You don't have to eat badly to eat cheaply
Food is where budget travelers quietly overspend — three restaurant meals a day feel small but add up fast. The travelers who spend least eat mostly like the locals who spend least.
The food hierarchy
- Local markets first. Fruit, bread, eggs, and snacks at a fraction of any café price.
- Street food and stalls. In much of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, the best cheap meal is a streetside one — and often the best meal, full stop.
- The lunch special. Many countries run a fixed-price midday menu (menu del día, thali, set lunch) at half the dinner price.
- Cook one meal a day. Hostel kitchens turn breakfast or dinner from $8 into $2.
A few rules that hold everywhere
- Eat where the workers eat, not where the tourists queue.
- The cheapest protein is usually eggs, then beans, then whatever's local and seasonal.
- Carry a reusable bottle and refill; drinks are a hidden tax on a thin budget.
See what food realistically costs where you're going on any country page — the backpacker food mix is built into every daily burn.