A long time ago when the rupee was about 30 to a USD I had worked out that to find the equivalent cost of something in India I’d need to multiply the dollar value by 5. i.e. if something cost me x dollars here, to be an equivalent price in India it’d have to be 5x rupees. This was when I was earning 5K in India and came here on an assignment and they paid me an allowance of 800 dollars a month (and paid for the flat and the car rental). So if I could find a shirt for 10 bucks at K-Mart I’d need to find a similar shirt at 50 rupees in India for it to be equally affordable. With this ratio, everything, but especially white goods, was way cheaper here.

What starts to make the difference once you become a full fledged American (ie mortgage, family that sort of thing) is things like insurance and retirement and saving for kids’ education, things one doesn’t bother about as much in India. When I was in India my company picked up all my medical bills, no questions asked (I think there was an annual cap, but it was really high). I had a pension plan of sorts, so never worried about saving too much for retirement. And college education is definitely way cheaper in India if you go to a government institution. I don’t know about now, but back when I went to Engg college, the semester fees were like 500 rupees plus an additional 100 for exam fees. And in my PUC college it was 8 rupees a month (this is the late 80′s)

All major grocery stores in my state take food cards. And “Aldi” is popping up here too (super cheap, no frills grocery store with staples like brown rice).

Major grocery stores are not far from the ‘hood here and those without cars ride their bikes. This scenario may be different elsewhere though.

often times its a matter of priorities. don’t get me started on baby mammas again! I’m seeing people throw away oppurtunities and wasting, not only their lives, but the lives of their kids as well! Poor babies, they didn’t ask to be born!

I find food to be really, really cheap here while I have always have to listen to my mom (who lives in India) carry on about the price of dal and what not.

You are ignorantly equating cheap with relative affordability based on disposable income. Dal is much cheaper in India than in America but most indians are so poor compared to even americans on minimum wage that even the price of basic staples like rice and beans is a source of worry.

They don’t have stores with fresh produce. Usually they end up going to convenience stores and other such places where the only things you get are sodium and preservative loaded frozen crap. What produce is available will be very expensive relative to a typical supermarket in an affluent neighborhood.

So then, what are they eating if they don’t have any grocery stores? Are you referring to “government cheese”? All the people I know on “food stamps” do not get goverment cheese. They have to go and buy stuff themselves with their card (stamps changed to cards a long time ago for those of you not in the “know” with the ways and lifestyle of our financial demographic).

Its not just about what cost less, but its also about where it is available. Most poor neighborhoods, do not have grocery stores, and really poor people do not have the time to take the shuttle to travel far to get the necessities, after long hours of work and with kids waiting at home. But I agree, better awareness can lead to healthier food (rice and beans e.g.) at less money, but there’s no culture for it in US, and the aforementioned ‘food deserts’ are also big problem. Mark bitten had a good discussion about it here. The comments there also have great discussion.

Junk food is NOT the cheapest food in USA. I’m poor, so I know. You can get various types of cheap lentils in any grocery store. It’s not organic, but it’s not junk. You can buy non-organic brown rice cheaply as well. The thing is, people don’t wanna eat like that. They want their junk mac-n-cheese and the like.

Can you list the types of fish in India that are cheaper than eggs?.

I know they are the small fishes (not the tiny ones but medium size)…I don’t know their names in English