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Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 14, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I live in Eastern Europe. For reference, minimum wage here is about 500$/month and I make about 150% that.

Food prices here are about the same as those in the US/Western Europe. Bread is a little bit cheaper, meat is a little bit more expensive. But mostly the same.

5% tvorog is 2.5$ for 400g. That's 64g of protein, but still too expensive.

I think you'll have to stick to 1g/kg. It's not the end of the world, Central Asian construction workers have great muscle definition on a diet of kefir and white bread.

That makes way more sense than a US based person with that budget.

I think federal minimum wage at full time employment in the US is about $1,200/month right now. Seems consistent with PPP, which is about 2.1 for the Balkans.

For eating on a budget you probably have the slight advantage of things like kasha being more readily available in economy pricing, whereas (excluding oats for some reason) groats seem to be considered some sort of specialty health food in the US. Can't say I know anything beyond that though.

The traditional solution is a very legume heavy diet. My experience with beans in the Balkans is that they tend to be terrible and hard to eat much of, and recommend looking at Mexican recipes. I remember hearing something about rice and beans together making the protein better somehow, but don’t remember the specifics. And North African recipes for lentils. Second the eggs recommendation.

Rice + beans provide all essential amino acids, but in "you won't die or get sick" amounts, not "you'll get swole" amounts.