Can I get by on around RM5.00 a day on food?
Well, these days, people are complaining about the escalating prices. From my personal point of view, I would think that grumbling does not help one bit. It will only leave you feeling miserable and frustrated…and no matter how you moan and groan, the prices are not going to come down, not at all. What’s worse, people may get sick and tired of your endless rantings and find you boring and depressing even, and will start avoiding you like a plague. I guess we’ll just have to learn to live with it and try to scrimp and save in any way we can…which explains my question at the beginning of this post.
First and foremost, our usual kampua noodles for breakfast will have to go – that’s around RM2.20 or more a plate and will use up half of the money allocated for food in a day. An alternative, perhaps, could be this packet of nasi lemak (RM1.50)…
* Recycled pic
…or better still, these cucur udang (prawn fritters) – RM1.00 for a packet of 4.
Normally, people in western countries would just have a light lunch – a sandwich perhaps or a muffin…but people here would just feast like there’s no tomorrow at any time of day. This RM1.00 mihun goreng (fried mihun) should be substantial enough to keep us going for the rest of the day…
…and for dinner, perhaps we can go for a plate of chap fan (mixed rice)…
…at RM3.00 for one meat and two veg. Prices may vary slightly from place to place…but my plate of three meat and one veg came up to RM4.00. Gosh! Obviously I would need to exercise better discipline and control if I were to keep to the RM5.00 a day limit, RM150.00 a month. But give or take a little, that amount should be enough…and we do not really have to starve ourselves in order that we may survive in these so-called difficult times.
Don’t be alarmed though for this is some sort of a worst case scenario and I’m not saying in any way that I need to go to such an extent in trying to make ends meet, thank God for small mercies. What I make is enough to let me get through the days comfortably and maybe, even indulge and pamper myself a bit once in a while – that’s why you do not hear me complain…or not much, at least. LOL!!!
Comments on: "Poor boy…" (41)
Yeah, that’s the spirit! The best thing is just to try and make the best of things. Of course, I’ve seen people in the longhouses eating their own homegrown rice with salt or old Chinese people who scrimped and saved and ate just plain porridge with maybe a fried egg…or a piece of fermented tofu…and I do not expect anybody to go and live that kind of frugal life, not at the moment, at least…
ps: Cuz the food outside is no longer worth paying for (some not nice oso leh)… I prefer to cook for my family. Abit suffer lorr… cook everyday… but what else can do ah? If everyday eat outside… can really be costly.
One time makan for 3… even if we go for economy rice, oredi more than Rm10. 
A Rm10 value is much more worth if cook at home myself.
Sobs… very cham… will be cooking to my grave liao!
Cooking your own is definitely cheaper, nicer and healthier…but you still need to ration and work out decent portions, enough for everybody and not cook a whole lot, enough for an army, and overeat…or in the end, throw away all the leftovers (after being stuffed in the fridge for ages). Plus you will need to avoid the expensive stuff – prawns, the more expensive fish…and go for the cheaper items. Should be able to get by quite comfortably.
I dun really cook for an army to eat. I cook enuff for just one meal. Prefer it that way, so that the food will be fresh and I dun really have to eat leftovers. But as of late… i have come to learn to cook alot at one go…no prize guessing whose fault is that! LOL.
Not my fault, I’m sure. But you can cook a lot – divide enough for one or two servings for a meal or two…and the rest you keep in tupperware and freeze…and can take out to thaw and heat and eat…very convenient when busy and no time to cook or go out to buy.
Yea… can do that… but… the taste won’t be so nice. That’s why I dun do that. Plus… sked Salmonella. LOL!
No lah. My missus does it all the time. In the freezer, not in the fridge… Curry, stews, roasts – all can keep. Once cooked, divide into portions and freeze. Take out what you want to heat up and eat one at a time – not in out, in out all the time. If in the fridge, cannot keep for too long – will spoil.
Everything start increasing. Just don’t buy or eat lor.
How to live like that? Must buy and eat sensibly… Like you go and eat at a high class joint…or even fast food joints like McDs or KFC – the money spent could feed a whole family for a week or even longer. It’s interesting how some people complain and complain about the rising prices and they still bring their family to such places instead of trying to cut down on their day-to-day expenses.
