Agreed ....Once I had to completely start life over and though I was very careful there would be several days at the end of the month where I ran out of money.
So the first thing I would buy was a bag of rice which was hidden in a box under the bed.
It is amazing how good, plain old rice is when you are very hungry.
Yes, when I moved out on my own after getting my first “real” job, with entry level paltry pay, I was very happy to have a nice, safe-area apartment for $90/mo, and ate lots of rice, applesauce, corn, maybe cottage cheese, and a few other staples like PBJ. Popcorn was a treat. I survived on my phone company wages until I moved out to get married. Life was simple, I had enough to buy small gifts at Christmas, etc., and my furniture was sparse and hand-me downs. I was grateful beyond belief for all of it.
Later, during my LE career years, I walked into many a chronic welfare apartment with all the latest electronics the late 80’s and 90’s had to offer, bigger TV’s than we had, for sure. And when all the AFDC, food stamps and housing benefits were added up, many knew that going to work would be a step down economically.