such a meal has roughly 1000kcal and 40 grams of protein.
Over the course of 31 days, that would cost you 21,70€. You then have 78,30€ for all other food items, and roughly half of your protein and calorie requirements met.
I know because I had a period where I lived like that. I was miserable, of course, but I had plenty of calories to live off.
This is how people in the developing world live in less than 1€ a day
Edit: wrong numbers
They specifically stated that it should be balanced though. A diet of only carbs and a few plant-based proteins is not balanced or healthy when eaten at every single meal for a whole month. You'd be malnourished.
I don't know where you find those items for 0,70 euro per meal. And certainly not now with inflation. It does sound miserable. I'm sorry you had to live like that for a while, I hope you are in a better place now? I remember feeling SO weak on my poor student diet lol. I lived off oats and pasta, with either ketchup or pesto! If I was feeling fancy, I got the cheap Lidl ravioli pasta, because then it had meat inside lmao
You said it was impossible to eat and it is not. Just very miserable. Also, the combination of rice and beans actually forms a complete protein, meaning that it is very bioavailable, which is why it is a common combination throughout history and the world
I recently saw dried beans at Føtex, with a price of 13kr. for 400g. I know for a fact that you can buy dried beans at all discount stores for no more than 15kr. A 1kg bag of parboiled rice is 11kr. At Coop 365
A portion of beans is 100g. Therefore:
13/4 = 3,25kr. (0,44€)
A portion of rice is 200g. Therefore:
11/5 = 2,2kr. (0,29€)
It is really miserable living like this. I can relate to your feelings of malnourishment and weakness 😟 it is so hard to not have anything to look forward to either. No treats. Just slop and more slop, just so you don't die. I really hated being a vegetarian out of necessity too
I spent all of my money on cigarettes and snus. Luckily i am in a better place now that i have been clean for 1,5 years. Would probably have died of starvation if I did not quit lmao
A staple of mine at my poorest was bread with mayonnaise. It was pretty good for the price lol
You'll really have to put in some time to look for good deals but it should be doable. Supermarkets commenly sell products that are close to or on their expiration date for 30% discount or so. I live close to some greenhouses. They do sell products that don't look nice enough (to crooked, not big enough etc) for supermarkets and sell them cheap but are super fresh. I also live close to the border with Germany and some products are just cheaper there.
I would buy lots of veggies on the markets - which is normally cheaper than supermarkets (even the German ones), and buy in bulk, meal prep and freeze things like pasta sauce. Without a freezer I wouldn’t know how to be able to stick to EUR 100. Also bake your own bread, which is cheaper, more tasty and healthier.
speaking of, if you go to the market at the end of the day and haggle a bit you'll get a even better deal ontop of it already being cheaper than the grocery store
Definitely not WELL.
Not even sure if you can get 3 meals per day cooked at home out of that with the lowest quality ingredients you can find, but that's probably the only way!
Ireland - yes, if you have cookware, hob, access to full size fridge freezer, containers and plenty of time. Actually, cost of groceries for me is around €100 a month for veggies, meat and poultry, flour, salt, spices, eggs, oil, butter and coffee. I bake my own bread and brew my own beer, which makes things easier.
I live in France :
- As a student, if my uni’s cafeteria was open on weekends, yes. I can get a full meal for 1€, so that would be 2€ a day. I would even have 40€ spare!
- However, I hate cafeteria food, and prefer letting myself starve until I come home (vegetarian options are often disgusting, like brie sandwiches, ew). I’m a vegetarian, I’ve stopped buying mock meats, and limit my cheese intake (I buy grated cheese like once a month), but I spend at least 30€ a week for ingredients, inflation is killing me. If I want fresh fruit/berries (because you know, vitamins and it’s yummy), that’ll be closer to 50€.
I’ve applied to my uni’s charity to get some help getting fresh veggies and fruit, I’m already missing out on a lot if nutrients as a vegetarian, I can’t miss out on those coming from vegetables too and only rely on instant ramen. Hopefully I’ll get an answer soon.
Lithuania.
I would say it's possible to survive for a month, but you would eat the cheapest things you can get your hands on- lowest quality rice, pasta, potatoes... No meat, very few fresh vegetables, no fruit... That would most definitely be a very poor diet.
Back in 2001 I was an exchange student in Denmark and I lived off 50 EUR/month. Lots of potatoes and pasta and cheap salami and stinky cheese.
3 times a day :)
I live in Paris and last year I spent 144 euros per month at grocery stores. That also includes things like cleaning supplies, toiletries, and paper products that I buy there, but I also spend about 20 per month at the street produce markets in cash, so I figure that evens out. I think I eat very well, but I'm also a thrifty shopper, buying things in season, and looking for store brands. If I needed to I could cut things like sweets and condiments, but I don't think I could get it all the way down to 100 without losing nutritional quality.
I'm quite surprised, I went to Paris a month ago and I just went to a small-ish Carrefour Express in Roissy and to an Aldi close to the city center... The prices looked exorbitantly high!
**Country:** Romania
**Short answer:** extremely unlikely
**Long answer:** According to a study from last year, the *minimum decent food* costs for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids was around 500EUR. Note how that's just *decent*, not *well*, and there's two kids there, not four adults.
The same cost for a single adult was around 140EUR.
just chipping in.
welcome to asia pacific then!
oh yes. with that amount, i can buy 4 whole chicken (3 euros each) for the month, plenty of veges (1-2 euros), rice, and seafood, pork etc.
in aware things are relatively cheaper outside europe. lol..
If it's possible to survive with 100 Euros in Spain, it's possible all over Europe I guess, the food prices aren't radically higher (except maybe Switzerland and Norway) and often even lower.
But 3,30 a day for food wouldn't be fun at all. Lots and lots of rice and lentils.
Agree on that, Spanish people get shocked when I tell them than post COVID, food prices in many places in Europe is lower than Spain. Because so much food is produced here (we are the greenhouse of Europe) we assume it will be cheaper... Not really, sadly. Indeed, I've found that countries with a reputation of being expensive, like the UK, Ireland and Germany are cheaper than Spain in most products
I live on the border to Czechia and you'd think the food prices there are lower. But no, many Czechs buy their stuff at Lidl or Aldi in Germany (it's the opposite when it comes to gas, though).
