Let's face facts: Museums, monuments, and markets are fun and all, but they're just ways to kill time between meals. Often a trip's most enduring memories come not from that 14th-century fresco of devils torturing the good peoples of the earth, but from the slurps, chews, and sips at a sidewalk stall selling 30-cent rice-noodle soup to diners on plastic stools. Or in a dark Slavic lounge, where your only prayer for food is a pick-and-point in the hope that mustachioed Oleg will bring the sandwich, not the whole chicken.

Eating's great. But watch out: It can siphon more dong, yen, rubles, rupees, or pesos from your budget than a bunk for the night. But eating cheap doesn't have to mean scouring trash bins or crashing wedding parties. Here are a few ideas that will delight both your stomach and your wallet.

FIRST-WORLD FLAVOR, THIRD-WORLD PRICES: CHEAP COUNTRIES, CHEAP EATS
Get this, less-developed nations actually charge less for food than more expensive countries. Crazy, huh? If you have limited budget and unlimited time, consider Southeast Asia or parts of Latin America save the Japans and Swedens and Antarcticas for later, when someone else is footing the restaurant bill. Also, watch for new? budget destinations, which seem to be popping up all the time. Argentina's recent economic slump has turned what was once the most expensive country in South America into a land as cheap as Bolivia. In other words, it's time to tango at a Buenos Aires parilla steakhouse.

ASK LOCALLY, EAT GLOBALLY: FOLLOW THE NATIVES
Always ask locals where the cheap eats are. Ask hostel workers, taxi drivers, that guy selling inflatable toys in the town square. In Florence, a construction worker told me about a cheap lunch place, then invited me there to join him and five pals for communal plates of pasta and bottles of wine. The meal of the trip.

If you're shy, or your Tagalog is rusty, follow younger (and likely more budget-conscious) workers on their lunch break though this may mean KFC, or PFK in Quebec. A busy food stall or cafe means fresher food than a quieter, more upscale restaurant. In markets, grab snacks available to local shoppers in Mexico, you can sift through pirated CDs (Metallica for 20 pesos!) while eating a couple of tacos and a boiled ear of corn for under $1.

KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PAYING FOR
Don't forget to ask about unlisted charges sometimes just sitting, or even standing at the counter, costs money. In much of Europe, a take-away meal (even a coffee) is cheaper than eating in the restaurant. Any condiments you use, including breads from a basket already on your table, may cost extra.

TAKE THE OMADS PLEDGE
Write this down: One Meal a Day Sacrificed? saves heaps. Don't eat at restaurants three times a day. Instead, skip at least one with a makeshift mini-meal (e.g., taking a cup of yogurt and some bread and cheese to a park). Considering the ever-changing settings, such "sacrifice" can offer more atmosphere than any restaurant anyway. A Parisian once suggested I bring an espresso and croissant to the Eiffel Tower at 9 a.m. for a cheap breakfast with a full-on view of the city.

Still, don't sacrifice too much. On a Himalayan trek in Nepal, I took the pledge too far and skipped breakfast every day for a week, surviving on dal (lentil sauce and rice) twice a day, at 50 cents a pop. The result? Well, Everest will be there next year.

WEAPON OF MASS (BUDGET) DESTRUCTION: THE WESTERN BREAKFAST
Hungover or slow-to-start travelers often allow the king of budget-sappers "the Western breakfast" to take a bite before the day really begins. Cafes from Bogota to Vientiane beckon tourists with fried eggs, banana pancakes, fruit shakes, and coffees generally priced at double or triple the cost of locals brekky spots. Resist the urge or at least cut back.

Likewise, limit those afternoon coffees and beers from sidewalk cafes next to the medieval church; soak in the same setting from a free bench. If it's legal, bring beer or wine to a park rather than drinking at bars.

TABLE FOR ONE AT CHEZ MOI: MAKE YOUR OWN MEALS
Stay in hostels or guesthouses with kitchen facilities, or bring a portable stove (see www.msrcorp.com for some cheapies, including the disturbingly named PocketRocket, $39). Make oatmeal or morning coffee, or stir-fry vegetables snared from a market. Just once a day will help trim costs. When eating in gets old, picnic.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EATING RAMEN
Here's an equation every math major knows: Making your own meals x Every day = Ramen. The corollary, of course, is that the ever-popular instant noodles get dull quick. So mix it up. Pack your own spices (dried chili, dried dill, dried garlic, salt and pepper, whatever) in an empty pill container. Break up a stale piece of bread to give a little filling (in Japan, bakeries sell unused bread crusts cheap, and day-old loaves can be had almost anywhere else). Drop a single egg in. Or drain the noodles and add a small tin's worth of tuna or salmon. The ultimate secret ingredient: free ketchup packets from fast-food counters. Take no prisoners.

THE PLOUGHMAN’S LUNCH: WORK FOR FOOD
Ask at a university cafeteria if you can wash dishes for a run-through of the food line. In some places, such as Southeast Asia and Central America, where English students may lack the means for courses, you might be able to arrange a home-cooked meal in exchange for a 30-minute English-language lesson. Better yet, stop at a farmer's home in the Mekong Delta or Central American highlands and ask if you can help out for the day. You'll not only get some insights into the local way of life that'll beat any museum, but you'll surely be invited for a meal or two with the family crew. (Plus you'll earn some serious street cred with other travelers.)

In Champarico, Guatemala, I got to talking with fishermen on a giant, decaying pier, threw the net in a few times, and ended up sharing their meal of fresh fried fish. In South Dakota, security guards at a hog-packing plant gave me a sample of some of the world's freshest bacon. (No tours, alas.)

FREE FOOD? I ACCEPT!
It's custom in many countries to offer food or drink to foreign visitors. And it can be downright rude to refuse or try to pay for it. On my first day in the Middle East, a stern elderly man dressed like a Jedi invited me to take lunch with him at a roadside Indian restaurant near Muscat, Oman. He said little other than "it, eat,"and "What name do they call you?"? as we scooped up curry with broken-off bits of chapatis. When I offered to pay (about $3 for the both of us), he refused outright by making a quick vertical hand motion over the table. Many times in the days to follow, robed Omanis appeared at my table, offering tea, fresh Omani dates, and friendly chit-cat about our families and why a non-expat American had come to their country. It was the kindness (not just the dates) that made the trip. Now I aim to return the favor with foreign travelers I meet back home.

SAVE MONEY FOR BLOW-OUT MEALS
If you never eat in a fancy restaurant or at an open-air plaza-side cafe buzzing with nightlife, you're missing out. Stick to your daily meal allowance, but plan for occasional binges. On my last day in Sardinia, I took the seat of a last-minute cancellation in an upscale Catalan fish restaurant, and ordered what the waiter recommended: grilled barracuda for $30 and a bottle of a local white wine. It cost me two weeks worth of peanut butter, but two years later it's that Med meal, not the beaches, that has me clamoring to go back.

Illustration by Matt Dujnic