When I first moved out on my own, I was too poor ass to afford fast food and $50 groceries. I had a part time job and was trying to get a second one. Between paying rent and commuting, I barely had over $20 left for food. And I made it stretch, buying instant ramen noodles, bags of rice, plain oatmeal, and apples on sale. For a long time I just guzzled down the oatmeal plain like a duck eating a worm (sugar was too expensive). It barely had flavor and the texture was gross, but I kept eating it. I was a newbie out on my own; it did not occur to me to slice up the apples to flavor the oatmeal until much later.
This was a couple years before I learned that men could apply for government food assistance too (I thought only moms with kids could). I stayed on food assistance for around 2 years until I had better employment and could start college. Plus I learned to cook and bake so the guys I was dating would foot the bills while I whipped up good tasting stuff for them. Funny enough, the practice I got choking down slimy plain oatmeal also helped me satisfy these guys besides cooking.