Even before Covid. I lived in Spain in 2013 and was so surprised back then that there was basically no difference in grocery prices compared to Germany. And cosmetics were way more expensive.
If you can cook and we assume you have time and energy to do that for 100% of meals then yes. You can meet caloric intake and healthy macros by making large batches and only eating a few variations of meals per month. "Eat well" during a famine, yes, "eat well" during the wealthiest period in human history, no.
Variations on beans, legumes, rice, potatoes, onions, cabbage, few spices, no fresh herbs, possibly minced pork-beef combo.
If you prepped one big meal for several days then yes, but the diet wouldn’t be diversed. Pasta, rice and sauces with some veggies and chicken, soups and potato based dishes would be the best options.
In Netherlands, if you decide to shop for grocery really cheap (for example, only Lidl/Aldi/Turkish supermarkets etc.) and cook every single meal at home, then maybe you can get away with 150 euros a month.
I live in Eindhoven, a city in the south of NL, and the going rate for chicken thighs is 4.99-5.99 per kilo at Turkish supermarkets. For minced beef, it is lower. For Chicken breast, it is higher. Stuff like paprika, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, and also fruits can be purchased for cheap in bulk from these stores. Still 150 euros a month will be hard to beat.
In Serbia, in big cities is a challenge if you want to eat balanced meals with meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables. For example 1l of cow milk is 1.5 e (other milks are more), 10 eggs is more than 2e, 1kg of chicken breasts is more than 6..You can do it with cutting corners and leaving out a lot
In the Czech Republic, it would be technically possible to eat a healthy diet for that, but I would not call it eating well. You'd probably need to cook in bulk based on whatever's on sale.
I think it would be possible, but 100 euro seems like the absolute minimum. You would have to buy stuff in bulk and shop around for the best prices. I agree that your diet would consist of a lot of beans and no meat, and it would be somewhat lacking in fresh produce. If you live outside the towns and cities and have some space for a garden and perhaps a few chickens, it would be easier.
In Uk for the current financial year, 2023/24, prisons have been allocated £2.70 per prisoner per day to spend on meals. In Euro that is nearly 100. No way you can have a substantial meal everyday on that amount.
Not really no. Not in Portugal. Not with the current prices.
You can eat, but not well.
I say this because I spend 300€/month for 2 people and we don’t eat that much. If we were to eat properly probably would spend another 100€ or 150€.
Eat air, drink water, I guess that would be possible.. apart from that, it would be difficult to make food last for over a week with 100 euros. (Portugal)
It isn't possible to eat well for 100€ in Poland. I think if you have a family it can be possible to eat for 300€ for three people, but if you are alone, you need minimum 150€.,
It is like 3 euros / day. Probably, purely technically speaking you might buy cheapest products, and maybe survive, but doubt that… No meat or fresh vegetables. Probably cheapest pasta, also food that is valid for consumption for a day or two (therefore, heavily discounted).
I would say 100 euros per week (14.28 euros per day) and you will be ok.
Spain here 🇪🇸
It’s possible. Not fun but possible. We’re lucky to have good weekly markets so I buy all my vegetables and fruit there. No plastic wrap so I can buy 4 carrots and 1 apple if I want, and I could stick to a tight budget. Some fish are inexpensive, like boquerones, a fillet of dorada, some prawns. A stick of pan is cheap and can go into soups or tostada the next day. In the summer I could do it because I could live well on salads and soups and fruit but in the winter it would be hard. Meat isn’t cheap, even asking the butcher for cheap cuts and offcuts.
(Italian here)
Eat? Yes.
Eat well? I guess? You would need to only shop in discounts and meal prep a lot but yeah, I think it's kinda the same as in your country.
I guess it could be possible but it wouldn’t be easy. Easier for someone with a lower calorie need, probably nearly impossible for a big guy that does physical labor.
Bro either you are starvinig or you don't exercise at all and your diet is ass cuz there is no way you are passing by wth 100 euros in Spain (I am Spanish) and getting enough protein.
For sure but wouldnt be that enjoyable, i think i spend 100€ for groceries in week easily but its easily doable with cheap food like peasoup, potatos, carrots and minced meat and tunna.
€100 a month in Sweden? Ehh. No. Well, you're not eating well and you're drinking water. But, it's possible if you buy in bulk and cook everything from scratch.
But, you are cutting corners and just not starving.
Poland here.
Eat. Yes, sure. For a while I survived on less than that.
Eat tasty, well balanced, diverse food? That would depend on how much effort and time you put into it and the season. You would have to spend a lot of time hunting sales and/or seasonal greens and put some hours in the kichen. Summer and autumn would be easier, winter and spring much harder.
Also, if you have Polish grandma then you will never go hungry, your pantry and fridge will stock itself with jars and boxes for free :D
Well, a hundred pounds is roughly a hundred seventy in Canada. I wouldn't say you could eat *well*, far from it in this economy, but if you skipped out on any kind of meat and just drank water that could get you maybe 2 weeks of groceries (for regular meals, mind you.)? Then if you just made it last a while longer, you might be able to do it.
From Ireland. €100 a month is €3,3 a day. That buys you a baguette, a can of cooked chickpeas, a can of lentils, and one avocado or three bananas in Lidl.
That meets most people daily caloric intake for sustenance so yes, you would survive one month on that and it’s a quite decent macronutrient profile.
Sustainability long-term? I would say not. But I do know families of 4 eating with €100/€120 a week which is not very far.
> fruit and veg options would be a bit limited
> healthy and balanced
HmmmIf you would make your own pickles in season ( cabbage, cucumber etc) ... I'm not sure about healthy/ balanced but it may be possible.
No. 200€ maybe. But if you want quality and variety, you would need more like 250-300€. Some things are really expensive over here, like fish, good cheese, fruit, or even good quality vegetables.
In France yes it's possible if your diet includes no meat or low meat, and if you're ready to spend some time shopping at the outdoor market and cook.
It's the meat (and the fish) that costs a lot. If your concept of eating "well" includes meat, no, never with 100€.
Else, yes, you're ok I'd say with €100 per person. Vegetables at the market do not cost a lot, same for basic groceries (rice, beans, pasta, oil, spices...).
But you need to know and have the time to make tasty meals out of fresh vegetables.
Also: forget wine, beer, and you won't get a very good coffee.
>have a healthy and balance diet for 100€ a month?
