broke meal
/broʊk miːl/
CommonThe cheapest possible food you eat when you're out of money.
More direct about financial hardship than struggle meal. Less humor, more honesty. Can be said with pride or exhaustion depending on context.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | saltine crackers with peanut butter. broke meal of champions. | This combination is the go-to when there's genuinely nothing else. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | rent hit yesterday so it's officially broke meal szn for 3 weeks | After paying rent there's no money left for real groceries. | x, 2024 |
| 03 | i will not be describing what i just ate. it was a broke meal and we move on. | The meal was too embarrassing or minimal to share, but they ate something. | x, 2023 |
| 04 | hot water with bouillon cube is a broke meal but it genuinely kept me going | The nearly-nothing meal was enough to get through the moment. | reddit, 2022 |
Use it when
- You ate something because it was the only thing left and you had no money.
- Describing the food situation when you're genuinely financially stretched.
- Acknowledging without pretense that you're eating the cheapest possible thing.
Do not use it when
- You're just eating cheaply by choice when you have other options.Use “budget meal” instead.
- You made something creative from limited ingredients.Use “struggle meal” instead.
Broke meal vs struggle meal
broke meal
Broke meal is about having no money and no options.
VS
struggle-meal
Struggle meal is about making something from very little.
Origin and context
Emerged from internet culture around financial hardship content. Gained wider use through TikTok and Reddit communities around budgeting, poverty finance, and relatable broke-life humor.
- First seen
- 2020s
- Confidence
- low
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/broke-mealUpdated: 2026-08-29License: CC BY 4.0