History Main / ImprobableFoodBudget

* In ''ScoobyDoo'', Scooby and Shaggy eat copious amounts of food; it's practically their defining trait. Yet the gang doesn't appear to actually have any flow of income at all. It doesn't appear that they're paid for solving the mysteries, and none of them actually have a job.

* Toyed with in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' franchise. The Weasley family is constantly said to be poor, often unable to afford luxuries and making do with second hand items, yet they are shown eating huge meals and can afford to allow an unexpected guest to gorge himself several times a day with no complaint. In one of the later books, it is revealed that, while magic cannot create food from scratch, it can create copies of already existing food, so all Molly would need to do is make, say, a single sandwich, cast the spell, and suddenly she would have a platter full of sandwiches. Of course, their "unexpected guest" was shown to be rather wealthy due to his inheritance, so although it's not directly mentioned in the book, Harry could easily have padded the budget to make up for his visits.

* The conclusion of TheHairBearBunch episode "King Klong Vs. The Masked Marvel" had the superintendent ordering Peevly and Botch to give the bears anything they wanted as a reward for helping Peevly win $500 at a wrestling match. The bears order virtually every edible thing they can think of, and the keepers run back and forth delivering the stuff out of nowhere.

* Jughead's burgers in {{Archie}} comics. Every once in a while there's a comic about Jughead struggling to pay his tab, but it doesn't explain it.

** Their situation is possibly explained by a willingness to go further into debt; soon after Elliot is cut off by her parents, the gang goes out for an expensive dinner and she laments that she can't afford it. JD points out that they're all in so much debt from their student loans that one dinner won't make much of a difference.

* A variation on the theme comes from ''{{Reaper}}''. Sam's gang, who work at a CaptainErsatz for The Home Depot, can afford multiple beers and shots at their neighbourhood bar, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Booze]]. Somewhat justified in that Sam and Sock both live with their parents, though Andi complains that she couldn't possibly buy a house with what she makes at The Work Bench.

* The prequel to the fifth ''SakuraWars'' game, ''Kouya no Samurai Musume'' (roughly, "The Samurai Girl from the Wild West"), takes this trope to extremes. Gemini and Juanita win $100,000 in Las Vegas (this is set in 1928, so this would be equal to more than a million in 2010 dollars). A few scenes later, after an in-story elapsed time of only a few weeks, it is implied that they have spent the entire amount on food for themselves. How they can afford to eat in times when they ''don't'' have such sums of money flowing in is not clear.

* The gang of ''{{Friends}}'' is the living embodiment of this trope. Joey and Chandler especially, as they seem to eat takeout every night, and they all drink at least five bucks worth of coffee a day at [[LocalHangout Central Perk]]. Chandler has a well-paying job, and Monica's a chef when she's working, but still.

* The GilmoreGirls never seem to cook, and eat out constantly and in large amounts, even though Lorelei probably isn't making tons of money running the inn. What's more, they aren't carrying any extra weight. Lorelei probably weighs 120 soaking wet. This is often lampshaded to varying degrees throughout the show. At one point, Rory comes back from college and notices that Lorelai is cooking. She takes this as a sign that her mother is in real financial trouble and turns out to be right.
* Averted in ''DeadLikeMe''. Despite Der Waffle House being the common meeting place, the characters all have some sort of day job (except Daisy and Mason, unless sponging off of sugar-daddies and running second-rate scams count), exhibit the expected issues with money, and often just sit drinking bottomless cups of coffee for extended periods of time.
* ''SeventhHeaven'' depicts a huge family that apparently has never heard of "economy-size." The Camdens, despite consisting of two parents, 5 - 7 kids, a dog, and any number of friends and grandparents drifting in and out, are often seen bringing home a "load" of groceries consisting of like two bags (implying that they're not really ''that'' low on food and this was just a quick errand... which Annie must run about half a dozen times a week) and getting pints or quarts of milk out of the fridge (instead of pouring a glass from a gallon). There's also always fruit and cookies and snack foods lying around for the snagging, and at least once Annie cooked a full family-sized meal that ended up getting ''thrown out'' because ''no one felt like eating it''.

* ''ThreesCompany'' is a confusing example of playing it straight and justifying it. Part of the premise was that the three roommates had to live together as the only way to afford to pay the rent on their apartment. However, they did have a rather large food budget, because Jack was studying to become a chef and needed to practice (and Janet and Chrissy decided to let him stay with them because he always cooked them amazing food.) This might explain why those "we need to pay the rent" stories kept popping up later after their financial situation improved (Jack graduated and found semi-steady work, Janet became manager of the flower shop she worked in, and Chrissy was replaced with Terri, who hopefully was paid better as a nurse than Chrissy was as a typist.)
* Norm and Cliff on ''{{Cheers}}'' seem to be at the bar every night, and Norm for one drank a ludicrous amount of beer whenever he was there. His incalculable bar tab was a running gag.