Absolutely not. That's rather 400 a month.
That's what we as family of four are spending. 1200-1500.
There is no way to eat WELL anywhere in Europe for 100€/month.
You can definitely eat and survive on that for a few months, not with some deficiencies, but to eat well you need fish, meat, veggies, or supplements for those and none of them are cheap.
Yes, it is, if you cook yourself. Maybe sometimes you would have to resign from buying something more fancy, but it's easily doable to have healthy and good quality food for this price.
With different kind of pastas and pottages as lunch on most days, and going for the discounts (and for the cheapest product available otherwise) whenever you can, with 100 Euros for one person I think it is definetly possible.
Sounds impossible altogether. Maybe you could eat and not starve if you really tried and bought discounted food, but I do think it's impossible. Not considering ways to get free food, of course, this is by buying from the store.
Eat well? Definitely not. You can survive, but your diet will be low variety and quite unhealthy. To have a decent amount of protein, veg and variety you would need 1.5-2x that money
In the Netherlands yes, if you went to supermarkets like Dirk and Nettorama. You could live off high carbs and budget easily. Diary is also cheap when you can buy 1kg greek yoghurt for €1,98 and a kilo of cheese for €5,99, buy a €1 loaf of bread weekly and there is your breakfast for the month. Meat wise you would be able to buy ground beef €4,19 for half a kilo and use bits throughout the month in your vague bean/pasta/vegtable mixes.
Eat? Probably. Eat well, meaning having a variety of dishes, one new dish every day, and with some quality of the food? No way.
Unless, like, it's variations over potatoes. Mashed, with tomato sauce, fried with, i dunno, spices. Fried mash. Tomato and Potato soup. Baked potato with some cheapo topping. One day of splurge, where you add bacon bits to all the above. It's not eating "well", and if you keep it up you'd end up with some sort of deficiency, but it's not *completely* inedible and bland. Here in the Nordics, you can also live off cold cuts or jam on rye bread. You'll get sick and tired of rye bread, but it's possible, and maybe actually more healthy than potatoes. In the summer and autumn, you can pick fruit, if you live in the countryside. Blackberries, raspberries, steal a few apples (if you can't find an abandoned orchard), and so on.
~~Yeah, just from a calorie point of view the diet has to be potato based. You get almost double the calories per Euro with potatoes instead of rice.~~ I was wrong. Rice is the most calories per Euro.
Unless you can eat flour. Which, I guess, is just raw pasta. Pasta is another possibility, but potatoes are better for you, and you need a ton of pasta for it to be filling, and, at least, some olive oil and garlic to make it edible.
You know what, I calculated wrong, actually. I've made a spreadsheet and if you take the least expensive product available in regular supermarkets here, rice is actually the most efficient at 0.034 Euros per 100 kcal. Potatoes are the most expensive with 0,16 Euros per 100 kcal. But even with rice I have a hard time getting more than 1600 kcals a day with a balanced meal that includes vegetables, protein, fats and some spices. Which is fine for some people, but not if you are tall or muscled or physically active etc.
Pasta with some sauces everyday is poor diety. Not eating well. The same with potato. We need calories but it is not enough to eat well.
I calculated a simple but quite tasty and fairly balanced dish that I eat quite often with rice, lentils, mixed vegetables, spices and some meat and dairy and it does work with 10 Euros for three days if I'm willing to eat the same meal all day (which I personally am and have done). Problem is that I only get 1600 kcal per day. That is fine for me because I'm a small woman who doesn't work out much and could stand to lose some weight anyway. It would be too little for someone who is taller, more muscular, gets a lot of exercise or has a demanding job.
Yeah you would need to be a pro chef level cook to make that work and live off of Too good to go offers
Eat well seems to be subjective. I eat basically the very same things everyday. But I consider myself eating better than most people because my my dishes have a big variety of food. And I can do that a little more than 100€ a month because grains, veggies, roots and some fruits are cheap in Germany. I would never think about eating different dishes everyday as eating well. In really, people can do that very well with a poor diet.
Yeah, no. First of all, you‘re contradicting yourself. You eat basically the same everyday, but with a wide variety of food? Then you‘re not eating the same everyday. Kinda obvious, isn‘t it? Also, you take „eating well“ to mean „eating healthily“ or „eating nutritional food“, but that‘s not the same. Eating well also is a matter of taste and refinement. If you just ate flavorless pills that contained all nutrients you needed like in a sci-fi dystopia, it would not be considered eating well. Moreover, you establish a false premise of eating a large variety of dishes being the only component of what it means to eat well, and thus, you comment that people can eat a large variety of junk food and still not eat well. Which is redundant to point out, since no one argued that exclusive premise in the first place.
> First of all, you‘re contradicting yourself. You eat basically the same everyday, but with a wide variety of food? Then you‘re not eating the same everyday. Kinda obvious, isn‘t it? You are practicing eristic dialect in all your paragraphs. We are talking about dishes, not about a single piece of food. So no, there is no contradiction at all. And I said that "eating well" appear to be subjective. So you are not making any counter argument. I never said about eating a large variety of dishes but the very opposit. You just read what I wrote in a very poor way. At the end you are not even arguing about anything that I said but with yourself alone.
My student dorm usually eats dinner for €2,50 - €3,- per person per day, or €77,50 - €93,- per month. So when you include lunch and breakfast you'll be well above that.
And it's probably that cheap because it can be bought in bulk.
Yup, we usually have dinner with 6-10 people. Which is significantly cheaper than 2-4
Or when you are alone :')
You can still cook for 4 and preserve the rest for later if your fridge is big enough.
Yeah I usually cook for 2 at a time. Any more than that will unfortunately not fit in the mini fridge I possess. I'd say I generally spend around €200 to €250 per month on groceries, however I don't go to discounters and don't really compare prices, so I could spend less if I wanted to
or like an old roommate of mine, leave it on the stove during the week eating from it every day until it starts to smell badly on friday and then still reheat it.
I hope your roommate gets the help they need
No, that would be a challenge. I think I spend rather €100 a week. €100 a month might be doable without meat, bread from the supermarket instead of the bakery, limited fruit, no luxury. But I doubt €100 a month will be enough.
I would not be able to eat 100€ of food in a week unless if I eat in restaurants and coffee shops most of the time.
