<prompt> Human: Hi rpersonalfinance, Im having financial trouble for the first time in my life, and it has me really anxious and Im not sure what to do. Im a college student in FL with a part-time on-campus job, making around 130 a week. About 5 months ago, I was given 1000 by a relative to use to help pay for a car. Fast forward to now, all the money has been used for rent, I cant pay my current rent, and Im in need of some advice. I am facing a possible eviction from my current apartment for being 2 weeks late on rent, and the late fees are piling on.Lets start of with this, I am not making enough money to cover my expenses. I need a new job, and some other sources of income. With my current job, I get around 15 hours per week, and thats including shifts I cover for others. I make 8 an hour, but my rent is 550 a month. The biggest issue is I do not get any work while school is closed during Semester breaks 1 month long every 4 monthsHere is a list of the expenses I have: Rent: 550mo This months is 670 Food: 400mo 275mo I know I can reduce this, but Im not sure what to doI overshot my food costs a bit. After looking into it, I spend around 275 per month, which is still high Entertainment: 150mo School: 3000 Every 4 months Money I owe myself: 1000Here is a list of the income I get: Work: 550mo Financial Aid: 3850 4 Months Family aid covers the rest of my expensesSo my main questions come to: What sort of jobs should I look for? What can I do in addition to work to make more money? Should I get a credit card, and how should I manageuse it? What can I do to reduce food costs? For starters I eat deliveryfast food too often Any other financial advice that you could give to a kid, is very welcome.EDIT Thank you so much for all of your advice. Im going to look for a new job when I return to Campus after break. On top of this Im writing a bunch of scholarship essays to cover my tuition, so that financial aid can cover my rent instead. In addition, I play a lot of video games. Im going to start using this time more productively, by either creating content for these games, to make money on the side, or by spending my computer time on some other sort of work. Time to start grocery shopping more as well.Assistant: Agreed on the stop eating out. Learn how to cook, say, 5 simple recipes, then iterate through those. You can learn to vary them without adding much cost as well. Heres a few cheap ideas:-Cerealoatmeal for breakfast-PBJ or lunchmeat for lunch, with fruit or veggies, maybe some crackers or cookies.-Dinner: Spaghetti, burritos, or even ramen if youre really in a pinch add some veggies or meat to spice it up. These are all pretty quick, which is often an issue that keeps people from cooking for themselves.The other thing I see you can reduce is entertainment. Ill make some assumptions here, but the advice in general holds:-Try going to the movies only once a month, rent a redbox movie other times-If you spend a lot on music, switch to spotifyrhapsodysome other subscription service-Find fun things to do for cheap around the community-... I dont know anything about going out to bars or such, sorry, Ill be no help there, other than to say go less frequently.As for bringing in more income, try to find a job with your skills as a TA, for instance or take on a second job. Theres really no way to get around it other than working more or working for a higher salary somehow. Human: Do you happen to know any cheap recipes? I can cook well, but most of the recipes I know cost a bit.  <response>: Lunches:Couscous Store brand 5.99 per pound makes three 4 portions with a little some some extraOlives 3x0.59 a canCorn 3x0.99 a canBlack beans 3x 1.29 a canFollow the directions for the couscous and just add everything one of each can obviously else at the end with salt, butter, parsley, and a meat of your choice. Pro-tip: when making the couscous, put a tablespoon of minced garlic with the boiling water and butter and olive oil. For the meat I usually use kielbasa 2 for 5 type of deal that I cook separate from the couscous while its fluffing. The sausages usually come in 2 links per package and one is sufficient. Turkey Sandwich with Hummus chips apples and peanut butter can also be substituted1 6 pack of sub rolls 2.99 ish1 14-16oz of TurkeyHam 3.49, only buy it when its around this price1 10 sliced cheese of your choice i use pepper jack1 Tub of hummus 3.49 store brand if you can, I dont usually buy it unless its this price or lowerAlfalfa sprouts 1.99 for a package1 Decently sized cucumber 0.79 perMayonnaise light 1 tub 1.99 or below enough for 36-42 sandwichesSlice about 4-6 thin cucumber slices, cut the sub in half, spread mayonnaise on one half, hummus on the other, lay down some cucumber slices, fold the cheese in half and split the two pieces lengthwise across the hummus side, put alfalfa sprouts on top of the cucumbers, and then the meat. Pro-tip: Sriracha sauce makes an amazing addition to the sandwich. Dinner:Grilled chicken tacos. Tortillas 1.0016 tortillas, shredded cheese 1.89 a bag, tomatoeslettuce fresh! 