this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2025
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I have to be honest - and maybe it's partially a skill issue - but I really can't. I'm running a deficit every week. I'm stuck in rotating CashApp loans. Every week I also end up borrowing 20 to 50 from friends, to be paid back on payday. So wash, rinse, repeat. And I have to visit mutual aid way more often than I'd like. So the honest answer to your question is a negative number, as far as available. As far as what I spend, I don't really know. And I guarantee I'm not spending it smart when I'm stress buying the one meal I get that day because someone came through. So I just get cheap takeout for like 10. Which I know is awful, but I do think it's understandable. I'm trying to do better.
Okay, so you got pots and pans and ten bucks every once in a while.
Don’t worry about that big reply I made, we’re going smaller.
Instead you’re just gonna focus on one recipe, the hoppin John. Beans and rice are incredibly cost effective and by varying the specific beans and grains you can use that rough outline of a recipe to make dozens of different dishes.
Same ingredients, but this time you’re buying smaller amounts so you can afford to spend more on greens and other vegetables.
$2 - 2lbs white rice
$2 - 2 lbs dried beans
$6 - vegitables
Vegetables is a crazy item, but you might get like an onion or two, a bulb of garlic, a jalapeño pepper, whatever greens are cheap and a half pound of mushrooms that are on special.
Cook the beans like I said before, but reserve all the leftover liquid and use it to cook the rice and make a simmering sauce for the veggies. You’ll have about three quarts of beans and about as much rice, but cook that 1 cup at a time (makes about a quart, 1 cup dry rice to 2 1/2 cups water) so you don’t have stale old cooked rice hanging out. Maybe a quart and a half of vegetable mix when it’s all done.
Make sure to season your beans after they’re done with salt and pepper and put salt and pepper in the water for your rice.
The technique with making a little topping for your beans and rice is knowing what takes the longest to cook. I always go mushrooms -> onions -> root veggies -> garlic/aromatics -> greens and pull it when the greens look like they’re really “popping” with color. For long sautees like this make sure you salt “through” by adding a little bit with each ingredient and any other spices you want to use.
Tase the food you’re making as you go so you don’t end up accidentally over seasoning.
When you make a bowl go ahead and put a dab of sauce from the sauce packet drawer on top.
Thats about six thousand calories worth of food. You can use different beans and different grains like grits or oatmeal or whatever too, so if you end up with ten more bucks before you run out you can use the same buying process to stock up on more staples and vary your goop scoop up.
E: I did my math wrong af, it’s about 12000 calories.