Eating Cheap: Cooking vs. Street Food vs. Local Markets – Budget meal prep (Part 21)

How to eat like a local, avoid tourist traps, and slash your food budget without sacrificing flavor

When I first started traveling full-time three years ago, I made every rookie mistake in the book. I'd grab breakfast at hotel cafes, lunch at restaurants near major attractions, and dinner wherever looked "safe" and had an English menu. By the end of my first month in Southeast Asia, I'd blown through nearly $600 on food alone—in a region where experienced travelers eat royally on $150 a month.

That painful lesson taught me something crucial: the difference between a sustainable nomadic lifestyle and burning through your savings in six months often comes down to one thing—how you approach food.

Today, I'm going to share everything I've learned about eating well on the road without destroying your budget. Whether you're planning your first long-term trip or you're a seasoned nomad looking to optimize your spending, this guide will help you eat better for less.

The Real Cost of Food on the Road

Let's start with some honest numbers, because understanding the landscape is the first step to conquering it.

Food typically accounts for 20-40% of your monthly travel budget—making it your second-biggest expense after accommodation. But here's what most travel blogs don't tell you: that percentage is entirely within your control.

In expensive countries like Switzerland or Norway, budget eating still means spending $15-25 per day. In moderate destinations like Portugal or Mexico, you're looking at $8-15 per day. And in ultra-cheap locations like Vietnam, India, or Guatemala, you can eat incredibly well for $3-8 per day.

But here's the kicker: I've met travelers spending $30 a day on food in Vietnam while I was spending $5. Same city, same quality of life, six times the cost. The difference? They were eating like tourists. I was eating like a local.

Strategy #1: Cooking Your Own Meals

The Good News:

Cooking is typically your cheapest option—when you shop at local markets and prepare your own food, you can slash your food costs by 50-70% compared to eating out. During my time in Chiang Mai, I calculated that my home-cooked dinners cost an average of $1.80 per meal. In Lisbon, I kept it under €4. Even in expensive Oslo, cooking brought my dinner costs down to around $6—compared to $20+ for even basic restaurant meals.

The Reality Check:

But cooking comes with requirements. You need accommodation with kitchen access, which immediately narrows your options. Hostels with communal kitchens are great, but many guesthouses and budget hotels don't offer cooking facilities. You'll also need to invest in basics: cooking oil, salt, spices, and maybe a small knife if your accommodation doesn't provide adequate equipment.

There's also the time factor. After a long day of exploring or working, sometimes the last thing you want to do is cook and clean up. I've learned to be honest with myself about this.

When Cooking Makes Sense:

Cooking shines when you're staying somewhere for at least a week or two. It gives you complete control over nutrition, portions, and dietary restrictions—crucial if you have allergies or specific health goals. It's also perfect for breakfast. Coffee, oatmeal, eggs, and fruit are cheap everywhere and give you a solid foundation for the day.

My Approach:

I typically cook breakfast every day and about 40% of my dinners, especially when I'm in expensive countries or deep in a work project and want to minimize time and money spent on meals. The rest of the time, I'm out exploring local food scenes.

Pro Tips That Actually Work:

Buy staples that stretch across multiple meals: rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, eggs, and local vegetables. Shop at local supermarkets, not convenience stores (prices can be 30-50% higher at convenience stores).

Here's a game-changing hack: make friends with other nomads and organize communal cooking nights. You split the costs, split the work, and turn meal prep into a social event. Some of my best travel friendships started over shared cooking sessions in hostel kitchens in Medellín and Budapest.

Strategy #2: Street Food (My Personal Favorite)

This is where budget travel and cultural immersion create pure magic.

The Economics:

In countries like Thailand, Mexico, India, or Vietnam, you can get a full, delicious, satisfying meal for $1-3. The food is fresh, cooked right in front of you, and—this is crucial—this is what locals actually eat every day. You're not getting some watered-down "tourist version" of the cuisine.

Let me give you real examples. A street food lunch in Bangkok—pad krapow with rice and a fried egg—runs about 40 baht ($1.50). The same dish at a tourist restaurant? 250 baht ($8). Street tacos from a cart in Mexico City? 10 pesos (50 cents) each. The same taco at a sit-down restaurant near the Zócalo? 60 pesos ($3).

The math is simple. But the benefits go far beyond savings.

But Is Street Food Safe?

I know what you're thinking because everyone asks this. Here's the truth based on years of experience: street food can actually be safer than cheap restaurants.

