The thing that everyone ITT seems to be forgetting is that while yes making rice or beans or something similar can be cheap and also very filling. When someone is working 40+ hours a week at multiple jobs to keep a roof over their heads, depression is inevitable. Living paycheck to paycheck is stressful, anxiety inducing, and depressing. So when someone is exhausted and depressed, sometimes all they have the energy for is to pour a bowl of cereal, because anything beyond that is just too much.

[–] Got_Bent@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

I'm more or less in the situation you describe, but I don't find rice and beans to be particularly stressful.

Part of that is that I do cheat with canned beans instead of making them from dry.

But rice is pretty much get home, start rice, go pee, get out of work clothes, curse my existence, and boom, rice is done.

I'm not in the financial situation you describe. I can afford better food. But better food does take effort that I don't want to put in after twelve to fourteen hour days. I'm way too tired to be bothered with chopping and prepping. In slower times of the year, I'll do that in Sunday for the whole week, but in these busier times, I can't even get to that.