If you do behave "cheaper" than the locals, you don't bring much.
of course you don't, if you behave cheaper than the locals you will cost them money. But as I said, the average income is less than 2 dollars a day in India, that means many earn as Mel said, perhaps as little as 70 cents a day, while perhaps the middle class in the cities earn a lot more. So is 10 dollars living cheaper than the locals? I can tell you I pay fair price for everything, I just make sure I don't get cheated. Just because I am white and travel, doesn't mean I should pay more than a local for a bus/rickshaw fare or for a room/meal. But I do, always, the only thing I can make sure of is that I pay only 20 percent more instead of three times as much. I don't mind paying a little more, because I have the money.
By the way 10 dollars a day is my average budget in India, it means that at times I spend much more (while travelling around a lot and going into many sights) and at other times I spend much less because I am staying for a while on one spot. I normally pay around 5 dollars for a room with attached bathroom, the rest goes into food. I don't bargain at restaurants or street stalls, I look at the prices on the menu or ask them and if I think it is too expensive I go to another restaurant. I would do the same at home. I do bargain at hotels, but not always, it depends. I know what to expect for a certain amount of money, if they offer me a shitty stinkhole with no bathroom for 10 dollars I will either leave or tell them it isn't worth more than 2 dollars. In the season I will often have to pay more for a room, in the off season it is me who is getting the better deal. So it goes.
As Mel pointed out there are other ways to help than just with money. I went to a refugee camp in the northeast of India, out of curiousity, because I heard they were all still wearing their traditional clothing, living in traditional bamboo huts. I wrote about it, and half a year later, I got a mail from somebody working for the U.N. refugee agency asking me for contact details of the person I was staying with and how to get there. He had never heard about these refugees, had read my blog and now wanted to visit to assess the situation. I don't know if he did, if it helped or what happened, but clearly my writing about it did make an impact and a situation that was perhaps hidden from view before was now not. What did I do myself to help them? Not much, I gave some clothes, for the kids and a little money. Neither was asked of me, the guy I was staying with was happy to show me around and tell about the problems facing them and just happy that somebody was showing an interest and that perhaps the story would be told.
You know in the end I think it is good to have different kind of travelers, the budget ones, the mid range ones and the rich ones, they all give money to different segments of the population. If I were to up my budget and eat in a fancier place, it would mean I won't spend money on the cheap restaurant down the street. Somebody who owns a fancier restaurant probably already has some money (otherwise he couldn't own a fancy restaurant), so my money goes to make somebody who is already doing fine, better. That is no problem, he might spend the more money he makes on his family and local community, by buying more things at the local stores or hiring more staff. But if I spend it in the cheap restaurant I not only help myself, but also people who have little already and who might otherwise not get that extra income.
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