The key is knowing what to look for. High turnover is your friend—if you see lots of locals eating at a stall, the food is fresh and constantly replenished. Watch them cook. If the oil looks clean, the cooking surface is hot, and they're handling food properly, you're usually in good shape.

Empty stalls in touristy areas are your red flag. So are places where food is sitting out, uncovered, for long periods.

My Street Food Rules:

1. Eat where locals eat. If you see a line of local workers or families, that's your green light.

2. Start with cooked-to-order items: grilled meats, stir-fries, soups, anything that's prepared fresh and hot in front of you.

3. Be cautious with raw vegetables at first. Give your stomach a few days to adjust to new countries before diving into salads or uncooked garnishes.

4. Avoid the empty stall next to the tourist attraction charging double the normal price. Prime real estate equals premium pricing, not premium food.

   
   

The Cultural Bonus:

Here's what no one tells you about street food: the vendors often become your first local friends. In Hanoi, I returned to the same bun cha lady every day for two weeks. By day three, she knew my order. By day seven, she was teaching me Vietnamese words. By day fourteen, she invited me to her daughter's birthday party.

Learn a few words in the local language ("delicious," "thank you," "how much"), become a regular, and watch what happens. Your portions get bigger. Your prices get better. You get invited into people's lives.

These experiences—sitting on a plastic stool at midnight eating som tam with a Thai family, learning to make empanadas from a street vendor in Buenos Aires, being taught the proper way to eat pho by a grandmother in Hoi An—these are the moments that make nomadic life rich.

Strategy #3: Local Markets (Your Secret Weapon)

If I could give new travelers just one piece of advice, it would be this: find your local market on day one.

Beyond Just Shopping:

Local markets are where you'll find the freshest produce, the best prices, and the most authentic slice of daily life. Morning markets in Asia, afternoon mercados in Latin America, weekly farmers' markets in Europe—these are absolute goldmines.

The price difference is staggering. Markets are typically 30-60% cheaper than supermarkets and 70-80% cheaper than tourist-oriented shops. That mango you'd pay $3 for at your hotel? It's 50 cents at the market. That beautiful cheese you saw in the fancy shop? Half price at the Saturday market.

What to Buy:

Fresh fruit is your best friend as a budget nomad. It's cheap, nutritious, portable, and requires zero cooking. Bananas in the Philippines cost 20 pesos ($0.35) per kilo. Mangoes in Thailand are 20-30 baht ($0.60-0.90). Avocados in Mexico City are 10 pesos ($0.50) each. I often spend $2 on fruit that lasts me three days.

Local bread, cheese, and prepared items create easy, cheap meals. Many markets have ready-to-eat sections where you can buy grilled chicken, rice dishes, or local specialties at market prices with restaurant convenience.

Market Etiquette:

Watch locals first to understand the system. Some markets expect bargaining; others have fixed prices. In general, be friendly but aware. If you're paying more than double what locals pay, you're in tourist trap territory.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Point at things. Use your phone translator. Market vendors are usually happy to help, especially if you're making an effort.

Pro Tip:

Shop later in the day, near closing time. Vendors want to sell out, and you can often negotiate better prices on items that won't keep overnight. I've scored amazing deals this way—bags of perfect tomatoes for a dollar, five avocados for the price of two.

The Community Aspect:

This is the real magic. Become a regular. After a few visits, vendors remember your face. They start giving you better prices, throwing in extra pieces of fruit, offering cooking tips, sharing insider knowledge about the neighborhood.

In Oaxaca, my market lady started saving me the best tomatoes. In Ubud, my fruit vendor gave me a whole pineapple for free when I mentioned I was feeling sick. In Tbilisi, my cheese seller invited me to her village for a traditional supra feast.

These connections don't happen at supermarkets.

Avoiding Tourist Traps: A Survival Guide

Even experienced travelers fall into these traps. Here's how to spot them and sidestep them entirely.

Red Flag #1: English Menus in Tourist Areas

If you're in the main square and every restaurant has a massive laminated English menu with full-color photos, your wallet is about to take a hit. These places charge 2-3x normal prices, and the food is usually mediocre at best.

The Solution: Walk three blocks in any direction away from the main tourist zone. Prices often drop by 50%. I'm not exaggerating. In Prague, I walked five minutes from Old Town Square and found traditional Czech food for a third of the price.

Red Flag #2: "Special Tourist Menu"

This phrase should trigger an immediate U-turn. It literally translates to "we're about to overcharge you for a watered-down version of our food."