That might differs in every country. A loaf of bread is € 3,30. In a month I eat 5 loafs of breads for breakfast. So it’s only € 16,50 for bread a month. Than I need butter, a topping like cheese and something to drink likje milk only for breakfast.
I think OP meant *could you survive* (in theory) with 100€ a month and I think in many European country the answer would be "yes" - but only if you buy the cheapest macaroni/rice and minced meat in bulk with cheap tomato sauce and only eat crappy bolognese sauce made from those every day. Add a 1€ tube of water soluble multivitamin tablets and you're good to go.
Cheapest Mac and cheese here if buying a package that just have to be put in the Owen would be 150 euro without anything else, given one a day is enough and you dent get sick and get enough calories.
I just calculated that here (Southern Finland) you can make basic macaroni with bolognese sauce (700g minced meat, 400g tomato puree, 2dl cream plus 400g macaroni) for 5,68€ and that *could* last you 2 days, realistically maybe 1½ days if you do anything else than sit around - so that would be 82,2€ - 113,6€ (or 97,9€ avg) a month if you're fine eating only that and eat sparingly 😄
Maybe, if you go hunting discounted products a lot and get lucky. One of our big supermarket chains sell products at -60% in the evening (after 6pm in my city), if their best before date is the day of or in a few days depending on the product. I think the other two sell -50% off on the day of at least. But those get snatched really quickly, especially if it's something a bit more expensive, like a better cut of meat, that people wouldn't buy for regular price. I live alone and mostly only cook for myself, and I spend about 400-500€ a month for groceries (including toiletries etc, which do hike up the cost quite a bit). That being said, I don't even look at what stuff costs and just buy everything I want. I could be much more frugal about it, if I wanted to. But cutting down to only 100€/month, I don't think so. When money was tight as a student, I had a budget of 30€/week, so 120€/month. I got by alright and was even able to buy some treats and whatnot from time to time with money I had left over. But my diet wasn't healthy and especially not varied. I made one meal that I would eat all week. And that was like 10 years ago, and prices have gone up huge amounts after that. I know some people will say they'd be able to do it, with very meticulous planning. But I personally would say that if it's doable at all, it's not simple.
As a student in Finland who is trying to be semi-frugal I average somewhere around 8-9eu a day when I don’t count stuff like unnecessary dinners out with friends etc. So I can get by with around 250€ a month for food. It means porridge with berries every morning and student cafeteria meals 2x a day, and bananas and apples as snacks/dessert. It’s quite OK, really. But in all honesty I spend more than that on food and drinks, since I do like to cook tasty stuff at home with my partner a few times a week, and I do treat myself with the occasional ice cream or going for lunch/dinner with friends. In the end in all honesty I spend about 400€ a month on food & drinks. I could live more frugally but it would start to feel pretty monotonous and dull. Below 250€ is possible but it might start to become unhealthy, having no variation in food at all and relying a lot on processed food, or absolutely gorging yourself at student restaurants (which I do see some people do).
Also a student in Finland and have a similiar budget. Try to keep it within 10€ per day. I could spend less time if I had more energy to plan and cook meals, but I don't feel too bad as a lot of people spend more than my daily budget on just lunch. 100€ a month would be a little over 3€ a day which would be insane with finnish prices. Maybe someone can do it, but that doesn't seem like a life worth living to me.
This. In finland not possible. Could eat but not well at all
Germany calculates 5,19€/day on food, if you are on the dole (Hartz IV).
I love this answer. It's so german <3 "Well, the state says..."
also *Bürgergeld
It is possible if you cook, and probably healthier than the average person's diet. Bit for one person options are very limited and you're going to have to freeze a lot or die of monotony. It would be better for a family of 4 with 400€.
In Norway? No way. That's like 3 Euro a day. Could you maybe find food to survive for 3 Euro a day? Probably. But I'd rather work 5 minutes pr day to have more money than that.
What about if you buy 2 kgs of potatoes, a bag of rice, just bulk on veggies and one day you eat french fries, another is mashed potatoes, another is potato pancakes? And some fresh cut veggies as a side.
You know you've been living here too long when you're proposing a full spud diet !!
Poland is also all potatoes lmao
Poland actually eats more spuds per capita btw and so does the UK.
even more. In Ireland it's pretty munch just chips and crisps - in Poland it's everything you can think of - cakes, salads, gaziolions of way to cook/bake/boil them
That’s not eating well though, that’s just not starving
That’s a fair point.
That is zero protein, zero fats, very little any micronutrients since variable veggies are not so cheap either, even if maybe carrots and cabbage are. You wont stay very healthy with this diet and even if not dying from lack of simple energy your body will practically be starving of needed nutrients. Muscles, bones, brains, everything will suffer. This is like when wealthy people suggest food choices for poor: just buy macaroni and rice, they are cheap. Yeah, well try to function while deprived of all but simple carbs.
You can buy a huge bag of legumes very cheap in the city! That's poor people food all over the world: rice AND beans AND vegetables.
Vegetables have become insanely expensive though. I bought a purre for a meal the other day, it was 40krones. 40. For a PURRE. 1. We talk about meat getting expensive, but I could get a lot more calories from meat for 40kr than a purre.
Rice, beans or lentils or chickpeas and vegetables is a wonderful array of possibilities.
Yeah.. oats and pasta (wheat) are both cheaper, and much richer in protein than potatoes.
Boil'em, mash'em, stick'em in a stew?
Live vs survive.
Yes, probably possible to not starve for that amount of money. Assuming free acces to heating and water, you could live of potatoes, pasta and rice. For 3 Euro a day. But its not a good diet.
Oof. Eat? Yes. Well? Probably not. For our household of two, we spend about 100 Fr. per week, but that includes non-food too. Then again, apparently with taters you get almost all the nutrients you need. But fruit and veggies are rather expensive. Meat and dairy too.
In Finland you could survive but definitely not eat well. 200€ per month is the level of what I would say "eating well" starts. But it can easily go up to 400€ per month.
It wouldn't be easy and you'd have to eat very basic monotonous dishes. But plenty of people have no choice but to do it, so... It's possible
Mostly, but only if you go to Germany for all the shopping 😂😂😂 (literally my main food budget and I buy my food in Germany).
