If following the script means living in a house with a proper kitchen with an oven vs a shoebox with no kitchen, driving a car vs a minibike, eating foreign foods if I desire vs a steady diet of Thai food, and having a wife vs assorted hookers, give me the script every time. I did not retire here to live in a room the size of a closet and live on fried rice.
There are ways to circumvent food cost. Cook your own food, cure and smoke bacon (bacon is very expensive but I love it), buy cheaper cheese and cold smoke it