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Comment by brailsafe | Hacker News Reader

I can respect that it's probably worth trying, or even worth buying if you have a particular case for it and a rather large income, but I guess what is lost on me about the AVP (and by extension iPads, more expensive phones) is that they just seem to be a way to extract multiple thousands of dollars for essentially the same entertainment we've already been doing quite well for a very long time.

Like how much should watching stuff be worth to people!? Am I crazy? I don't even dislike movies, but $3500 usd might be what I already spend on all forms of entertainment + 2 years worth of food, and maybe all of my transportation for half a year or more, combined. I'd just kind of hope for something more substantial y'know?

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For that price or maybe a little more you could buy a 4k projector and a nice screen that would make watching a movie a whole lot nicer

> $3500 usd might be what I already spend on all forms of entertainment + 2 years worth of food

Where do you live? I live in Romania and even my mom who makes around 1000e a month spends like 400e on food, so she spends around 5k euros a year on food

It is easy to spend EUR 400 for the monthly food, or even much more, if you buy industrially-processed food and various kinds of food that are tasty, but which are expensive and unnecessary.

Nevertheless, not only in Romania, but probably in most countries of the European Union, a human can spend for food only between EUR 100 and EUR 150 per month, while still eating very healthy food, with the condition of cooking at home and buying only raw ingredients. Even the industrially-made bread is at least 3 to 4 times more expensive than the bread made at home. For other kinds of food, the price ratio between buying and making at home is even greater.

> a human can spend for food only between EUR 100 and EUR 150 per month

Try that in Croatia, you'll soon be dead or at least severely malnourished.

I spend way more than 100/week in food for two people. To spend less than a quarter of that I would have to scale down or remove fruit, vegetables, meat or fish from the menu. Probably would have to eat pasta and rice with some sauces all the time which isn't healthy at all. And I'm in Portugal, not the most expensive place in Europe by a long shot.

We are family of 2 adults and 1 child. We spend very easily 400 (and more) per month. We don't buy any processed food. We cook at home. 90% of time. Some weekends we go out for a single lunch or dinner. We live in Czech republic. We rarely buy "bio" (or "organic" depending on where you live) food.

Good luck doing that in Portugal, 100 € will be food for one week.

So at most 5 euros per day you say? maybe only if you eat lentils or something idk.

2 eggs = .8 euro

250ml milk = .8 euro

300g chicken breast = 2 euro

1 large tomato = .8 euro

150g cheap cold cuts = 1 euro

I'm already at 5.4 euro and that's not even 2000 calories, add butter, olive oil, other vegetables, bread and you easily reach 8-9 euro per day and I bet Romania is at least 20% cheaper than most EU countries

So please englighten us, give me a menu that's 2k calories, has some animal protein in it and costs less than 5 euros

Buy frozen vegetables, salmon (20€/kg), bio eggs and milk at 1.25 to 2€/L. Add some bread from the baker, whole grain noodles, oats for breakfast and maybe get cheese every once in a while. Vegetable oil, nut oil and whole nuts complete what you need. Spices are bought in bunch and mixed up at home. For some greens you can have mint and herbs on any windowsill for <2€.

I don't eat out, never eat processed food, cook all myself and have a hard time (germany) hitting 150€ a month, so 5€ a day is totally doable. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to know what you can buy, but Stiftung Warentest is your friend and a book about medical nutrition at university level will make sure you don't buy from advertisement.

Is food in your country/area that expensive? I live in an expensive city in the middle of Europe and get most of those things for half the price in a normal supermarket. If I optimize for sales and seasons, I even get cheaper prices, while still have a divers healthy diet. Even more so if I buy in bulk and prepare in advance. But to be fair, it would demand more time and knowledge, which is not for everyone.

150/mo? Even if I buy from my neighbors (who grow only for themselves but have overage) I cannot do that. Growing myself, yes. I live in a tiny village in portugal.

that's 145 USD/month for me. It's not impossible, but you're not eating out ever and are basically on little more than a rice and beans diet at that point.

2 years was actually a bit of a reach now that I think of it, but Canada, living relatively frugally, buying for typically just me, and I could do ~300cad a month + ~$100/month for transport would bring me up to the $4850CAD before sales tax. Tax would add another $500 and that would probably cover me for most entertainment, vacations excluded, games included, climbing included, movies included, just estimating though.

- All entertainment (what does this mean? for what period?)

- 2 years worth of food

- 6 months worth of transportation

For 3.5k? Either you're Amish (with an HN handle), or you're dril and you need advice from someone who is good at the economy [0].

[0] https://x.com/dril/status/384408932061417472

Ya in retrospect 2 years was a stretch, but 1 year seems feasible. I elaborated on entertainment in another comment, basically anything I'd spend on non-hobbyist watching or listening in real life or digital, video games, over a year. I could probably include concerts, but that's something I'd let myself spend more on if finances permitted. Some food expenses would fit between those categories. Vacations excluded.

And where/what to watch when your best source is youtube + torrents

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