Can $20 Feed a Family of 4 in China?
About this video
A family of four in a small Chinese town tracks every yuan they spend on a typical Saturday, from breakfast and grocery shopping to an afternoon at the park and an unexpected KFC stop. It’s a genuine look at everyday life and the real cost of a normal weekend, not a budget challenge.
Video transcript
today is just a normal Saturday for our family but we're going to keep track of every dollar we spend in many American cities $20 might barely cover lunch for one person yet here in our small town in China that same $20 will need to cover food shopping and an entire day of life for our family of four so let's see where the money goes what it can actually buy and whether there's anything left by the end of the day our first stop today isn't the market it's breakfast like many families in China we don't always cook breakfast at home small breakfast shops
are everywhere and they're usually quick convenient and affordable around here breakfast is usually based on noodles rather than bread this morning we ordered three dishes for the four of us a bowl of zha jiang noodles a plate of mixed rice noodles and a bowl of soup noodles that was more than enough for our family looking at the food on the table how much do you think all of this cost the total came to 24 yuan that's about three dollars and 30 cents for all four of us honestly prices like this are one reason many families here don't mind eating
breakfast outside it's quick convenient and usually doesn't cost very much of course this is only the first meal of the day we still need to buy food for lunch and dinner and that's where most of today's budget will probably go instead of going to a traditional market today we decided to do our shopping at a large supermarket places like this have become very common across China even in smaller cities and towns for many families it's one of the easiest ways to buy everything they need in one trip as soon as we walked into the supermarket the kids spotted
the pizza counter and honestly that wasn't much of a surprise no matter where we go they always seem to find the food they like first we ended up buying two slices of pizza for 158 when that's about $2 it wasn't part of the original plan but sometimes a small treat is worth it besides keeping two children happy might be one of the most important parts of managing a family budget the budget was already starting to shrink but our shopping had only just begun this is winter melon we didn't buy a whole watermelon that would have been far more than our family
needed instead we bought a small piece that's actually pretty common here many supermarkets and markets in China sell vegetables in smaller portions so families can buy only what they need right next to the winter melon we found something much more interesting a chili pepper that was longer than my child's hand moments like this are one reason I enjoy shopping with my children even something as ordinary as buying vegetables can suddenly become entertaining after that we picked up some broccoli and garlic chives nothing fancy just a few vegetables that
often end up on our dinner table by now most of the vegetables were taken care of the shopping cart was slowly getting fuller and so was the Bill we hadn't seen yet but vegetables were only part of the plan we still needed one of the most important ingredients for today's meals just when we thought we were finished with the vegetables something else caught our attention 4 Red Dragon fruits for 10 Wen that's a deal that's hard to ignore fruit prices can vary a lot throughout the year but offers like this usually don't last very long so into the shopping
cart they went as we passed the prepared food section we picked up some spicy river snails they weren't exactly cheap so we only bought a small portion back home we'll stir fry them with the chili peppers and garlic chives we bought earlier that should make a pretty good dish by now our shopping cart was getting fuller but there was still one important thing left to buy next came the meat section one thing I like about many supermarkets here is that you don't always have to buy large portions most of the pork is already packed in small portions making it
easy to buy exactly what you need we picked up a small pack of pork for 56 wn and two ribs for another 15 win for today's meals that was more than enough we also stopped by the seafood section for a quick look there were plenty of options but none of them made it into our cart today the kids were far more interested in looking at the fish than buying them as we continued through the supermarket a we stopped by the dessert section there we picked up a packet of jelly powder it doesn't look like much now but after mixing it with water and letting it cool
it turns into a simple dessert that's especially popular during the summer the kids enjoy it and it's an easy treat to make at home just when we thought our shopping was almost finished something else caught the kids attention a small electric fan it wasn't on our shopping list in fact we hadn't planned to buy one at all but after standing there looking at it for a while it somehow found its way into our cart I suppose that's how family shopping trips usually work you go in for groceries and somehow come home with a few extra things with that our cart
was finally full breakfast vegetables fruit meat snacks dessert and now even a fan it was finally time to find out how much our ordinary Saturday was really going to cost by the time we finally reached the checkout our shopping cart didn't look particularly full but once everything was added together the total came to 1016 win combined with the 24 win we spent on breakfast earlier we had already spent 1256 UN that left us with less than 10 UN for the rest of the day suddenly our 20 dollar budget didn't feel nearly as comfortable as it did this morning
back at home it was finally time to unpack everything we had bought looking at it all spread across the table it felt like a lot more than what we had seen in the shopping cart vegetables fruit meat snacks dessert ingredients and a few unexpected extras not bad for a Saturday shopping trip before we started making lunch there was one thing we wanted to prepare first the jelly powder we bought at the supermarket it doesn't take long to make but it does need a few hours in the refrigerator so the earlier we make it the better by the time lunch and dinner
are finished it should be ready to eat with that taken care of it was finally time to start cooking lunch like many home cooked meals most of the work happens before the cooking even begins washing vegetables cutting meat and getting everything ready it's not the most exciting part of the process Wistau was but it's part of everyday life there's something relaxing about this part no rush just taking our time and getting ready for the meal with everything prepared it was finally time to start cooking most of the ingredients came from this morning's
shopping trip nothing complicated just a few simple dishes for lunch one of today's dishes is fried pork ribs we only bought two ribs but that's enough for our family after a little seasoning it's time to start frying the smell alone makes it worth the effort remember the chili peppers and garlic chives we bought earlier this is what they're for we only bought a small portion of the river snails just enough to add another dish to the table the rest of the meal is even simpler fresh vegetables a little pork and a few basic seasonings looking at the table
now it already feels like a proper family meal and just like that lunch was ready after a busy morning it was finally time to sit down and eat together for me this is probably the best part of the day no shopping no cooking just everyone around the same table the food doesn't have to be perfect what matters is having everyone together we still had the rest of the day ahead of us but for now lunch was all we needed before we knew it it was already afternoon so we spent some time at a nearby park honestly our weekends are usually pretty simple just getting
outside enjoying the fresh air and letting the kids have fun of course it didn't take long before the kids spotted something they a grilled sausage stand some things seem to be universal no matter where you live 5 wan later another part of today's budget was gone but judging by the smiles it was probably worth it after spending some time at the park we started heading home at least that was the plan then one of the kids brought up an idea KFC considering how much of our budget was already gone it that probably wasn't the best suggestion but once children
start talking about fried chicken the conversation is usually far from over in the end we gave in so instead of heading straight home we made one more stop KFC by this point it had already become our dinner since my wife was still at home we decided to take the food back and eat together once everything was ordered the total came to 748 win I suddenly had a bad feeling I think we've probably gone over our 20 dollar budget with our food ready it was finally time to head home the kids were already thinking about dinner and after a long day out so was I
before we started eating there was one more thing waiting for us in the refrigerator the jelly dessert we made earlier by now it was finally ready cold jelly and hot fried chicken might sound like a strange combination but honestly it tasted pretty good the kids had been waiting for this all afternoon and judging by their reactions it was worth the wait and finally it was time to eat looking back it had been a surprisingly busy day breakfast shopping cooking the park and now dinner I think the kids would say this was the best part of the day so was $20
enough not this time breakfast cost us 24 U N the supermarket came to 101.6 U n the sausage at the park was another 5 U n and dinner at KFC added 74.8 UN that brings the total to 205.4 UN about $31 we definitely went over budget but honestly I wouldn't change much we ate well the kids had fun and we spent the whole day together for me that's what really matters