Over here Coles recently start a very good campaign under MasterChef, cooking a meal for $10 a day probably designed more for a small family but very successful here. They give out free recipe leaflets and everyweek u have different ones to use n the ingredients can all be found in the supermarket itself. The hunky Curtis Stone is the one creating the recipe, so who won’t be cooking n following the programme! hahaha!
Hmmmm…that’s an idea. I can compile my cheap and simple-to-cook recipes into a book and sell. Wait…wait till I feel the pinch and the urge to get moving! LOL!!!
haha, i like how u phrase it.
‘but people here would just feast like there’s no tomorrow at any time of day’.
buy a loaf of bread and u can do a lot of things with it. sandwiches are awesome too
Ya…if you look at Sibu, so many new shophouses coming up, and so many coffee shops…and all filled to the brim. Hare to believe there’s an economic slowdown. Even the expensive places like Secret Recipe, also crowded. Gee! Either they’re very rich or I must be really very poor…as I can’t afford to eat at such places all the time.
i think i can survive with RM5.. just for one meal lah.. haha =)
Count your blessings! Be grateful that you do not have to survive on ONE meal a day…
no point to complain… nothing will change.
i like the prawn fritters, the prawn look big for me. if puut some chili saurce on it, one word to describe “yummy”!
Thought you’re one of those who are always complaining? Ya…the chilli sauce is provided free – you can see that in the background. Nice homemade chilli sauce!
Breakfast already RM5 or more at times.. where got remainder for lunch and dinner??? ok if really want to budget, 5rm.. i will take quaker oats morning, lunch a plate of 3rm (rice and meat) and evening take a bun.. sigh.. that is life? but for some others, it is a luxury already, right? so.. let’s be contented with just 5rm ..
Yes, indeed…it is a luxury for many, more than you can imagine. We should appreciate the fact that we can actually afford more…and be thankful that we are blessed in more ways than one.
If you added drinks, it sure will burst your RM5 budget in no time.
Someone talked about eggs. 5 eggs in UK will cost your about RM 7+.
Bring our own water, no need to order a drink. At least here, they do not charge for sitting in the coffee shop like one that I saw in Penang – have to pay 40sen…if not ordering drinks! When overseas, I would often buy something cheap (which isn’t THAT cheap, by our standards) like a sandwich and sit by the roadside and eat. Of course, they have nice cool weather there.
$5 a day, maybe is do-able in Sibu, but certainly not in Kuching. Not unless you skip a meal. Eat nasi lemak for breakfast (supplied by my colleague) – RM1.50, meehoon goreng for lunch (RM3.50) and drink water for dinner. Then when you “clock out” of this world early due to all these unhealthy food, you can put on your headstone, “She ate poorly, but died richly”. Hehehe.
LOL!!! That certainly is a fitting epitaph for people in the old days. How they scrimped and saved…and they were rich (though they did not look it at all)! Able to pay for their children to study overseas – unlike many parents today. Heard one ranting and cursing and swearing that the anak could not get a scholarship…so no need to study anymore as he had no money. Gee! Time certainly has changed. Don’t parents save for their children’s education anymore?
This is not the first time you ask “don’t parents save for their children’s education anymore?” . Maybe the more appropriate question would be “don’t parents save enough for their children’s education anymore?”. Like it or not, an overseas tertiary education will set parents back at least RM450k PER child. 2 kids = RM900k. If a middle income family earns gross income of RM12k per month, and factor in today’s standard of living it’s not hard to figure out how difficult it is to put aside RM900k in 18 years – 22 years, considering the two kids are 4 years apart. I don’t think it’s a fair question to ask if parents save for their children’s education. Just my opinion.
Yes, I have posed this question before in response to something you posted on Facebook…and somebody said, “Don’t ask me to pay (for the child’s education)…I don’t have the money!” And I assure you he’s not the only one. I have heard this all too many times…and in what way, is it not fair to ask the question – as it is? The way they put it, it certainly appears that they have not saved anything at all. Parents have children and it is their responsibility to provide for their basic needs – education being one of them…until they are able to stand on their own two feet.
