Eating the way we are used to (cooking for ourselves) is expensive here. Well, expensive by Belarusian standards. Obviously, comparing our grocery prices to American ones is the same as comparing salaries. For someone living here by local standards, it is very cheap. We are used to stuffing ourselves in a canteen for 5 rubles ($2.5).

Americans themselves do not just eat fast food (oh, those stereotypes), but eat simple dishes like potatoes with chicken or pasta with ground meat.

The cost also depends on the state, as tax is added to the final price, unlike back home where it is already included. But not all products are expensive; on the contrary, there are some that are cheaper than ours.

Here is an example of local prices for the most popular products:

Milk – $1.99 for 1.5 L

Apple – $1.5 for 450 g

Eggs – $3 for a dozen

Yogurt – minimum $1.5

Banana – 69 cents each, but mango is 65 cents

Loaf of bread – from $1.5

Water – 80 cents for 3 L

Sausages – from $1 for 8 pieces (there is even meat in the ingredients)

As for cafes, on average, it is about $10 per person; one of the pluses is the huge portions, which are enough for two people at once.

What do we eat?

Unfortunately, we don't have a stove in our room, so if we want to cook something, we do it in the microwave. One of the cheapest and quite healthy ways to eat is consuming semi-finished products. These can be canned dumplings with tomato sauce or a full meal. It is surprising that before coming to the USA, I never even looked at such food, but here, it is a fairly popular way of eating. Interestingly, the composition of such portions is quite clean, with some spices and additives of purely plant origin. The cost of such portions is about $1.5 each. And I will honestly tell you – it is delicious. Another separate plus is the availability of concentrated soups. You cannot imagine how much I want these to be sold back home! It is just a highly concentrated soup that needs to be diluted with water and heated: chicken broths with chicken and vegetables are a special love :)

Also, thanks to these conditions, I learned how to cook in the microwave. Omelets, dumplings, chicken, pasta with sausages are also present in our diet, although it takes more time than just heating up a portion.

Our usual diet:

Breakfast: Cereal/muesli with milk + coffee/tea with a sandwich

Lunch: soup + portion + vegetables

Dinner: Portion + vegetables + yogurt

In total, it comes to about $8 per person per day.

Sometimes we treat ourselves to a huge rotisserie chicken from the store ($5) and have a protein feast.

And looking at my diet, I keep asking myself the question: where do I eat better? In Minsk, with one meal a day, catching up with all sorts of junk, or here with a stable (!) 3-meal-a-day diet?