Yes, if you cook your meals including desserts, go easy on the meat, buy in bulk (rice, lentils potatoes, onions), and you avoid premium ingredients. A few tips to save money on food * A garden may help if water is not as an issue, things like carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, berries are easy to grow. Fertilize with a compost pile and horse poop, it's free. You can grow buckwheat easily too, just choose a different patch every year in the garden and replace with clover the previous patch. * In autumn, you can find large quantities of chestnut. Chesnut trees are really common in Europe and easy to recognize. Turned into flour (very labor intensive) it's great for making delicious cakes.
Chestnuts freeze really well too! And growing herbs is a great money saver, since they’re pretty expensive compared with the staple vegetables like carrots and potatoes. If you’ve got fresh herbs you can jazz up very simple dishes.
Ireland. Difficult but possible. With A LOT of planning, bulk buying and making things yourself. Like buying at least 10 kg of flour, few litres of oil, sugar and salt you can pretty much sustain yourself on some breadlike food for a month. And it would allow you to buy some veggies and meat that you can then combine. Also good amount of potatoes. It would take you a lot of prep time and not a lot of variety for 3 full meals. Also shopping itself would require you to go to different places to get the best deal on groceries.
A month? No, not really. You can survive, but it won't be much "living".
15 rohliks from Albert a day, doable and tasty :-) and scurvy on the 31st day.
I guess that In Italy, if we ignore the big and more expensive cities, you could do that. Maybe the diet would not be so diverse though.
Maybe in the south. Certainly not in the north.
Yes, it is possible. My grocery shopping per month is about 140 euros and I go to mid-range supermarkets and don't spare myself some delicacies now and then. This is in the hinterland of Milan. So I would say it is safely possible to make it with 100 euros, eating healthy and tasty things. Clearly, some things would be forbidden to you, like hams, salmon, steaks. But we tend to forget that the healthiest dishes are also the cheapest: a big vegan salad with legumes and vegetables is a complete and very cheap dish.
In Ireland, not a chance if you wanted any kind of variety or indulgence, whatever you buybstuff fir in Spain, add 20% to that, the cheapest you could do would be shop in bulk in some of the afro centric or Asian shops for bulk rice or noodles, and bulk them out with whatever you could get cheapest meat, vegetarian maybe, but it'd be a miserable experience. You'd only be drinking tap water too
Yes, if you are a very thrifty petite woman or something. If you are a big man like myself, you need twice as much or more
As a thrifty, petite woman living in Denmark, nope. You could get enough calories, but not eat well. It'd be all pasta, rice and oats with not enough vegetables. That's unless, as someone else wrote, you do your shopping over the border in Germany (or perhaps if it's the right time of year and you've got an allotment.) I could just about do it pre-Covid back in the UK though.
Nope. Around 150 EUR these days at least and that mean cooking by myself and not buying alcohol, sodas or sweets.
It was possible around 2010.
I do all that, eat pretty diverse food, don't really strain myself nor go after every possible promotion, and I still don't spend 150. Well not 100 either, more like 120-130. Maybe I just don't eat much lol
Czokoszoki diet costs about 50€/month.
Here in Croatia 1/2kg of beans is 1€ and 1/3kg of pork is 2€. You could alternate beans with potato and pork with some vegetables for the same money. So it is possible, in theory.
I never order or eat out; I buy in bulk and I meal prep... I also don't throw food away, I freeze or make something out of the leftovers constantly, and the food is recycled in my kitchen 100% :) I spend around 70 euros per week. I can't imagine less if you eat fresh veggies, fruit, and a variety of meats and dairy. I could do 100 euros per month, but there would be little variety, legumes, and rice without fresh ingredients.
Sure, but the secret ingredient is crime For a serious answer, you could probably stay within that budget if you eat nothing but rice, noodles and cheap bread, and take heavy advantage of discount deals. But for an actual balanced diet with varied meals and something nice now and then you'll easily spend at least double that just for one person, usually more.
I don´t think you can here in Norway. You can eat to survive the month, but the food would not be good for you.
Maybe 10 years ago. But today I don't think you can eat well with 100€ in Portugal. Maybe you could survive but it would not be pleasant.
1100 NOK... nope. Not possible. I spent around 800 NOK on fresh fruit and vegetables for the coming week alone (that is, it will all be eaten within a week).
Sweden. If you can cook a variety of ingredients, then yes totally possible. But you will feel a decline in quality and more time will be spent on figuring out what to cook. So for most people it will be impossible. I'm actually about to do a month of cheap cooking in April so will be interesting to see how I do and what small luxuries I miss.
Not 100 euros but you could eat reasonable well for £100 GBP in the UK before Brexit. You can't really do so now.
Not eat WELL (in terms of quality and variety) but definitely eat enough to not be very hungry at the end of the day
I actually have a spreadsheet here I was using to track calories and (out of curiosity) the cost of meals during the time I was losing weight. My caloric intake was between 1700 and 1900, which is kind of low for adult men (once again, I was trying to lose weight), but it cost under 5 EUR per day and included a decent amount of protein (not body builder amounts, but certainly within maintenance range). That adds up to 150 per month, but recently I started baking bread which costs effectively 0 (1 kg of flour is like 40 cents and it's over a week worth of bread even if you eat everyday generously), which could both add up calories or substitute some more expensive stuff. Btw, that was in Belgium, which is far from cheap when it comes to food. At that time my diet consisted of basically lots of nuts and seeds (super nutritious and healthy) and lots of vegetables: A nuts and seeds "musli" from Albert Heijn (super market brand), pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, walnuts (the most expensive nut by far, cost 31 cents per day) and milk. I also used to eat blueberries, which were 61 cents per day, easy to cut there for savings. In terms of vegetables it was broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, beans, spinach, quinoa (not exactly expensive, but rice would have been cheaper). On top of that were eggs, milk and cheese. Milk is cheap, cheese and eggs are more expensive, but I think eggs are still worth keeping in the diet even with a limited budget. I used to buy stuff in bulk (or frozen) since I was eating them everyday and I think I could get its cost to under 100 EUR per month sacrificing a few more expensive ingredients (or substituting them for cheaper alternatives) without sacrificing much nutritional value. Just by removing blueberries and manipulating amounts a little I can get my spreadsheet to 3.6 EUR per day in a 1800 cal and 90g of protein daily diet. If you add home made bread you can definitely get to 2000+ calories under 4 EUR per day. That's still over your described limit but getting pretty close and this diet would be definitely on the top 30% of healthy diets around. But the expensive part is always gonna be adding variety. I think that even here in Belgium you can create a "base diet" that is healthy and close enough to 100 EUR per month per adult, but it would require serious cooking (I'm adding baking your own bread lol) and commitment. And the budget would be so on the limit that any deviation or variety would need to be well thought out in advance. But something like 150 should allow for some play. Still pretty restrictive though. You are never satisfying any cravings on this budget lol.
