How much does food cost in Canada? A record of the frugal life struggles of an engineer living in Canada

Introduction

nice to meet you! I haven't been back to Japan for too long, and Japanese comedy has come to a standstill with Elekiteru Rengo's "No, no, no, no, no". I'm Chiro, who works at the System Solutions Department's Canadian office. It's been 8 years since I came to Canada, and 2 years since I worked at Beyond. It will be. My kind president asked me to come to Japan on a business trip, but I didn't want to leave Canada, so two years passed while I was trying to scam him.

In my daily work, I am responsible for the operation and maintenance of servers during nighttime hours in Japan. In Canada, in addition to responding to alerts, we are also responsible for many tasks that can only be done at night in Japan (to minimize the impact on services).

My everyday life is in English, but when I step into the office I speak Japanese, so my life is a mix of Japanese and English, but I quite like it. I would like to show you some of my life in Canada!

Main topic

On a personal note, I actually got sick last month...I was so sick that I couldn't get out of bed, and as a result of using UberEats and having food delivered, my food bill last month totaled $617 ! 65,000 yen in Japanese yen ! (By the way, the average monthly food bill in Canada seems to be $200-$300.) Moreover, I went on a trip just before I got sick, and I spent a lot of money there, including rent, internet, daily necessities, and medicine. Before I knew it, my expenses were more than my salary!

Eh, isn't it overused? sweat

As expected, I was so anxious that I had a dream of being homeless (I'm the type of person who dreams about worries right away), so I decided to do my best to save money this month.

However, since I don't have much willpower, I tend to give up on Uber Eats halfway through the process, so I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog and share the real eating habits of Japanese people living in Canada. I thought it would be interesting to do so, so I wrote about it on my blog!

frugal life

I feel like ①②③ all mean the same thing, but for now, I'm going to cook for myself!

By the way, my schedule for the days I work is as follows.

*(I don't know about other offices, but the lunch hours for engineers in the Canada office vary depending on the day. If someone is busy or on duty, someone has to keep an eye on alerts. We all consult each other on that day and take turns going there, but I usually go between 12:00 and 14:00 on days when I don't have any plans or when I'm on duty. On days when I don't have any, I feel free to go whenever I'm hungry.)

By the way, I don't eat breakfast, I only eat two meals a day, and sometimes just one meal.

Let's go then. Please read with enthusiasm.

Saving life for a week

Day 1

Today is my day off. Since the refrigerator was almost empty, I immediately went to buy some ingredients.

Walmart is right near my house. It's hard to say that the quality is good (sometimes they carry rotten items, so be careful), but it's cheaper than other supermarkets, so it's perfect for me who wants to save money!

There is a small amount of Japanese ice cream, seasonings, instant noodles, etc.

　

Hontsuyu $7.97…! ? What a bullish price setting. It's almost 1,000 yen after tax. I don't buy Japanese ingredients at Walmart because they are cheaper at Chinese supermarkets.

I bought cabbage, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, pasta, milk, pork, and brownies for a total of $33.17! (I don't know if it's expensive or cheap because I have a bad sense of money.)

As a side note, prices in Canada have skyrocketed in recent years. I remember that a few years ago, there was a huge uproar when a pack of chicken breasts was priced at $40 (at other supermarkets it was about $15-20) at a certain supermarket. Apparently, it's because it's a "premium chicken breast" according to a certain supermarket. I thought it would sell well.

And on the way home, I bought an bread and sweet potato bun for $5.60 as a reward for all my shopping (hey!)

Lunch

When I returned from shopping, my beloved and kind roommate (a Filipino grandmother) had already made lunch for me.

My favorite Filipino dish is sinigang, a sour soup with lots of vegetables. Well, I saved money on food and it’s my favorite food so I’m lucky ♡

Dinner

Consommé soup made with ingredients bought today + reward bread

2nd day

Lunch

Tuna sandwich made by my roommate from yesterday + leftover reward bread

Dinner

hot milk

 

After work today, I went shopping for lunch the next day. Speaking of Toronto's Asian supermarket, T&T is it!

