On a Shoestring: Two Days on 30元 (roughly $4.39 USD)0

Inspired by a recent post from the Dining Secretary, I, too, decided to embark on the challenge of eating for 30元 in 48 hours.  The only rules that I will give myself are that I cannot buy prepackaged food (i.e. instant noodles or candy), and I have to eat three meals a day.  Because of Shanghai’s street eats, I’ll probably and hopefully be able to stretch my kuai pretty far…

Day 1

7:30 – Breakfast

Jiānbǐng (ah, what else would I eat?!).  As delicious as these bǐng are, I also find them ridiculously filling, so they should keep my hunger pangs at bay until lunch.

• Total bill: 2.5元
• Total remaining: 27.5元

12:30 – Lunch

I grab a hearty bowl of soup at one of my favorite stalls on the corner of Xinfeng Lu and Xikang Lu in the Jing’an district.  Usually I grab their grilled pork belly noodle soup, but today I opted for a Shanghai classic – the soy-braised beef variety.  Like the jiānbǐng I enjoyed for breakfast, this gargantuan bowl of noodles will most likely keep me full for the rest of the day.

• Total bill: 7元
• Totally remaining: 20.5元

19:30 – Dinner

On my way back home from my metro stop on Zhenping Lu, I stopped by an Uyghur kabob stand, which was grilling some pretty mean looking lamb and green beans.  Ordering two lamb and two green bean kabobs, I finished my walk home while munching on my small dinner (I was still pretty full from lunch).

• Total bill: 6.5元
• Total remaining: 14元

Day 2

8:00 – Breakfast

Not wanting to splurge on another jiānbǐng, I opted for the smaller – and even cheaper – bāozi.  Stuffed with juicy pork, the bun is both satisfying and delicious.  And since I just grabbed mine at my wet market’s local steamer, I only paid 0.8元, instead of the usual 1元 or more.  Normally I’d get two, but I’m trying to make my coins last.

• Total bill: 0.8元
• Total remaining: 13.2元

12:00 – Lunch

I’m starving.  That bāozi hadn’t really sustained me for as long as I had hoped, but I somehow made it to lunch without dipping into the penny jar (so to speak).  So hungry, I literally went to the first stand I saw, and ordered a big bowl of street noodles.  The noodles I ordered were long and thick, resembling Italian bucatini.  They were stir-fried with a healthy portion of pork, soy sauce, sugar, MSG, sprouts, cabbage, spinach, and scrambled egg.  They were delicious, but at that point, I probably wouldn’t have cared either way, I was so hungry.  With my stomach now brimming with noodles, I was set for a while.

• Total bill: 4元
• Total remaining: 9.2元

20:30 – Dinner

With only 9.2元 left in the bank, I was determined to make the most of it, while not going into the red.  Thinking I wanted something a bit homemade, I went over to my local wet market near Wuning Lu, and bought the makings for a wonton soup.  I bought 4 pork and spinach wontons, some bok choy, ginger, garlic, and a few mushrooms.  I spent just under 6元 for all those ingredients, whipped up a tasty soup in my apartment, and spent my last 3元 on a Tsing Tao tall boy, with which to wash it all down.

• Total bill: 9元
• Total remaining: 0.2元 (and that goes back into my kuai jar)

So I’ll admit I did get pretty hungry before lunch on Day 2, and the food I ate wasn’t the most diverse (or very balanced), everything was tasty.  Now I know that not only can I survive on 30元 in 48 hours, but I can also eat pretty well.