Cheap Food Experiment

The global financial crisis finally reach our home (and yes, by 'home' I mean my home, not 'our country'). Though we are not involved in any of the 'Ponzi Scheme' or does not have any CDS's portfolio, the declining value of our paper portfolio nonetheless will require us (me and my wife) to re-think our investment strategy and of course.....cut costs.

But what costs? We do not have that high cost for lifestyles. We do not buy expensive clothes nor do I like to hang around with expensive gadgets all around my waist in all my pockets. Hmmm....what cost to cut?....It is impossible to cut on education....or the assistants' salaries....or the mortgage payments....And after doing some simple calculations, the most feasible cost to cut is....food.

Food...the very basic of human needs is surprisingly takes considerable portion of our earning and the food that we are consuming can not be considered as 'basic'. We spend lavishly on food because we believe food or to eat deliciously is the ultimate satisfaction on earth (lets leave the sex aside for a moment). Can we cut on food? We never do that, never think about it and that what makes the experiment on 'cheap food' is interesting.

We start on setting the budget. Each of us agree not to spend more than Rp7K for each meal whether day or night on work days. What happen to me is that I order my lunch from 'mamak' food stall nearby office with slight variations in day to day menu. My list of menu are consist of but not limited to 'ikan pindang', 'bakwan jagung', 'oseng-oseng kacang or kangkung', 'peyek' and of course 'sambal'. At any good day I can get good combination of menu for as low as Rp4.5K......hahaha......crazy cheap isn't it?.......this is fun.......and my wife eat 'pecel' at every lunch.....

At night we still go and eat at the mall or local food hall but must find something that is the cheapest. We found package value meal of Rp10k including drinks and vat in the biggest most expensive mall in the city. So, we order one and then we share. So, there are still cheap foods after all in thsi world.

We have been doing this 'experiment' for a few weeks. The result amazingly is we do not feel lesser human by having lesser luxury menu. We do not feel less satisfied. We do not feel sick for consuming cheap food, in fact, we feel healthier due to consuming more veggies. And the most important is......we have the budget to buy more sushis and steaks on the weekend :D

....eat to live......not live to eat....less money does not necessarily mean less quality.....