Everybody's busy. We get that.
However, not everyone can afford a meal delivery service every week to save them time in-between their busy gig schedule. What do you do for cheap, on the fly meals, with little planning, and little change in your pocket?
Thankfully, the Internet's got you covered.
Reddit user, Sarnick18, wanted to know each of our great-tasting and, most importantly, cheap eats when they asked:
"What is a really good poor man's meal?"
Not going to say much else, and let the answers speak for themselves, but if you can find some Tortilla Land tortillas, the raw kind you throw on a pan to heat up, and eggs, that's breakfast for you for the whole week. Maybe seven or eight dollars, depending on the eggs?
Breakfast For Dinner?
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"Potatoes and eggs"
RickyFL
"I love dicing potatoes and making fresh hashbrowns. Throw that in a skillet with onions and garlic, scoot it over and fry two eggs in the same pan and you have a fantastic meal."
"If you aren't super confident with cooking potatoes in the skillet, you can precook them in the skillet and then, whip up some eggs, add cheese and make that into an omelet."
"I could go on. I always keep eggs, potatoes, onions, and garlic in the house."
p4lm3r
It'll Last You A Couple Of Days, Too
"Just basic tomato pasta is pretty cheap."
"In the U.K: bag of pasta that would serve 2/3 people £1. Can of plum tomato's: 40p. Onion: 40p. Garlic: 50p. This feeds two people and some leftovers for less than £3. If you wanna spruce it up you can chop any veg in, or add some cheese w/e. When I was a broke a-- student me and my boyfriend lived on tomato pasta."
prettybunbun
Filling And Inventive
"When I lived in an apartment and money was tight Me and my significant other would have banana rolls for supper. This consisted of a tortilla wrap with a banana either cut up or just whole some peanut butter a little bit of yogurt and honey drizzled on top"
FatJedi026
Put An Egg On anything
"Rice with and over-easy egg on top"
pamtri24
Weird, But Open For Anything
"Mmmm... Probably spaghetti and beans. Tried it once because it was the only thing left in my pantry and I LOVED it!"
LititzMuriyaa2
Cheaper In Bulk
"Microwave Mac and cheese"
"Boil literally any pasta Microwave a handful of shredded cheese and a lil milk (water if you don't have milk) Mix the pasta into the melted cheese Pop that bad boy into the microwave again and eat it like the king you are"
xxxtesticularcancer
Seriously, Egg On Everything
"A poached egg on toast."
"Runny in the middle."
"No more than $1."
"Delicious."
Nightingale73
It's All In The Name
"My wife has this dish she calls "Peasant Food"
"It's literally Rice and ground beef with metric tons of garlic salt and soy sauce and a touch of sugar. Can't begin to tell you how many times that have saved us when we were a week away from being paid."
MrScootaroo
When You Have To Feed A Family
"Red beans and Sausage over rice."
"A pound of dried red beans, some bullion cubes, a bell pepper, onion and a pound of sausage... I can feed eight people for about eight bucks."
austinmonster
"Oats. Oats. Oats. Oats. Oats."
"Oats oats oats."
"Better nutritionally wise than rice and potatoes. cheapest ones are about 0.8 Eur/kg, the difference from more expensive ones being that they have some shucks that are not filtered out, so just do it yourself while eating. Take 100-130g of dry oats, boil in water and they are ready to consume (I don't even use salt nor sugar, just plain oats, still taste good). Combine with banana or any affordable fruit, coffee or milk for a drink and peanut butter and you have yourself real champion's meal."
Bakaleu
Soup As A Topper
"Cook a serving of rice (bag of rice is quite cheap for how many servings - I'm talking Asian rice bags). This is about $25 for 15 pounds. A serving is 90 grams meaning 1 bag is 75 or so servings. So $0.33 per serving. Buy whatever discount can of soup you can find. Dollar store is a great option. Heat that up and mix into the rice. You now have poor man's risotto. $1.33 per meal and you can buy a bunch of different flavor soups to change up your meals."
"You get carbs, protein, veggies all in 1 meal. If you want to be extra frugal you can split the soup into 2 servings. So $0.83 per meal."
"You'll be hard pressed to find a cheaper meal."
C2BSR
2005 Internet Is Back!
"Potatoes; Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew..."
SentientPotato25
Tortillas > Bread
"Eggs are on the cheaper end and they are really good for you."
"Tortillas are cheaper than bread."
"Find a deal for some kind of meat. Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey. Etc."