In the past, they bought houses and land…and they sold them to get the money to support their children’s education overseas. I know one colleague who sold two of his houses for his sons to study in the UK…and he was selling shallots, garlic and all that for that bit of extra income…and it certainly seemed that he had only one or two set of clothes that he used to go to work. And their children worked. I had another colleague once who proudly declared that he did not have to send a cent to his daughter studying in Australia…and in fact, she made so much from her part time job that she could even send money home.
These days, there are education insurance policies, bank loans, scholarships…and if they cannot afford an overseas education, there are opportunities locally and twinning programmes available too. But parents cannot expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter or to drop down from the sky. They need to be prepared…and when the need arises, they will just have to be ready. Isn’t that their responsibility?
P.S. : Middle income family RM12K a month? I think the top-scale principal in the school makes about that amount (half of it, that is)…or an associate professor in the university. I wouldn’t think these people qualify as just the middle-income group. Well, they can always get a loan to buy a house – RM150K in the 80s would be worth RM400K today…plus their savings, maybe their side income and what not, it is NOT impossible. Of course, it is not going to be easy and it will need a whole lot of sacrifices, that’s for sure…Omigawd! This reply is going to be longer than the post. I think I’ll just stop here!
So we have a whole bunch of irresponsible parents who somehow cannot get it together to send their kids for further education…i think that about sums up what you’re saying.
More or less…unless they’re not telling the truth – actually have a fortune stacked up somewhere (and maybe not willing to spend on their kids’ education). But imagine the poor kid who had studied so very hard to get good results but failed to secure a scholarship hearing the parent ranting like that – kinda demoralising, don’t you think?
I had a student in my tuition class who did not get very good results and when she called the mum to tell her, the mum said, “You are so useless!” She called me, crying and said that if her school had been a tall building, she would have been dead…and I had to console and encourage her. She got JPA eventually and went to Japan…going to sit for her final exam and finishing soon. These are just two of the many cases – really makes me wonder what kind of parents we have these days…
You know that day, i went for a kopi “O” at a shop , run down the tauke charged me one for .80 cents, i complained to him and he said sugar increased .25 cent per kilo……… i say never mind i told him next time i would not patronize him, for the next stall only selling .70 cents.
we can really pull a gun and telling those guys not to increase,but we have our right not to patronize them………..
take care now
Yup…best to boycott them! If there is demand, sure they will go on doing that. When no customers, see what they can do. Drink all the coffee themselves. Like how I’m not buying mooncakes anymore…not since last year. Worth their weight in gold! They can jolly well eat all of them themselves! Will be touching on this in my next post.
the chap fan in my office area here are quite expensive. The other day, hubby and I took our normal portion of 1 meat and 2 veg each and that aunty charged us RM10 !!!! We rarely eat at her place unless the other shops did not open.
RM10!!!! *pengsan* And there are still people eating at the stall. Wah! KL people are THAT rich kah!!! I would starve to death for sure… LOL!!!
It is in Seremban la (not KL). That stall also sell ‘tai chow’ fried noodles, fried rice, served rice + dishes besides than her economy rice. Very expensive hor. We seldom eat there unless no other choice.
Seremban, so expensive? KL should be worse then? It’s a wonder people go there to eat – like this place in Sibu – noodles with 3 or 4 giant freshwater prawns, RM20 a bowl!!! I would keep in the mouth till no more taste, then swallow… Like eating gold!
Life is short – I dont want to be that thrifty..eat while you can..lol.
Me too! Just eat…but within my means and enjoy the best I can!
Sugar increased by 25 sen/kg. You have to be using 400gm of sugar per cup to increase cost by 10 sen.
So do you use 400gm of sugar per cup? If not, go tell that coffee shop tauke to go to *&%#$
Business mah! All are experts at sharpening their knives! Any reason they can get to increase the prices and squeeze the poor customers dry!
If you eat too much, life can be shorter still.
Well, better than having to come back as a Hungry Ghost! LOL!!! But if we eat within our means and do not indulge, it is in fact a lot healthy than otherwise.
I have been cooking my own all this while. When I see the price they charge and the quality I get, I lose my appetite. Prices in Miri is extra high!
