Frugal Foreigner Cost Comparison: $4 at the Fruit Stand

If you’re new to my Frugal Foreigner posts, read all about what we’re doing in India here! You can read all previous posts in the series here.

How far would $4 go in the produce section of your grocery store? Probably not very far. Stop by a roadside fruit stand in the summer and you might get a little more for your money. Move to India and you can find lots of great buys on fruits and vegetables!

Here’s what I bought on my last trip to the fruit stand. Note: baby boy had eaten half of the strawberries before I even got the picture taken.

Item (India price/Approx. US price)

2 lb red onion ($.50/$2.40)
2 lb potatoes ($.42/$2.00)
1 red pumpkin (equivalent to 1 can of pumpkin) ($.61/$1.68)
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper ($.84/$5.76)
1 green bell pepper ($.12/$.50)
4 lemons/limes ($.22/$1.33)
1/2 lb strawberries ($.89/$.75)
1 lb elaichi bananas ($.62/$.55)

Estimated US total for this trip would have been $14.21. I spent Rs. 190 or $4.22.

Sadly, strawberries aren’t a great deal, and there are many things we haven’t been able to find at all – celery, raspberries and blueberries in particular. I also haven’t bought any lettuce or spinach yet. It’s hard to find and harder to wash. But we’ve been enjoying great prices on other produce items. Here are a few more examples.

Watermelon just came into season here. Yum! It’s about $.10/lb.

Pineapple! On a bike! The pineapple here is fresh and delicious. And $.60 each. Can’t beat that.

Baby corn. In a husk. I’ve never bought this in the US, but I think it comes in a can. And it certainly costs more than 30 cents.

Fresh basil: $.10. I couldn’t believe it. It’s nearly $3/pkg in the US!

Another favorite here is fresh coconut. We’ve been using it in smoothies, on french toast, and in cookies. One coconut yields about 2 cups of coconut flakes and costs $.25.