Red Flag #3: Restaurant Touts

If someone is aggressively trying to pull you into a restaurant, especially near major attractions, keep walking. Quality restaurants don't need to harass passersby. Their food speaks for itself.

Red Flag #4: The Photo Menu Trap

Those beautiful laminated photos rarely match what arrives at your table. And they're almost always overpriced. Real local restaurants often have handwritten menus, sometimes no menu at all—just what's cooking that day.

How to Find Authentic Food:

Use Google Maps strategically. Don't just look at the rating—read the reviews carefully. Look for reviews in the local language. If locals are reviewing it in their own language, that's gold. Check the photos that customers post, not the restaurant's professional shots.

Ask local people. Your Airbnb host, someone at your coworking space, the shopkeeper, your taxi driver—ask them where they eat. This single recommendation is worth more than a hundred online reviews. I've found my best meals this way.

Follow the workers. During lunch hours, watch where people in uniforms or business clothes are eating. Office workers know where to get good, cheap food. Follow them.

Use social media. Local Facebook groups and Instagram location tags can reveal hidden gems. Search hashtags in the local language.

Trust your instincts. If a place feels too touristy, it probably is. If it feels authentic and slightly intimidating, you're probably in the right spot.

My Balanced Approach: The Strategy That Works

After three years of full-time travel across four continents, here's the system I've settled into:

Breakfast: Cook it myself.Every single day. It's quick, cheap, and gives me energy for whatever the day brings. Coffee, eggs, bread or oatmeal, fruit. Total cost: $1-2. Total time: 15 minutes. This one habit alone saves me $150-200 per month.

Lunch: Street food or local markets.This is my exploration time. I'll grab something from a street stall, a local market, or a neighborhood eatery. Budget:$2-5 depending on the country. This is both a meal and a cultural experience.

Dinner: Mix it up.I cook 2-3 times per week when I want to save money or eat particularly healthy. The other nights, I'm eating street food or at local restaurants—nothing fancy, just where locals eat. This gives me variety without breaking the budget.

Snacks and fruit: Always from markets.I keep fresh fruit in my accommodation at all times. Bananas, apples, oranges, whatever's cheap and in season. This prevents expensive convenience store runs and keeps my energy steady throughout the day.

The Weekly Splurge:

Here's my rule: once a week, maybe twice if I'm somewhere special, I eat at a nicer local restaurant. Not a tourist restaurant—a place locals go for special occasions. This keeps me motivated, adds variety, and still costs less than what I'd spend on a mediocre meal back home.

Real Numbers from My Travels

Let me get specific with some monthly food budgets from different regions:

Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia):

• Cooking breakfast daily: $30

• Street food lunches: $60

• Mix of cooked dinners and local restaurants: $60

• Fruit and snacks from markets: $25

  
  

• Monthly total: $175

  
  

Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Poland):

• Cooking breakfast daily: $45

• Mix of cooking and cheap local lunch: $90

• Dinners (cooking + local restaurants): $120

• Markets and supermarkets: $45

  
  

• Monthly total: $300

  
  

Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala):

• Cooking breakfast daily: $35

• Street food and local market lunches: $75

• Mixed dinners: $80

• Fresh fruit and snacks: $30

  
  

• Monthly total: $220

  
  

Compare these to what tourists typically spend in the same destinations: $600-900 per month. The difference isn't suffering or sacrifice. It's strategy.

The Bottom Line

Here's what I want you to take away from this: eating cheaply doesn't mean eating poorly. Some of my most memorable meals on the road have cost less than $2. Some of my most disappointing meals cost $30.

The secret isn't complicated: eat like a local, not a tourist. Shop at markets, embrace street food, cook strategically, and avoid obvious tourist traps.

Your wallet will thank you. Your health won't suffer—in fact, you'll probably eat better than you do at home. And your travel experiences will be infinitely richer because you'll be engaging with local food culture rather than watching it through a restaurant window designed for tourists.

The goal of budget nomadism isn't deprivation. It's optimization. It's about making smart choices that let you travel longer, experience more, and live better on less money.

Every dollar you save on overpriced tourist meals is another week you can spend in Bali, another month exploring South America, another year living this incredible lifestyle.

Now get out there, find your local market, dodge those tourist traps, and eat like you belong.

What are your best budget eating strategies?

Drop a comment below—I'd love to hear what's worked for you in different parts of the world.