rice and beans
/raɪs ænd biːnz/
CommonThe universal symbol of eating cheap, used to describe a budget-focused period of life or diet.
Has an overlap with personal finance culture where it's used literally as advice. In regular internet slang, it's more shorthand for living on the bare minimum.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | rice and beans until payday. at least it's actually nutritious. | Eating the cheapest possible food while finding a silver lining in how complete the nutrition is. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | going full rice and beans mode. paying off debt in 6 months or i'm not real. | Committing to extreme frugality to hit a financial goal fast. | reddit, 2023 |
| 03 | not a rice and beans person but i respect the commitment | Acknowledging someone's extreme frugality without wanting to do it yourself. | x, 2024 |
| 04 | grew up on rice and beans. not a budget hack. just what we ate. | Distinguishing real food insecurity from financial advice framing. | tiktok, 2023 |
Use it when
- You're cutting food costs to the absolute minimum.
- Describing a financially austere period of life.
- Used in personal finance contexts to mean ultra-frugal living.
Do not use it when
- You're cooking actual rice and beans as a cultural dish.
- You want to describe luxury frugality.
Origin and context
Rice and beans as a food staple spans global cultures. Its use in English internet slang as a symbol of extreme frugality grew out of personal finance communities, particularly the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and debt payoff communities on Reddit.
- First seen
- 2010s
- Confidence
- medium
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Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/rice-and-beansUpdated: 2026-08-29License: CC BY 4.0