Yeah, that’s cheap compared to the US. That’s how much I spend too, but back in the US I spent almost twice as much when I ordered Uber Eats every day during Covid.
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Western food definitely isn’t cheap here.
And he’s comparing it with his 60k budget which is much lower than he’d be earning in a western country!!
As a single guy in their 20s, I felt comfortable at around 90-100k a month in Taipei.
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Any kind of food is cheaper here compared to the West.
I can get a gourmet burger here for TW$300, and the same quality burger in the US cost me US$15-20 plus tax plus 20% tip.
Of course, I don’t buy food that requires overpriced imported ingredients because I’m smart.
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Why are you comparing it to the west? The op is asking about a specific salary here in Taiwan.
Spending over 50% of your salary on food isn’t really ideal.
That’s normal in any country if you’re ordering Uber Eats every meal.
Besides, you have to look at net income after taxes and other mandatory costs like insurance, not gross salary.
In the US, I spent 50-60% of my net income on the same foods on Uber Eats during Covid.
My gross income was just over US$6,000/month. Net income was about $3,500-$4,000. Uber Eats three meals a day during Covid was $2,000.
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And this is why I said it really depends on people’s expected quality of life.
I would say that’s ridiculous to do when I could cook the same thing for a fraction of the price, but then I like cooking (and I can make it way better than a restaurant)
It still doesn’t change my original point though, on a 60k salary, restaurant western food 3x a day is expensive!
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what did you do in your 20s to make that money in Taipei ?
thats very impressive.
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Expected quality of life makes no difference because we’re comparing ratios/percentages and not nominal prices.
Let’s say you cook. If you spend 10% of your net salary on food in the US, then you’ll also spend 10% (or less) of your net salary on the same types of food in Taiwan, assuming you have a similar job in Taiwan to the US.
Insert any percentage above. 10%, 25%, 50%.
There is also the big factor of what locals see and what foreigners see as expensive here. For example, my coworkers who make more than me quite a lot often shows me menu of lunchboxes and tells me how 160nts is way too much money to spend on lunch.
On other hand, i often go to restaurants and would be okay spending 300+ if the food is good.
So in the end its about what logic makes sense to you. For most local people, money is something u have to preserve as much as u can (which is weird considering how much they waste) but for me, i dont want money to control my life. When i got two months bonus last year, i went and ate a local cheap restaurant and when i had only 5k ntd in my bank account, i went to a michelin star restaurant and had a big meal
Money dont control us, we control it. We cant let it have power over us.
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I made around 30k teaching part time. Some months a bit more if I sub for people.
I make 40-50k doing nightlife/entertainment
And I did some sports coaching. Maybe 10k a month.
Some of it just depends on the month and how much I work.
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This is absolutely false.
Indian food was consistently cheaper for me in the US, and I lived in SF Bay Area which is expensive.
If you factor in portion sizes, the difference is even more pronounced. A tofu burrito bowl with extra guac at chipotle was like $10 and 2x the quantity of a burrito bowl at say Masa here in Taipei which is actually around $13
Lots of other examples… Non-Taiwanese food here in general is more expensive than a lot of western countries if you factor in the portion sizes
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Yea exotic food is expensive. Taiwanese food is extremely expensive in the states and quality is often crap.
You generally try to eat what everyone eats in any country if you want to save money.
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The bar for food is way lower here in Taiwan. My coworkers will have no problem eating a dry rice bowl with some boiled veggies (no sauce, extremely bland) for 80 NTD. As an Indian who was spoiled for 18 years and accustomed to strong flavors this is impossible for me. I’m guessing similar sentiments for you
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Agree. Wish I could eat local vegetarian food everyday, but there is not enough variety and it’s generally quite bad
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I guess it’s cheaper for me in Taiwan because I don’t eat a lot, so the larger portion sizes in the US was just wasted food.
I remember getting a 素飯糰 in the US for about $6 with taxes. That price would be considered absurd for the same dish here in Taipei, but it was still very cheap by SF Bay Area standards and very filling, much bigger than the 50 NTD 飯糰 you can get here.
I am underweight male with BMI 17. With Indian food I just refrigerated the leftovers and ate it the next day, tasted the same with no reduction of quality. So I paid lesser for food in the US actually… 
I would happily take extra food here and do the same, works quite well with a lot of cuisines
I usually spend US$15 on Indian food here (at a nice restaurant), and usually spend $20 plus tax and tip for a similar quality Indian restaurant in the US.
You might be able to find cheap, casual Indian food in SF, but not in most of the US.
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You’re probably right. I’ve lived in Atlanta and SF, and in both cities I used to get 1 curry, 1 rice and 1 naan for $20 including taxes and tip. But the curry and rice containers and even the naan used to be bigger and this was basically 2 meals for me.
Here I spend $15 on one meal…
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