All the “orang minyak” in Miri super kaya bah! It is indeed much better to cook your own lunch (if you do not go home to eat)…or cook more for dinner and bring the extra to the office the next day for lunch…or fry last night’s leftover rice. Many offices are equipped with a pantry and a microwave oven these days…
Yea prices are really escalating… I hope the price of nasi lemak won’t go up so much as I love them! Can still get them for RM1 right now, hopefully it’ll still be true for many years to come!
RM1.00? Not at places like 7-11…and definitely not in the shops! The last time I bought, RM1.80, I think…and it was not even nice!
nasi lemak rm1-50 is quite expensive leh. Here can get for RM1.
Where? Roadside stall? Here, there are RM1.00 packets at the stalls at the market…but they’re not nice. This one is really very good! Better than what I have had at many places. It was really very cheap in Sg Petani though…the last time I was there, and very nice too.
Nasi lemak at my area at Rm1? Dream on. they’re at least Rm1.20. But then again, i dun mind paying abit more, cuz the portion is big.
Ya…the RM1 packets here, not nice…and very little. Want to eat 2 packets also, no point – not really enjoy. This one RM1.50…1 packet enough and very nice. Pedas!!! I love it!
outside my house. Not bad la. the best will still be homecooked nasi lemak. kekeke…maybe one dy should do potluck for nasi lemak pulak
I’ve never tried cooking nasi lemak – maybe because it’s so easily available and cheap, no need to go through the hassle. Maybe should try one day…
RM5 a day on food? Cannot in KL. The other day i just pack char siew rice, cost me RM5. The food court in my office building, food lousy and with expensive price! Not like in Sibu, morning can get kampua as breakfast and cost RM2+ so cheap!!
Sometime if got left over food at home, i will bring to work, or cook something simple. That can save my lunch $$.
Ya…that’s what everyone should do. Bring from home…and when no business, see whether they dare to jack up the prices or not. In fact, many in western countries do that – bring food from home, but usually, it is just a sandwich or an apple. Starvation diet! LOL!!!
My dad hates outside food so much… that my mum had to pack food for him to bring to office for lunch and tea. =.= I always tease my dad…say he macam budak sekolah, bring bekal to office. Hahahahah… (When i was in school, my mum will pack homecook food for me to eat)
Itu baru namanya cinta! How to compare darling prepare special one – the special ingredient – love! Nothing can beat that.
I’m telling you… my dad will starve to death, literally, if my mum is not around!
I think my dad is exactly like that… Maybe even worse and very picky about food so my mum had a hard time marketing and cooking. Every day the same things…
I think for a budget of RM5 a day on food… Hmmm…. possible… only if we cook.. Otherwise, pack one or two dishes with lots of gravy from the chap fan stall, the rice we cook at home… enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner already.. but sounds pathetic though..
Not really… Like what I get from the Malay roadside food stall. Cook our own rice and eat with what’s nice from there. Cheap some more – RM10 or less per day…but sometimes, greedy – may go for the more expensive stuff! LOL!!!
But the chap fan in the photo – this place very sombong. They would not sell to you unless you buy WITH the rice. They said otherwise, no one will eat their rice. Tsk! Tsk! They can always cook less rice…and more of the dishes. Dunno how their mind works – maybe they can make a lot more profit out of the rice.
my mixed rice also cost more than rm 5…i mean in KL ler….one packet nasi lemak also rm 2….damn kao exp liow.
love the cucur udang…that one can buy many at rm 5…hehehe
RM5…20 pieces. Makan puas2!!! I think the ones at this stall – very nice. Some, they say cucur udang but no udang…and when you ask, they say campur inside…and when you eat, no udang taste also, all tepung!… Not worth the calories!
I noticed that westerners (aka angmohs) eat a lot less food than us, but their bodies are big! Usually my ex-colleagues will be eating just sandwiches for lunch and snacking on fruits, while I’ll be whacking all those asian fares – rice, noodles, etc, but they’re still bigger than me. And I’m not exactly small. Hahaha!
Ya…I think they call themselves pear-shaped. Very heavy-bottomed…and though not really fat, the arms, hips and thighs – really huge! And yet so careful about what they eat… Doesn’t look like it’s gonna help much. Oops!!! Hahahahaha!!!
