“Breakfast for 74 kopecks, lunch for 43 kopecks.” A Belarusian woman shared how she eats on $50 a month

The woman films videos about her challenge, which she posts to her TikTok account @Irina_60_k. Nearly 5,000 subscribers are following the experiment.

Iryna notes that she tries to stick to the principles of healthy eating. She openly says that she didn't pay for some of her groceries: her children or a neighbor treated her to something, or she grew it herself. Nevertheless, her food costs an extremely small amount.

What a breakfast costing less than 1 ruble looks like

Iryna eats fish (Baltic herring, pike), chicken, cheese, butter, and eggs. For fresh vegetables, fruit, and berries—tomatoes, pears, strawberries. For side dishes—potatoes, pasta, buckwheat, and much more.

In the photo below is a breakfast for 91 kopecks (right) and for 74 kopecks (left).

Павялічыць

Breakfast for 91 kopecks: mashed potatoes without milk or butter (Iryna is in a calorie deficit), 2 eggs fried in oil, fresh tomatoes, coffee without sugar, and candies. The candies were a treat from her children, while she grew the potatoes and tomatoes herself. The rest was bought: coffee at the “Svetofor” store, eggs at the “Kapeyechka” store.

Breakfast for 74 kopecks: millet porridge with milk, butter, fresh raspberries, coffee with sweetener, and a homemade egg. The egg was a gift from a friend, Iryna grew the raspberries herself, and the rest was bought in stores.

Lunches cheaper than 50 kopecks

In the photo below are lunches for 42 kopecks and for 45 kopecks.

Павялічыць

Lunch for 42 kopecks: fish soup, hot sandwiches, parsley, walnuts. Iryna grew all the vegetables, herbs, and walnuts herself. She made the soup from pike heads given to her by her son-in-law.

Lunch for 45 kopecks: cold beet soup (kholodnik) with scallions, cucumbers, and sour cream; grapes. Iryna grew all the vegetables herself, paying only for the sour cream.

“If I get hungry, I'll eat two boiled eggs.” Iryna's dinners

Dinners for 99 kopecks and for 1 ruble.

Павялічыць

Dinner for 99 kopecks: fresh raspberries from the dacha and ice cream from the “Groshyk” store. The Belarusian clarified that she kept two chicken eggs in reserve—in case she got hungry.

Dinner for 1 ruble: draniki (potato pancakes), sour cream, strawberries.

The berries and potatoes were homegrown; everything else was bought in stores.

“In October, I managed to save”

Iryna calculated that she spent 140 rubles on food in October: “I even saved ten rubles.” At the same time, the Belarusian's diet is certainly not meager.

Павялічыць

In the comments, some people write that they do not believe Iryna—they think she spends significantly more and is deceiving her audience.

Someone wrote that it is dishonest to talk about an experiment called “Living on $50 a month” while using homegrown vegetables from the dacha and gifted groceries. They argue that if the woman had accounted for the prices of the products that were “free” for her, she would not have been able to get by on 150 rubles a month.

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