fast food... cheap and not cheap

ok, the first time i went to mcdonalds here to get a quick meal (i'm not a fan of mcdonalds nor the way it makes me feel after eating it, bleh, but it can be a necessary evil) i was blown away by how expensive it was.


fast food as we envision it up in the states is NOT the same thing down here in brazil.


to elaborate on that, i tend to view fast food as a CHEAP and fast way to get a meal. of course there are more expensive places in the fast food industry in the states than others, but still... i'm not going to taco bell expecting to drop 20 or 30 bucks on just myself, unless i'm severely depressed and want to put myself into a food coma.


the thing is brazil has had their own version of fast food (they way we view fast food) for a long time. their version of is salgados... aka empanadas, pastel, pão de queijo, etc. this is where you go to get a quick and cheap meal. here you will spend anything from 1 real to 3 reais for a salgado. cheap.


mcdonalds, bobs, and other equivalents are viewed as something of a treat down here in brazil. people would NEVER live off of mcdonalds and/or other chain fast food restaurants as its just too expensive. for a combo meal at mcdonalds you can spend anywhere from 12 to 18 reais. (read my post on how your real spends)


for the same price, you could have a kings meal at a restaurant by the kilo.


in the states you would rarely hear the argument of not eating at fast food because its too expensive, unless of course you live off it. the argument is more of a health based one. here... its just expensive.


remember, if you want a cheap meal on the quick, hit up a pastelaria, padaria, empanaderia, or something in the same vain. its there that you'll start to see the prices and quickness of a fast food type establishment that you're accustomed to.

the best way to look at reais (brazilian money)

DISCLAIMER: yes, i know that there are always exceptions to the rules and my method can't be applied to everything. this is a just a general... no, very general way view on this topic. the complexities of economies and converting currencies are as complicated as can be.

living down here and converting currency from reais to dollars (or somewhere else) and being a tourist down here and converting money are two completely different things. here's how i tend to view money down here in brazil in regards to when you're looking at prices.

it's taken me quite some time to stop trying to figure out how much things cost in dollars down here as i was always converting the currencies to try and decide how much of my money i was actually spending. old habits die hard, i suppose.

so, let's get right to it. the way i look at it is: 


1 dollar (USD) in the states spends roughly the same as 1 real (BRL) here in brazil.


this means when you are looking at prices in a restaurant if you see a plate of food for 20 reais it would be about the same thing as if i went to a restaurant and saw a plate of food for 20 dollars. looking at rent is about the same.


huh?


the reason for this very simple equation is because of the money that you earn down here in brazil is fairly similar to the money you earn in the states. living down here, if you make 2000 reais a month, it can be fairly the same as making 2000 reais a month in the states.


you can start to see how much of an advantage you have as a tourist bringing money down from the states to spend here and how much a brazilian would have to save to make an equivalent trip to the states.


now, i would avoid using this equation to put worth on goods, services, and products. this is only helpful when determining how much you are going to spend. this means, seeing a pair of shoes for 300 reais, shouldn't really make you think one way or another about how good of a deal those shoes are. it should only really help in letting you think... ok... i'm about to drop the equivalent of 300 bucks for the these shoes.


this is more for people who are planning on living here and making a wage than people who are just traveling casually here.


now, it's the same story down here in brazil. each region and area will have different prices and wages. just like in the states. i mean, you're not going to say living in manhattan is the same as living in podunk, alabama, right?


what's your thoughts about making money here in brazil and how it spends?