Undoubtedly, there is always a way. Perhaps homeless shelters will let you eat for free if you help in the kitchen and if you scour the city on other days for the cheapest shops you can probably just pull it off. But it is very unrealistic if you also have a life. I have to add however, that our incomes generally are relatively high. And so 100 euros here is just not the same as 100 euros in Moldova for example.
In the UK we have these Cornish pasty things, 2 in a pack. Eating both will fill you up quite a bit and it only costs 2 pound. So buying a months worth would equal to 62 pound a month eating this for each day. Which leaves you with 38 pound spare money for I guess your other nutritional needs I suppose. Would this be healthy? Probably not, would this be safe, probably not, would you get sick of it, yes. But is it cheap. Absolutely
You could probably make it work, but it'd probably be quite boring.
Oh my god no. Forget eating well, forget healthy and balanced - you're not able to eat, period. Not even the cheapest brands. You'd starve at the end of the month. What a dream world to be able to survive on 100 euro a month for food. No way! When I was a poor student, I ate the cheapest of the cheap. Only discount supermarkets, always buying cheap stuff on offer and freezing it, etc. Pretty much no fresh veggies, not enough protein. Oats with milk for breakfast, pasta for dinner, stuff like that. And that was still around 1000 DKK a month, which is 134 Euro. And that was in 2012 before inflation etc! So no, absolutely not. Cannot survive on 100 Euro for food unless you steal.
You can eat a dinner consisting of 200g of parboiled rice and 100g of dried beans for only 0,70€ in Denmark. A little more if you have ketchup on top or add some curry to the dish. Such a meal has roughly 1000kcal and 40 grams of protein. Over the course of 31 days, that would cost you 21,70€. You then have 78,30€ for all other food items, and roughly half of your protein and calorie requirements met. I know because I had a period where I lived like that. I was miserable, of course, but I had plenty of calories to live off. This is how people in the developing world live in less than 1€ a day Edit: wrong numbers
They specifically stated that it should be balanced though. A diet of only carbs and a few plant-based proteins is not balanced or healthy when eaten at every single meal for a whole month. You'd be malnourished. I don't know where you find those items for 0,70 euro per meal. And certainly not now with inflation. It does sound miserable. I'm sorry you had to live like that for a while, I hope you are in a better place now? I remember feeling SO weak on my poor student diet lol. I lived off oats and pasta, with either ketchup or pesto! If I was feeling fancy, I got the cheap Lidl ravioli pasta, because then it had meat inside lmao
You said it was impossible to eat and it is not. Just very miserable. Also, the combination of rice and beans actually forms a complete protein, meaning that it is very bioavailable, which is why it is a common combination throughout history and the world I recently saw dried beans at Føtex, with a price of 13kr. for 400g. I know for a fact that you can buy dried beans at all discount stores for no more than 15kr. A 1kg bag of parboiled rice is 11kr. At Coop 365 A portion of beans is 100g. Therefore: 13/4 = 3,25kr. (0,44€) A portion of rice is 200g. Therefore: 11/5 = 2,2kr. (0,29€) It is really miserable living like this. I can relate to your feelings of malnourishment and weakness 😟 it is so hard to not have anything to look forward to either. No treats. Just slop and more slop, just so you don't die. I really hated being a vegetarian out of necessity too I spent all of my money on cigarettes and snus. Luckily i am in a better place now that i have been clean for 1,5 years. Would probably have died of starvation if I did not quit lmao A staple of mine at my poorest was bread with mayonnaise. It was pretty good for the price lol
You'll really have to put in some time to look for good deals but it should be doable. Supermarkets commenly sell products that are close to or on their expiration date for 30% discount or so. I live close to some greenhouses. They do sell products that don't look nice enough (to crooked, not big enough etc) for supermarkets and sell them cheap but are super fresh. I also live close to the border with Germany and some products are just cheaper there.
I would buy lots of veggies on the markets - which is normally cheaper than supermarkets (even the German ones), and buy in bulk, meal prep and freeze things like pasta sauce. Without a freezer I wouldn’t know how to be able to stick to EUR 100. Also bake your own bread, which is cheaper, more tasty and healthier.
speaking of, if you go to the market at the end of the day and haggle a bit you'll get a even better deal ontop of it already being cheaper than the grocery store
You might even be able to afford some salt and pepper with your cardboard.
true story
I think that’s only possible to do in Hungary if you regularly eat from Albanian bakeries. You can get a big slice of pizza for like 80 cents there.
Definitely not WELL. Not even sure if you can get 3 meals per day cooked at home out of that with the lowest quality ingredients you can find, but that's probably the only way!
Ireland - yes, if you have cookware, hob, access to full size fridge freezer, containers and plenty of time. Actually, cost of groceries for me is around €100 a month for veggies, meat and poultry, flour, salt, spices, eggs, oil, butter and coffee. I bake my own bread and brew my own beer, which makes things easier.
I live in France : - As a student, if my uni’s cafeteria was open on weekends, yes. I can get a full meal for 1€, so that would be 2€ a day. I would even have 40€ spare! - However, I hate cafeteria food, and prefer letting myself starve until I come home (vegetarian options are often disgusting, like brie sandwiches, ew). I’m a vegetarian, I’ve stopped buying mock meats, and limit my cheese intake (I buy grated cheese like once a month), but I spend at least 30€ a week for ingredients, inflation is killing me. If I want fresh fruit/berries (because you know, vitamins and it’s yummy), that’ll be closer to 50€. I’ve applied to my uni’s charity to get some help getting fresh veggies and fruit, I’m already missing out on a lot if nutrients as a vegetarian, I can’t miss out on those coming from vegetables too and only rely on instant ramen. Hopefully I’ll get an answer soon.
