I fed myself on $35 a week in college, now I spend $35 on ONE dinner. Here is what actually changed.
Back in 2019 I was living in a studio in Dayton and doing the whole rice, beans, and frozen veggie thing for about $35 a week total. I would buy a 10 pound bag of rice for $6, dried beans for $2, and whatever veggies were marked down at Kroger, and that was basically it. Then I got a raise and slowly stopped planning anything, and last Tuesday I spent $34 on one takeout order without even blinking. The scary part is not the money, its that I forgot how to cook cheap without it feeling like a punishment. I tried going back to my old grocery list last month and I honestly could not remember half the meals I used to make. What is the one cheap meal you still actually make now that you have more money, not just the ones you used to survive on?
The "feeling like a punishment" part is so real. For me the shift was realizing I stopped cooking cheap stuff because of the blandness, not the cost. So now I still make my old lentil soup but I splurge on good bread and real parmesan to go with it, costs maybe $6 total and feels like a treat instead of survival food.