I’m luckily to not currently in that sort of position anymore, but back then it was at least once a a week, sometimes more, that I would have to go hungry. 5 people, one person cooks, kitchen is filthy all the time (I spent a couple hours making it spotless a week or so after arrival, literally the next day it was back the way it was), so food had to be non-perishable snacks, canned, or bought from nearby restaurants. And with roughly $350 to work with after rent/utilities (but not counting cell phone, insurance, etc), stretching that for a month in those conditions meant something had to give. Around $10 a day for all expenses. We were just outside of the towns bus route too, and I couldn’t walk more than a quarter mile or so, so to get to a store to buy groceries and snacks meant calling a rideshare, which is pricey in a small town…

I ended up having to leave and live with family, since it just wasn’t financially possible, even split 5 ways, even in a low-income development. :(