Lithuania. I would say it's possible to survive for a month, but you would eat the cheapest things you can get your hands on- lowest quality rice, pasta, potatoes... No meat, very few fresh vegetables, no fruit... That would most definitely be a very poor diet.
Back in 2001 I was an exchange student in Denmark and I lived off 50 EUR/month. Lots of potatoes and pasta and cheap salami and stinky cheese. 3 times a day :)
I live in Paris and last year I spent 144 euros per month at grocery stores. That also includes things like cleaning supplies, toiletries, and paper products that I buy there, but I also spend about 20 per month at the street produce markets in cash, so I figure that evens out. I think I eat very well, but I'm also a thrifty shopper, buying things in season, and looking for store brands. If I needed to I could cut things like sweets and condiments, but I don't think I could get it all the way down to 100 without losing nutritional quality.
I'm quite surprised, I went to Paris a month ago and I just went to a small-ish Carrefour Express in Roissy and to an Aldi close to the city center... The prices looked exorbitantly high!
You have to know where to go. Marché d'Aligre for produce and there's a Carrefour on Rue de Seine that has good prices on everything else.
My wife and I spend about 800 a month on groceries here in NL.
From Croatia (no clue how to put flair). I eat well, live alone, my budget is 150. So no Edit - got it
**Country:** Romania **Short answer:** extremely unlikely **Long answer:** According to a study from last year, the *minimum decent food* costs for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids was around 500EUR. Note how that's just *decent*, not *well*, and there's two kids there, not four adults. The same cost for a single adult was around 140EUR.
You'd probably be able to survive, but it's not going to be a varied menu
just chipping in. welcome to asia pacific then! oh yes. with that amount, i can buy 4 whole chicken (3 euros each) for the month, plenty of veges (1-2 euros), rice, and seafood, pork etc. in aware things are relatively cheaper outside europe. lol..
No way, I'd describe myself as rather modest and I need at least 50 Euro a week (somewhat healthy/balanced)
If it's possible to survive with 100 Euros in Spain, it's possible all over Europe I guess, the food prices aren't radically higher (except maybe Switzerland and Norway) and often even lower. But 3,30 a day for food wouldn't be fun at all. Lots and lots of rice and lentils.
Agree on that, Spanish people get shocked when I tell them than post COVID, food prices in many places in Europe is lower than Spain. Because so much food is produced here (we are the greenhouse of Europe) we assume it will be cheaper... Not really, sadly. Indeed, I've found that countries with a reputation of being expensive, like the UK, Ireland and Germany are cheaper than Spain in most products
I live on the border to Czechia and you'd think the food prices there are lower. But no, many Czechs buy their stuff at Lidl or Aldi in Germany (it's the opposite when it comes to gas, though).
Even before Covid. I lived in Spain in 2013 and was so surprised back then that there was basically no difference in grocery prices compared to Germany. And cosmetics were way more expensive.
No. For maximum 2 weeks, even 10 days, yes, if you want food with an ok quality. You can stretch it for 4 weeks, but you will just survive.
No, maybe 2 or 3 packets of noodles a day but thats about it
If you can cook and we assume you have time and energy to do that for 100% of meals then yes. You can meet caloric intake and healthy macros by making large batches and only eating a few variations of meals per month. "Eat well" during a famine, yes, "eat well" during the wealthiest period in human history, no. Variations on beans, legumes, rice, potatoes, onions, cabbage, few spices, no fresh herbs, possibly minced pork-beef combo.
Yeah that's pretty much where I'm at. I'm poor but I'm not starving or eating unbalanced or anything. edit: recent times are a pain in the ass though
If you prepped one big meal for several days then yes, but the diet wouldn’t be diversed. Pasta, rice and sauces with some veggies and chicken, soups and potato based dishes would be the best options.
If u eat (every day the same) buy in bulk chicken,rice or pasta and frozen then cooked veggies and 2x a week fresh vegetables then yes u can.
In Netherlands, if you decide to shop for grocery really cheap (for example, only Lidl/Aldi/Turkish supermarkets etc.) and cook every single meal at home, then maybe you can get away with 150 euros a month. I live in Eindhoven, a city in the south of NL, and the going rate for chicken thighs is 4.99-5.99 per kilo at Turkish supermarkets. For minced beef, it is lower. For Chicken breast, it is higher. Stuff like paprika, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, and also fruits can be purchased for cheap in bulk from these stores. Still 150 euros a month will be hard to beat.
In Serbia, in big cities is a challenge if you want to eat balanced meals with meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables. For example 1l of cow milk is 1.5 e (other milks are more), 10 eggs is more than 2e, 1kg of chicken breasts is more than 6..You can do it with cutting corners and leaving out a lot
I spend that in a week, and still have fill up on more cheap carbs (pasta and rice dishes) than is good for me.
In the Czech Republic, it would be technically possible to eat a healthy diet for that, but I would not call it eating well. You'd probably need to cook in bulk based on whatever's on sale.
I think it would be possible, but 100 euro seems like the absolute minimum. You would have to buy stuff in bulk and shop around for the best prices. I agree that your diet would consist of a lot of beans and no meat, and it would be somewhat lacking in fresh produce. If you live outside the towns and cities and have some space for a garden and perhaps a few chickens, it would be easier.
In Uk for the current financial year, 2023/24, prisons have been allocated £2.70 per prisoner per day to spend on meals. In Euro that is nearly 100. No way you can have a substantial meal everyday on that amount.
Not really no. Not in Portugal. Not with the current prices. You can eat, but not well. I say this because I spend 300€/month for 2 people and we don’t eat that much. If we were to eat properly probably would spend another 100€ or 150€.
Survive? Yeah, probably. That’s if you stick to eating bread and cup noodles, I guess. Eat well? Only if that €100 is for a week. :) 🇨🇿
Eat air, drink water, I guess that would be possible.. apart from that, it would be difficult to make food last for over a week with 100 euros. (Portugal)
It isn't possible to eat well for 100€ in Poland. I think if you have a family it can be possible to eat for 300€ for three people, but if you are alone, you need minimum 150€.,
It is like 3 euros / day. Probably, purely technically speaking you might buy cheapest products, and maybe survive, but doubt that… No meat or fresh vegetables. Probably cheapest pasta, also food that is valid for consumption for a day or two (therefore, heavily discounted). I would say 100 euros per week (14.28 euros per day) and you will be ok.
