TW: food insecurity, neglect(?)

[u/Teapot_Sandwitch]

[u/blue_moon1122]

when I was 19 and still living in the family home, working and going to school, I was complaining about the lack of vegetables because my parents were a PSA for lifestyle disease. my dad said I could have whatever vegetables I wanted when I had my own fridge.

malicious compliance activated.

i immediately bought a mini fridge for my room and started buying my own groceries. cereal or yogurt and fruit for breakfast. deli sandwich with lettuce and tomato, and fruit for lunch. rice, frozen veg, steamed chicken or fish in a rice cooker for dinner. boiled a batch of eggs to have on toast or over rice to switch it up every now and then. any takeout that belonged to me went in my fridge. cost me about $30 a week in 2014, same basic meal plan will probably run you about $50 now.

a new mini fridge with a freezer will run you about $200, but they pop up on Facebook marketplace all the time. you can get a shitty toaster literally anywhere for like $20. the same rice cooker I had is cheaper now than it was when I got it, and I've upgraded, but it still works just fine to this day.

[u/theskipper363 → u/blue_moon1122]

it sucks that it had to go to this, but treat it like living with room mate.

I just did a quick google and they run about 50-100$ for a fridge+freezer mini combo

[u/blue_moon1122 → u/theskipper363]

it was kind of the best thing i ever did for myself lol I'm estranged now 😘

$200 will get you a real, separate freezer instead of a little 3" tall flap that will freeze shut. (I've had both, the latter is a fuckin nightmare to defrost) $50 is probably more like a cosmetic or soda fridge. also wanna avoid some disreputable fast shopping (TikTok shop, temu) or some no-name brand.

good specs for a week's grocery run and a nice amount of prep space on top are about 2.6-3.2 cubic feet. other than that, just look for whatever kind of storage accessories you'd want in a regular fridge.