Hi everyone. I wanted to test whether it is realistic to live for a whole month on $100 in Uruguay. To be clear, I mean $100 for food only. I spent one week on a budget of about $25. If one week works, then in theory a month of food can fit into $100. The challenge was to keep the meals balanced, avoid unnecessary spending, and still eat varied, enjoyable food.
Why I started on Saturday: the Piriápolis market runs once a week
I started on Saturday, August 2. In Piriápolis, market day is Saturday. As you may know from my earlier videos, groceries there are generally cheaper than in supermarkets, so it makes sense to buy most of the week's food on that day.
A market that opens only one day a week may sound unusual, but that is common here, and every town has its own day. In Piriápolis it is Saturday; in Maldonado it is Sunday. You get one market day each week in your town.
Prices at the Piriápolis market
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Potatoes | $1.50 / kg |
| Tomatoes | $1.10 / kg |
| Onions | $2 / kg |
| Parsley | $0.75 / bunch |
| Cheese | $8.72 / kg |
| Oats | $1 / 0.5 kg |
| Raisins | $0.75 / 100 g |
| Eggs | $2 / 12 |
Meat from Deposita and discounts at Eldorado
On the way home I stopped at Deposita for meat. In my experience, it has some of the better meat prices around here.
| Meat at Deposita | Price |
|---|---|
| Chicken leg quarter | $2.75 / kg |
| Beef liver | $3.64 / kg |
| Chicken wings | $2.25 / kg |
Next was Eldorado. Some supermarkets compete with the market by running large discounts from Saturday to Sunday, and occasionally an item is cheaper there than at the market. I check the supermarket before or after market shopping, compare the shelf prices, and decide where to buy each item. That time I checked Eldorado first, so there were several things I no longer needed to buy at the market.
| Eldorado that weekend | Price |
|---|---|
| Oranges | $0.72 / kg — I bought almost 3 kg |
| Pasta | $1.37 / 800 g |
| Milk | $2 / 2 cartons |
| Carrots | $0.20 / 2 |
| Flour | On sale — store-bought bread did not fit this month's challenge |
What I bought and how much the shopping cost
At the market I bought 1.1 kg of potatoes, 1.2 kg of tomatoes, 250 g of onions, a bunch of parsley, 290 g of cheese, 12 eggs, half a kilo of oats and 100 g of raisins. The total there was $10.
At Deposita, $5.93 bought half a kilo of chicken wings, beef liver and 1 kg of chicken leg quarters. At Eldorado, I spent $6.63 on oranges, flour, pasta, milk and carrots.
| Place | Total |
|---|---|
| Market | $10.00 |
| Deposita | $5.93 |
| Eldorado | $6.63 |
| Initial shopping total | $22.58 |
This was the food I planned to use during the first week.
What I ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner
Saturday. Breakfast was 70 g of oats, some raisins, two boiled eggs, 30 g of cheese and freshly squeezed juice from two oranges. Lunch was soup with a chicken leg, potatoes, carrots, onions and pasta. I baked bread at home using about 70% white flour from Eldorado plus 100 g of whole-wheat flour that was already at home; it costs about the same as white flour, and I added those 100 g to the final total. Dinner was pasta, fried chicken and some tomato. I had half a bottle of sunflower oil before the experiment and would not use even half of that during the week, so I counted 50 g in the expenses.
Sunday. Breakfast was fried eggs with tomato and parsley. Lunch was the soup from Saturday. Dinner was vareniki with fried onions.
Monday. Breakfast was fried eggs with tomato and parsley again, plus homemade kefir. The two cartons of milk were for that: we already had kefir grains at home, given to us by friends a long time ago. Lunch was pasta with liver patties. Dinner was fried potatoes.
Tuesday. Breakfast was the same as Saturday: oats with raisins, boiled eggs, cheese and orange juice. Lunch was pasta with liver patties and tomato. For dinner I finished the vareniki left from Sunday.
Wednesday. Breakfast was fried eggs with tomato, parsley and cheese, plus two slices of bread. Lunch and dinner became one meal: three grilled chicken wings and some boiled potatoes.
Thursday. Breakfast was oats with raisins and cheese, this time without eggs. For lunch I bought 500 g of rice for another $0.75 and made pilaf with a pinch of turmeric that was already at home. It was only a small amount, which is why the rice was just slightly yellow. Dinner was the last chicken wing and pasta.
Friday, the final day. Breakfast was 70 g of oats, raisins, 30 g of cheese and orange juice. Lunch was rice with chicken. Dinner was two sandwiches with processed cheese, two boiled eggs and kefir.
The week's result: $23.38 and food left over
The full week cost $23.38, including the rice, oil and 100 g of whole-wheat flour. I still had an unopened 400 g pack of pasta and half of the 500 g bag of rice left.
The experiment worked. In my case, eating on a $100 monthly food budget in Uruguay was possible by shopping at the market, checking weekend discounts and cooking at home. This was one week for one person in Piriápolis. It is not a family estimate or a promise that your result will be the same.
For a broader monthly budget—not just food—use the cost-of-living calculator: /en/kalkulyatory/prozhivanie/.