Nepal Documentary | Living on a Dollar a Day

We filmed from July 17th-August 17th, 2015.

Another Day, Another Dollar documentary was intended not as much as a look into life on a dollar a day, as much as a showcase on how to be content on less, and how life is like for us and others in Nepal.

The documentary was originally divided in 4 parts, uploaded in November 2015, with a total time of about 45 minutes.

The Rules
So we came from the angle of already living here, not starting fresh. Locals living on very little already have a home, basic resources, maybe a bicycle or a motorbike for the family.

Before we embarked on this challenge, we had to set some ground rules, and we will make things as transparent as possible for you.

First up, keep in mind this does not include our visa costs, internet, or rent. Our visa is an expense locals don’t have but we need to pay as foreigners. And we were forced to get Internet ever since YouTube started refusing the submission of VHS tapes for video uploads. Not impressed, YouTube.

Secondly, we chose a high exchange rate to use for the Nepali rupee against the American dollar, so we will be working with 107rps each/day as an average, although for simplicities sake, you can think of 100 rupees as one dollar or 100 cents. We will do it for a whole month with no breaks, meaning our budget as a couple is $60 for the month, or 6420 rps.

This is around 20% less than one person earning minimum wage would make. Over 30 per cent of Nepalese live on less than US$14 per person, per month, according to the national living standards survey conducted in 2010-2011.The average daily income in Nepal is closer to $2 a day. Having said that, if we were to spend the average income during this challenge, we would have no problem paying for our rent as well. Keep in mind, though, many local families already own the family home and don’t have to pay rent.

Our living on a dollar is not only our food. No, that would be too easy. It includes cosmetics, shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, vehicle repairs, and any medicine we might need. We are also using cooking gas, which costs about 8cents a day. Many people especially in the rurals don’t use cooking gas, but use wood fires instead for cooking, which if we were to do also would make it a lot easier to keep in budget. But easy is for losers. Just kidding… Since the documentary, we have been forced to cook on wood, and it is not “easy,” but time consuming. It does save about $4/month doing it that way though. But I’d rather pay for the gas in most cases.

To make it easier to calculate our expenses, we put away lots of our stuff that we bought already to start fresh for the month and not get confused or tempted into using something we already bought before.

As we considered what we need to spend on non-food items, we came to realize that this was more of a challenge than anticipated. Blah.

Our Budget
Not only did we stay in budget, but in 30 days we spent an average of $0.85 per day. As we were going according to the Nepali calendar of 32 days for that month of Saun, though, the money we saved allowed us to treat ourselves to a trip and nice meal for the last 2 days when we went to Sauraha, and Chitwan National Park.

We thank everybody for their support in making this documentary and helping us get things going as “YouTubers” or “travel vloggers!”

#youtube #Himalayatreasure #thetickettotravelNP #videobook #audiobook

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@MarkWiens, @thefoodranger

[tomlynch]

The first other countries soil I ever set foot on for the first time outside the UK was Nepal, and I'm proud to say that

[firefeethok_tui]

I visited Nepal and stayed for three weeks, hired a car and traveled all over the country, it was the best vacation of my life. I found that if you go to the hotels and eat you can get a lot more international foods and satisfy some of those cravings for not too much money but definitely more than a dollar a day. Nepal is one of the Hardest places to get to you but it’s one of the best places you’ll ever visit.

[vaibhav]

i am indian living in this country as a maths teacher..one thing I can tell you is that nepal can teach the world true meaning of honesty and simplicity...All nepalese are not poor but most of people in this country prefer simple, minimalistic life which is usually considered as a sign of povery in other nations. money is necessory in life but we cant buy happiness !
there are more than 6 million ( 1.8 mn in just india) nepali living in other countries who send back money to their families so they actually have more money but things are little bit expensive because nepal import most of it from india and china.
nepal is LAND LOCKED country stucked between china and india which makes it hard to do something for wealth generation. but people in nepal are very nice.

[papa_golf]

this is not just a documentary about living on a Dollar a day, this tells a silent story, story about country, people, culture their struggle, Im indian of nepali origin and i find this video very touching . great job guys .