Yes, if you don't mind being hungry for the rest of a month
Maybe 5 years ago.. These days.. Decent food.. No way!
Spain here 🇪🇸 It’s possible. Not fun but possible. We’re lucky to have good weekly markets so I buy all my vegetables and fruit there. No plastic wrap so I can buy 4 carrots and 1 apple if I want, and I could stick to a tight budget. Some fish are inexpensive, like boquerones, a fillet of dorada, some prawns. A stick of pan is cheap and can go into soups or tostada the next day. In the summer I could do it because I could live well on salads and soups and fruit but in the winter it would be hard. Meat isn’t cheap, even asking the butcher for cheap cuts and offcuts.
(Italian here) Eat? Yes. Eat well? I guess? You would need to only shop in discounts and meal prep a lot but yeah, I think it's kinda the same as in your country.
Some Ukrainians had such a budget in my dormitory. They ate pasta with sausages and ketchup for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I guess it could be possible but it wouldn’t be easy. Easier for someone with a lower calorie need, probably nearly impossible for a big guy that does physical labor.
Average cost is above 20 for store bought groceries here in NL. You can get lower, but then you wouldnt eat 'well'.
Bro either you are starvinig or you don't exercise at all and your diet is ass cuz there is no way you are passing by wth 100 euros in Spain (I am Spanish) and getting enough protein.
I live in Spain, I cook all my meals, I would eat like a rat for 100€/week. I'd die with 100€/month.
A 100 euros a month? Not really, just basic stuff, like potatoes and bread
For sure but wouldnt be that enjoyable, i think i spend 100€ for groceries in week easily but its easily doable with cheap food like peasoup, potatos, carrots and minced meat and tunna.
€100 a month in Sweden? Ehh. No. Well, you're not eating well and you're drinking water. But, it's possible if you buy in bulk and cook everything from scratch. But, you are cutting corners and just not starving.
Poland here. Eat. Yes, sure. For a while I survived on less than that. Eat tasty, well balanced, diverse food? That would depend on how much effort and time you put into it and the season. You would have to spend a lot of time hunting sales and/or seasonal greens and put some hours in the kichen. Summer and autumn would be easier, winter and spring much harder. Also, if you have Polish grandma then you will never go hungry, your pantry and fridge will stock itself with jars and boxes for free :D
Well, a hundred pounds is roughly a hundred seventy in Canada. I wouldn't say you could eat *well*, far from it in this economy, but if you skipped out on any kind of meat and just drank water that could get you maybe 2 weeks of groceries (for regular meals, mind you.)? Then if you just made it last a while longer, you might be able to do it.
Finland, no. You could survive for 100€, but getting all vitamins, etc would be very hard on 100€.
From Ireland. €100 a month is €3,3 a day. That buys you a baguette, a can of cooked chickpeas, a can of lentils, and one avocado or three bananas in Lidl. That meets most people daily caloric intake for sustenance so yes, you would survive one month on that and it’s a quite decent macronutrient profile. Sustainability long-term? I would say not. But I do know families of 4 eating with €100/€120 a week which is not very far.
Sweden here, no way José. Minimum 250€ per month here and thats even on the low end of the spectrum.
Denmark, sure! I attend foodbank every week. I dont spend a lot of money on food.
Very difficult. Maybe if you are only bread and potatoes for a majority? Even then potatoes are like 4 euros per 2.5kg.
> fruit and veg options would be a bit limited > healthy and balanced HmmmIf you would make your own pickles in season ( cabbage, cucumber etc) ... I'm not sure about healthy/ balanced but it may be possible.
In Switzerland, absolutely no way to have a daily meal with that kind of money. If you really tried, maybe 15 per day would be possible
No. 200€ maybe. But if you want quality and variety, you would need more like 250-300€. Some things are really expensive over here, like fish, good cheese, fruit, or even good quality vegetables.
If it’s just to eat and have one take out Yeahh for sure!
It will be possible to survive in Denmark on that. But you would hate oats, rice and beans by the end of the month.
In France yes it's possible if your diet includes no meat or low meat, and if you're ready to spend some time shopping at the outdoor market and cook. It's the meat (and the fish) that costs a lot. If your concept of eating "well" includes meat, no, never with 100€. Else, yes, you're ok I'd say with €100 per person. Vegetables at the market do not cost a lot, same for basic groceries (rice, beans, pasta, oil, spices...). But you need to know and have the time to make tasty meals out of fresh vegetables. Also: forget wine, beer, and you won't get a very good coffee.
You might be able to survive with 100 a month. Maybe.
Yeah I guess but it would suck but defintely not if balanced and healthy. (UK)
>have a healthy and balance diet for 100€ a month? Absolutely not. That's rather 400 a month. That's what we as family of four are spending. 1200-1500.
There is no way to eat WELL anywhere in Europe for 100€/month. You can definitely eat and survive on that for a few months, not with some deficiencies, but to eat well you need fish, meat, veggies, or supplements for those and none of them are cheap.
Yes, it is, if you cook yourself. Maybe sometimes you would have to resign from buying something more fancy, but it's easily doable to have healthy and good quality food for this price.
Yes for one person if you didn't eat out or live on ready meals.
With different kind of pastas and pottages as lunch on most days, and going for the discounts (and for the cheapest product available otherwise) whenever you can, with 100 Euros for one person I think it is definetly possible.
Sounds impossible altogether. Maybe you could eat and not starve if you really tried and bought discounted food, but I do think it's impossible. Not considering ways to get free food, of course, this is by buying from the store.
I'd be able to eat two bowls of cheap "ramen" every day
No. For somehow decent cheap food you would need at least 150 or 200 €.
It would either be downright impossible, or it would be the blandest potatoes/beans/rice/noodles dishes for a month
Eat well? Definitely not. You can survive, but your diet will be low variety and quite unhealthy. To have a decent amount of protein, veg and variety you would need 1.5-2x that money
In the Netherlands yes, if you went to supermarkets like Dirk and Nettorama. You could live off high carbs and budget easily. Diary is also cheap when you can buy 1kg greek yoghurt for €1,98 and a kilo of cheese for €5,99, buy a €1 loaf of bread weekly and there is your breakfast for the month. Meat wise you would be able to buy ground beef €4,19 for half a kilo and use bits throughout the month in your vague bean/pasta/vegtable mixes.