It's on my way home from work, so I sometimes shop here before heading home.

It's expensive, but the store is clean and has a good selection. Today I came to buy some udon noodles on sale. I was tempted to buy cup noodles because they had such a good selection of products...I wonder why I thought to myself, ``Let's check out the instant shelves...''

 

What I bought: frozen udon, carrots, cup noodles, pork $20.56

Maybe some of you have noticed, but I'm doing it here. “Didn’t you just buy pork yesterday?” That’s right! I wanted to buy onions, but for some reason I ended up buying pork again! !

I ended up needlessly stocking up on pork. It's good because it's frozen and I'll use it someday...

Feeling depressed about how crappy I was, I went home and made some fried udon noodles for lunch in preparation for work tomorrow.

3rd day

Lunch

Fried udon noodles without onions that I made yesterday

I forgot to take a photo of the lunch that day...(I prefer the soy sauce soup stock to the fried udon noodles)

Dinner

Consommé soup + brownie made on the first day

4th day

Near the Canada office, J-town where many Japanese shops are gathered. It is a sacred place for Japanese people, with supermarkets, butchers, bookstores, and restaurants selling Japanese ingredients.

I had some business to go to J-town today, so I went there feeling excited. Having J-town so close to the office is so convenient!

You can get perilla ($3.40 for 6 pieces) year-round at a fish shop in J-town. When I was in Japan, I overharvested the perilla that grew in my garden every year, but now that I'm in Canada, it's a luxury item. Cry I bought it because I needed it.

And I'm in luck! I stopped at a shop after the fish shop, and the natto that usually costs about $4 was on special today for $1.98! ! I couldn't help but buy 2 packs. Thank you God♡

I also bought 2 packs of natto and Ajinomoto for $9.47.

And since I was able to buy something cheap, I bought bubble tea for $8.49 as a reward. (Hey!)

Lunch

Cup ramen + bubble tea + brownie I bought on the second day

Dinner

Natto rice (raw egg + pickled plums + seaweed)

*Canadian eggs are not sold with the intention of being eaten raw. Therefore, eggs are processed differently than Japanese eggs, and their expiration date is about a month and a half. I have the stomach I have today because I have overcome many harsh trials in the past. If you want to eat it raw, you can, but I don't recommend it.

5th day

Lunch

Consommé soup made on the first day

Dinner

Eating out

Today I had dinner with a certain beautiful woman that I love. I went to congee queen ! I love this restaurant! No matter what you eat, it's authentic Chinese food, delicious, plentiful, and relatively inexpensive. It was so much fun and delicious that time flew by. happiness:)

picture? Saving money? Are entertainment expenses necessary expenses? (Reopening)

6th day

I ate out yesterday, so I'm going to cook for myself today (naturally).

That's what saving money is all about! Bean sprouts! ! Today I'm going to make Korean bean sprout rice (konnamulbap). I use bean sprouts instead of regular bean sprouts. It's easy and delicious, just put it in the rice cooker and mix the sauce, so please check out the recipe and try making it. *You may notice a strong garlic odor coming from your mouth after eating.

So I'm going to go shopping today. Today, I will not give in to temptation and only buy what I need (maybe a flag?)

The green onions I was looking for were two bunches for $2! Cheap!

Bean sprouts are sold by weight, so you can buy just the amount you want for $0.83! cheap! When it comes to saving money, it's all about bean sprouts. When I bought the other vegetables I wanted to buy and was about to pay the bill...chocolate bread was cheap! (stop it)

You bought chocolate bread, right? but! It's $2.59 for 12 pieces, right? $2.50÷12=0.21 means $0.21 per piece, so rounding up to the nearest whole number is $0. So it's actually free...shouldn't I? lol

As I was walking home excited about eating chocolate bread with milk, I suddenly realized, ``Oh, I forgot to buy milk.'' It's strange that even though I write a shopping list every time, I can't do the shopping properly.