[wsking]

Good job! I lived in Kathmandu in Boudha for a while! It was wonderful! Im proud of you for doing so well. In '75 it was 14 IR to $1.00, and about 18 or 20 NR to $1.00 It is a happy and beautiful place to live and for sweet people, you cannot find nicer people than Nepalis anywhere. I am proud to have so many for friends.

[henryd]

Great documentary. Unfortunately, I just saw it now (2020). I lived on a budget of one US dollar a day for two years in a rural part of southern India. I had one good meal a day (usually around 3-4 pm). The rest of the money was spent on traveling to villages. I felt really good and healthy. Why did I do it? Because at that time (around 2000), there was a UN statistic that a billion people in the world lived on a budget of about a dollar. I wanted to experience it. I now realize how much we overeat, eat badly, and waste so much food. I now eat two meals a day, eat healthy, and live a simple life. That experience was life changing.

[reynaortega]

This video really changed my mind set on spending money, now I want to spend as little as possible a day, and save it up for the more important things of life.thank you so much for this video .

[dansmitham]

In the end, all we have in life is our experiences, stories to tell.
What a great way to spend a life, gathering experiences. In that metaphorical old folks home, no one will care how many levels we beat in some game, how much overtime we worked, or how we made negative comments on youtube videos.
I for one, would love to spend an evening hearing tales from people who've experienced amazing things in exotic lands.

[Travelbeatcreations.official]

I will come to visit Nepal with my motorcycle from Norway when license is in order.
Life seems to be way much richer there, yet still very simple.
I even have a sponsor child there through the red cross, she's at school now and seems to be doing just fine ^_^

[amc]

For people being so poor, its incredible to see them smile so much. We in the west have a great deal to learn about what really matters in life. Just had my best hour in years watching your amazing film, thanks so much to you both.

[surakshyamalla]

Your videos in Nepal always puts smile on my face. you guys are goals!!

[MRjCsthaClasher]

Proud to be NEPALI
Can't describe our country in this video...but you guys do really superb.🇳🇵🇳🇵🇳🇵🇳🇵

[ajaymagar]

N=Never
E=End
P=Peace
A=And
L=Love

[Biciklom_oko_sveta]

In 2014/15 I spent 6 months cycling and living in Nepal and I remember that i come there with 2000 $ (USD) and after 6 months I left with 600 $. So my average daily budget was 7, 7 $ including rents room in Pokhara during almost all time (2-3 $ a day) and including 14 days cycling on Anapurna Curcuit Route, where prices are growing up how you are climbing higher (for one hour of internet 6 $, cup of black tea 1 $, charging bateries 1 $ per hour...) and including a lot of stuff I bought there to renew my camping equipment. All at all I think I had been living there for 3-4 $ a day only for food with no missing anything, even nor beer :)

[roskis]

Wonderful people who have so little but still manage to be happy.
In the west we take all this and more for granted but still you seldom see smiles as wide as in this video.
Our striving for perfection, economic and material abundance is really what's destroying us westeners and why we will never be truly satisfied with life.
The key to a happy life is in the small things.

[samshahbaz]

this was the first ever video where i really saw people choose to live the simple life than the lavish one ...you guys are awesome and i feel so much proud that people like you are still there from the western world.

[shrooms]

I moved to the USA in 2014, and this documentary literally reminding me of my childhood. Miss my country!

[briansmobile]

Love this! Reminds me of living in India, but cleaner and more country. I spent a week in Nepal, but would've loved to stay longer. Thanks guys!

[pragya]

This really warms my heart. Having lived in foreign countries almost all of my life, living that urban lifestyle, i had almost forgotten the simple way of life to find contentment from within us. I am honestly craving to go back to Nepal and rediscover that. This video really helped me realize that. I am also very touched by the way yall have embraced our country and the culture. Thank you guys, very well documented indeed.

[patricianunez]

That was such an enjoyable video. Beautiful, sweet couple. At 72 with health issues I will never get to go to that fantastic place but I can live it through you. Thank you so much.
Ms Pat from southern Indiana
USA