1.99lb 1.49lb, grilled chicken 2.49lbFrozen Salmon 9.99 per 6 oz filets with sautéed Kale 0.99lb shallots 2.49lb. When you get the kale, make sure to just sauté the part away from the root? with some garlic and shallots. Pan medhigh heat, enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pot, teaspoon of chopped garlic per pound of kale and half of a shallot on top of the kale, cover and cook until level of doneness usually 5 - 7 minutes for a crisper bite and not as soggy when microwaved. Bulgolgi rice a korean meat dish that may seem intimidating and takes some prep, but worth the cook and relatively made for cheap. It tastes best cooked at time of consumption but you can definitely make it all at the same time. 1lb of cheap marinating type meat usually under 5.99lb Pro-tip: its best to buy the HUNK of meat rather than slices steaks and such, because youre going to need to cut it thin, the tip would be to put it in the FREEZER 30 minutes while youre prepping the rest of the ingredients.Carrots 0.99 for a bag usually, and put in as much as you want. Pro-tip: use a vegetable peeler to peel thin slices from the one end to the other, like youre making ovals rather than strips.Onion one is usually enoughSoy Sauce 2 CupsSugar based on taste, I usually put half a cupRice Vinegar bottle of it around 1.49Sesame seeds idk the price on this, I bought a large container of it a while ago and am still using it in a lot of my dishes, 1.99?Garlic 6-10x cloves Sliced rather than mincedchopped, personally it has a better flavor texture Pro-tip to peel them faster, put them into a bowl and cover the bowl with a similar same sized bowl and just shake them until they come out of their wrapper.Rice cheap as chinese made toys, just follow the directions on the packagebagThe meat will have to be sliced thin, not paper thin, but not half an inch thin, somewhere in between and be sure to use a sharp knife, otherwise you may find some blood in the mixture. The marinade will be mixed with all other ingredients in whatever order you choose. If you have a 9x13 cake pan then you will have the best marinating dish for the meal. Depending on the cut of meat you use, it may be 1-3 days for the marinade to fully break down the sinews and be nice and fall-apart-ish when you cook it. I personally like using the meats that say marinate on the package because then I know after 2 days, itll be the texture I want it at. Hopefully this helps out. This is currently my dietcutback on food costs for the past 8 months. Ive lost 27 pounds, feel better, and my wallet can go more towards things I need alcohol. Typically I reserve one nightday of the week to just make the food for 3-4 days. I dont like making it and leaving things in the fridge longer than 5-6 days. This will also be an idea of how portioning should work as well. Surprisingly enough, one of the recipes listed above will make 4 days worth of meals. The couscous takes less than 10 minutes to make 4 days of food. Oh and for those who are going to gripe about breakfast. Eat some yogurt 0.59 per container if you go fancy smancy with brand and about 0.39 for store brand. Weve all been the broke college kid, but it doesnt mean that you cant make meals that taste great and fill out the daily nutrients for your diet. Typical grocery visits once a week total to about 26 on a bad day. Divide that by 8 meals they make, and youre looking at right above 3 a meal if you only buy the materials and not the olive oilgarlicparsleyonion stashsaltpepper.My grocery bag literally from yesterday that I bought. Sub rolls 2.99Sliced turkey 16oz 1.79, it was BOGOSprouts 1.99Cheese 1.99Apples 3lb 3.99Peanut butter 16oz 1.89Frozen Salmon 6 6oz filets 9.99Kale 1.5lbs 1.87Shallots 3.12Yogurt 10x 5.90 I splurged a little bit36.23 for my entire weeks worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Granted, I had to buy a new tub of peanut butter, apples and shallots. But still, roughly divided by the 6-7 days of meals, its less than 7 per day. I have a plethora of different recipes, but this one keeps me fit and feeling healthy for the most part, sans alcohol, but thats for another day. Prost! 