Feel abit guilty now. I used to be very good… like my mum… used to pack homecook food for my hubby when he goes out to work back then. Usually rice+chicken and some veggies or some noodles/sandwiches. Now not anymore… cuz I got so very tired.
Hmm… wonder if he still wants it if I start doing it again? Good idea oso leh, Cikgu, rite? He bawak bekal from home… sure can show he got wife at home and show that he’s spoken for. HMMMM~ That’s a thought!
…and then he gives it to the sweet young thing in the office to eat and says, “My old lady at home cook one!!! Not so nice, you eat lah!” Hahahahahahaha!!!!
Cilaka Cikgu, u dun curse me lah! I’m anything but old. Ish ish ish~ I’m younger than him leh! LOL…If I make for him, he gv ppl liddat, I will bite him. No joke… biar got bekas all over the body! Padan muka~
Hahahahaha…you animal! You harimau…dia hari-hari mau how? ROTFLMAO!!!
The chap fan at my favorite place costs RM 13 now for my usual order since I’m not a regular anymore. I have to drive and pay RM 1 toll to get there to boot. I love their pork though. Delicious!
I only have it some weekends.
I don’t eat breakfast so my allocation goes to lunch, which is about RM 8-10 usually, it’s the standard price at my office area. Can’t get anything below that if you want to sit down and eat.
Plus dinner, nope…you can’t stick to the RM5 limit, I’m afraid. Definitely not on KL. LOL!!!
wow i only noticed this after finishing my post haha. I felt like the poor boy here, but still wan to spend on food hunting! Money wont stop me from getting fat and full xD
Full perhaps…but you? Fat? Gee! That will be the day. Hahahahaha!!! Never mind, it’s just two years…and half is already gone. Then you will be back in Penang… Yum! Yum! Food paradise!!! You’re not coming back end of the year? The allowance for the trimester would be more than enough for the air fares…but I guess you would to go touring. NZ perhaps?
I know why you always have (more than) enough to eat and maintain your shape
You’re generous when it comes to food (always belanja people, don’t calculate much with people you eat with) and I believe that what goes around comes around and well, there you go…you’re surrounded by generous people as well everywhere you go 
No lah…nice food, nice company and when people think well of you, with all the positive vibes, your life can’t possibly be any better!!! After all, it’s only money… Can’t take with me when I go.
You know… If you go on this diet plan, you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone!
You can save money AND lose weight!
woooo!!!
LOL!!! I AM losing weight… My belly isn’t that protruding anymore…though still fat!
My pants keep falling off…. @.@ Hahahahahaha!!!!
urgh! am so late. been so busy. T.T now in the midnight, saw the cucur udang and craving for it now! T.T how come the prawn seems so big one? unlike here one?
Why? So busy? I thought you’ve gone back to continue your studies? So many assignments kah? Never tried cucur udang in KK or anywhere in Sabah so dunno what yours are like. I thought Sabah seafood haven – sure all the udang big big ones?
eh still can get at rm3 that cheap?!
Sibu lah… Not KK. KK all rich people, things so expensive…but VERY nice. If only I could get to hop over one of these days to eat…eat…and eat.
oh same here.. we also have the same problem here… prices are getting higher and higher from time to time… but still lucky that my mom knows how to budget her money…
that nasi lemak look so great….
oh my,,… its been awhile since in restrict my self for eating rice.. hahaha
i am on a strict diet now… hehe
but sometimes i just cant refuse to eat rice hahaha
Why are you on a diet? You are so slim… If for health reasons, that’s another story…but surely you do not think you’re fat? Wait till you see me – that’s fat! LOL!!!
stp, your photography skill is getting better than the last time
mouth watering of course!
kinda miss your blog.
btw, i’m not sure about other places since i did not travel as much as you but in Germany they ate twice than us. they ate steak or spaghetti not to shock they even could eat the whole pizza which we usually share with family members or friends by eating 2or 3 pieces only
Humph! Hardly ever see you around anymore…so sombong liao!
I suppose it depends on each individual – some people eat a lot more than others *blush! blush! LOL!!! 