Mexico City does have a reputation for being incredibly cheap but that only really depends on what you are doing and where you are shopping. The reason I say this is that you could quite easily live a life spending $10,000 per month in Mexico City if you so wished, but you can also survive on $500 per month, depending on what exactly you are looking for.
There are two main costs in life of course, the first is your home and where you stay, and the second is what and where you eat. When it comes to eating in the city, here is how to get your hands on the cheapest food.
Eating Out
Believe it or not, eating out once a day is not going to be anywhere near as expensive as you may believe, and in many cases it can be cheaper than if you bought food in. As my good friend Rose Burillo always tells me, the two best places to eat out and save money is the tacos stand, or any other street food stand selling snacks, which are filling and very cheap. The second place where you can choose to eat is a fonda, selling comida corrida. This is a set menu which provides you with starter, main and dessert, all for less than $3. There is nowhere that you can go to get such a full meal for such a low price.
Buying Food
When it comes to buying food it is absolutely imperative that you avoid going to the supermarkets, these are never going to really give you the best prices. This is true at least when it comes to fruit and veg, meats and cheese. The best place to go is a market, and this is where you are guaranteed to get the lowest price. Now the grocery store may have some higher quality fruit and veg in the main, but you can pick the best options for you in the market so that you have the best of the best. The only thing to ensure when you are buying from the market is that you fully wash the fruit and the veg that you are buying. There are small bottles of iodine solution sold, which are ideal to add to water when washing the veg up. If you don’t do this then you could easily get sick.
There are set markets throughout the city as well as regular ‘tianguis’ street markets which are set up on the street on certain days.
Coupon Apps
If you do decide to buy food in the grocery store then be sure to check out the range of coupon apps which you can find, that really help you to bring down the cost of your groceries. These apps are regularly being updated and they will help you to save on everyday products which you would probably be buying anyway. They cost nothing and help you to save, a real no-brainer.
This is how to snag the cheapest food in the city.