Today I bought 2 green onions, shimeji mushrooms, daikon radish, and chocolate bread for a total of $9.22!

Lunch

Konnamulbap (with pork) + chicken meatball soup (I made these meatballs last month and froze them)

Dinner

Bukkake udon (grated radish + plum + perilla)

By the way, this cat that appears almost every time I eat is my roommate's cat, and every time I eat, she makes sure to check what I'm eating and watches over me until I finish eating. . Even when I ask, ``Do you want it?'', she doesn't want it, but when she watches me eat, I feel indescribable. Cats are strange...maybe they have the same feeling I get when I sometimes watch moppang on Youtube?

7th day (last day)

Today was Saturday and there was no one in the office, so I decided to eat natto and kimchi, which had a strong smell.

Our Canadian office is shared with a local Canadian company, so when we go to the kitchen, we meet people from all different backgrounds. Therefore, I am careful not to bring lunches with strong smells such as natto. However, on Saturdays and Sundays, there are no other people except Beyond employees, so I enjoy the smelly lunch as much as I can. lol

Lunch

Natto pasta + kimchi that had been sitting in the fridge

Dinner

Leftover bean sprout rice + leftover chicken meatball soup

One week's savings results

A week that seemed long but short is over!

I immediately calculated the amount I spent on shopping this past week (including eating out as a reward).

And then...

Total $129.86!

Huh? I haven't done much...? But since I didn't use all the ingredients, I'll do a rough calculation of the amount I ate. I calculated a little more by taking into account the ingredients I already had and the seasonings.

Yeah…? Isn't it that cheap...?

Well, I guess it's because we went out to eat. If you don't eat out, it's about $50.

I have a total of $16 worth of rewards for buying so many things, so I can save up on that! !

I have some regrets about the expenses I spent on the reward. It's the kind of thing you do after you regret it...

Well, compared to last month, I think it was within the average Canadian food budget.

Digression (Canadian restaurant situation)

Eating out is very expensive in Canada. For example, if you were to eat ramen in Canada, a bowl of ramen would definitely cost $22-5, plus 13% tax and 15-20% tip, and it would be around $30.

The reason I can't stop eating out even though it's so expensive is because Canadian food is so delicious! Canada is said to be a small planet, and it's a place where people from all over the world come together and concentrate, so you can easily enjoy authentic cuisine from all over the world. If you want to travel around the world, you should just come to Canada (I'm sure that's not the case).

When I came to Canada, I realized that I had never found such delicious food anywhere else in the world! There were many things that shocked me, and even now, in my 8th year in Canada, there are still many. I'm so happy after coming to Canada :)

summary

I showed you my pretty realistic eating habits. What do you think?

I really wanted to show you how I tried my best to save money for a week, but I kept giving in to temptation and ended up with an article that just showed off how crappy a person I am. I feel like :'(

However, I was paying more than $30 for a bowl of udon with UberEats, so I think it was a huge savings compared to using UberEats! Hey! ?

No, I'm great! It was hard to cook for myself after work, but I did my best! Be kind to others and even more kind to yourself.

I still have to save money, so I will continue to do my best to live without Uber Eats.

Canada is not only expensive, but taxes are also very high, so if you are not careful, you will end up spending a lot of money, so be careful. On the other hand, there are many positive aspects, such as medical expenses being free and certain daily necessities not being taxed.

I've complained a lot, but Canada is a great place and I love living there.

Well, I'm living a relaxed life like this, but if you want to know anything about the situation in Canada, please let me know. I would like to write on my blog again. If I feel like it! lol

🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜

Beyond has an opportunity to travel to Canada for 3 months in the infrastructure business. If you want to try some of Canada's most delicious food, please apply!
https://recruit.beyondjapan.com/entry

I'm also interested in other blog posts! If so, here !

There are many other Canadian stories posted, so please check them out ☆