"Scramble the eggs, cook the meat, heat up the tortillas and you have a solid meal. Nice and filling, tastes great, and amazingly cheap if you're smart about it."
MadGod1210
"Banana + Peanut Butter + Tortilla"
"Easy to make, easy to eat, dirt cheap."
"Also works with a nuked sweet potato."
gvf77
EVERYBODY. EGGS.
"Starkist chunky light tuna and rice."
"Maybe a fried egg on top with some sriracha or something to give it more flavor. Could add other staples like beans, baked potato chunks. A 4-can pack of tuna is like a little over $4 so you can easily get several meals in."
oceanofflavor
Cheaply Buy In Bulk For Repeat Usage
"Poor man's dessert, cook a tortilla put butter on it then mix some cinnamon and sugar sprinkle it on top and then you can cut it in triangle parts and it's pretty good"
tehmamlymenman
A Throwback to College Dorms Everywhere
"Ramen is pretty good. I like to add hot sauce and crackers to it"
elementaltheboi
"I like to drop a whisked egg into it 20 seconds before I take it off, siracha, and left over meat if available."
mrblacklabel71
Anything To Get Those Calories
"At my worst when I didn't have electricity I would buy single portion packs of instant mashed potatoes and eat the powder and follow up with water. It was basically like astronaut food. 50 cents a meal, son."
Vanin1994
"This is honestly the best answer to the original question. Other people talking about frying, baking, and actual cooking with butter and spices. This guy is swishing around instant potatoes with cold water in his mouth to get his calories."
[usernameredacted]
The King Of Cheap
"Rice and beans have kept poor peasants alive for centuries."
Uranus_Hz
"I used to make a big pot of rice & beans and it would last for days. For the beans take two cans of pinto beans and dump them in the pot, one can of water (refill one of the bean cans with the water to measure), one little mini can of tomato paste, a spoonful of sugar and some salt or salzon seasoning, then toss in a potato and onion (or couple of garlic cloves) to add flavor and let it boil, then simmer for 45 mins or so. Take out the potato and onion and serve over the rice."
willow212
Here's A Few...
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"I'm a very frugal and lazy cook but I try to eat reasonably well. I prefer fresh ingredients simply prepared. Here are some of my staples:"
- Spaghetti and butter, salt and lots of cracked black pepper. Optionally saute pepper flake, lemon zest, and/or fresh garlic before tossing in pasta. Many people overcook pasta, learn how to cook it al dente.
- Roast chicken thighs and root vegetables over rice. Lots of variation here, but rendered chicken fat and rice is delicious.
- Oatmeal. Whole milk, brown sugar, butter, salt, raisins.
- Chicken salad. Get chicken breast on sale, you can make a huge batch with celery and onion and have sandwiches all week.
- Baked sweet potato, loaded with literally any savory toppings. Maybe it's just me but it's much better than a regular baked potato
- Chana masala (sauteed/curried chickpeas)
- Learn how to stir fry. There's too much to summarize here but basically learning how much heat to use and when, and how to layer ingredients into the pan is very valuable skill in the kitchen. And acid + sugar (even just white vinegar and white sugar) to round it out.
Never Discount The "Food Of The Peasants"
"Ratatouille. I know it sounds fancy but my monthly budget is already screwed for October and I fed 3 people 2 meals each for $5 from our local farm market"
EdgaarRagnarok
"Wasn't it literally [peasant] food?"
reliesonblitz
"Yes. It's thinly sliced veggies roasted with some seasoning and garnish."
"The movie didn't quite go into detail on this, but that's WHY it was so monumental to the food critic guy."
"Here he is, in an upscale restaurant, just READY to be disappointed. But then out comes a dish of ratatouille, something his mom made for him growing up and is never considered to be an actually high-class dish."
"And he just gets blown away. It's made with such care and attention that he literally feels like he's back in his loving mother's kitchen again."
"One of my favorite scenes from any movie."
hennyessey
Let's be honest: sometimes the cheapest meals fill us up the most and taste more delicious than anything a $50 bill could buy.
What's your favorite "poor man" meal? Sound off in the comments below.
- People Break Down Their Absolute Favorite 'Lazy Meals' - George Takei ›
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- People Break Down The Things Only Someone Who's Been Poor Will Understand - George Takei ›
- People Break Down Which Foods Are Widely Seen As Healthy But Aren't At All - George Takei ›
- Foreigners Share Their Favorite Fast And Easy Meals To Make - George Takei ›
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.