* In ''Literature/DoctorDolittle'' (both the book and the [[Film/DoctorDolittle 1967 film with Rex Harrison]]), we're explicitly told that he gets minimal salary, either in money or favors, yet he manages to feed hundreds of animals. It's explicitly stated in the books that he does indeed teeter on the brink of bankruptcy in the best of times, and that with considerable donations from people like the scraps man. Pretty sure he actually runs out of money at least once and is saved only by a few rich people gifting him with money. They had assumed that as a doctor, he simply had enough money to spare (which is TruthInTelevision for people like doctors, lawyers, actors, and professional athletes).
** The first book eventually resolves the issue by having the doctor visit Africa to heal some sick monkeys and be gifted a little-known animal called a Pushme-Pullyou. At the suggestion of his other animals (and with the Pushme-Pullyou's permission), he visits towns and charges admission for people to see the animal.

* There is the lasagna that ''{{Garfield}}'' seems to consume by the metric ton. Obviously, Garfield's not paying for the stuff, but it is odd that Jon apparently spends that much money making/buying huge amounts of a dish he doesn't even appear to ''eat''.
** Some comics show Garfield just stealing whatever Jon was making for himself, sometimes [[RefugeInAudacity as Jon's eating it]]. It still raises the question of how Jon's able to pay for so much food, but it does explain ''why'' he'd bother making it.

** It was explained that, at least in the early seasons, they got free coffee at Central Perk because Rachel worked there.

* In ''IkaMusume'', when trying to cure Ika Musume of the hiccups, the girls prepare her a huge fancy meal that includes ''lobster''. This from a seaside shack that can't afford to fix a hole in the wall (though that's deliberate to keep Ika busy with working rather than invading).

* Coop from ''MegasXLR'' pushes this one to ridiculous heights, constantly eating as much junk food as he can while being a bona fide [[TheSlacker Slacker]].

* In ''{{Seinfeld}}'', the gang is seen eating at the local diner almost every day, despite the fact that George is often out of work and Kramer seems to have no job whatsoever.

* In ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', Hal and Lois are able to make and ruin three lavish evenings (including a limo ride, a roast dinner, and dinner at a fancy restaurant) in three nights in a row. Yet another episode clearly shows Hal resorting to blackmailing his in-laws to afford a new refrigerator, and Hal and Lois' cars were ([[ProductPlacement oddly for television]]) both over ten years old throughout the series.

* Averted appropriately on ''{{Roseanne}}'' in the episode "Home Ec," where she's a guest speaker at Darlene's class (to the latter's unending embarrassment) on how to feed a family of five on a limited budget. She takes the class on a field trip to the supermarket and we're shown how to make such fine cuisine like cornflake meatloaf (of course getting the store-brand cornflakes and ground beef that's like 50% fat). Another episode shows the family getting ready to go out to dinner and divvying up a set amount for each person. Though even then, they didn't seen to worry much about frequently ordering pizza whenever the two adults were too overworked to cook.

* There is the lasagna that ''{{Garfield}}'' seems to consume by the metric ton.

* Inverted in ''CowboyBebop'' where the crew never have money for food even though they take bounties for millions of woolong. In one episode a bounty they catch is several million woolong and presumably they spend it all on repairs ... were repairs exactly 2.999 million woolong? It's extremely improbable when dealing with millions in cash that they couldn't keep even 500 for food. This inversion could be subverted in that the series doesn't exactly follow a linear storyline, and it could be months later when they run out of cash.

Contrast with DogFoodDiet. See also FriendsRentControl.

** There is one episode when this becomes an issue (Phoebe and Joey, at this time the poorer members of the group, talk about the strain this lifestyle puts on their finances). After that episode, it's never mentioned again, despite no visible change in their habits.

* The ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' gang. For most intents and purposes honey, bread and condensed milk seem to constitute their entire diets, but ''none'' of them earns any money whatsoever. Does Christopher Robin buy their food for them? Rabbit seems to grow and produce everything, and everyone else mooches off of him. At least in the DisneyAnimatedCanon. (Piglet and Eeyore, at least, have diets that can be foraged for; "Haycorns" and thistles respectively.)

* The main characters of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' spend almost every night at the bar. Food aside, their alcohol budget must be astronomical. Barney might be able to afford this, but a kindergarten teacher with a shopping addiction? This is lampshaded occasionally.

* Averted appropriately on ''{{Roseanne}}'' in the episode "Home Ec," where she's a guest speaker at Darlene's class (to the latter's unending embarrassment) on how to feed a family of five on a limited budget. She takes the class on a field trip to the supermarket and we're shown how to make such fine cuisine like cornflake meatloaf (of course getting the store-brand cornflakes and ground beef that's like 50% fat). Another episode shows the family getting ready to go out to dinner and divvying up a set amount for each person.

* In Webcomic/CravingControl, the gluttonous protagonist Lalia frequently consumes enough food to feed her entire university, despite not having a job of any kind.
* In ''QuestionableContent'', Marten works at a college library and Faye and Dora work at a coffeeshop, yet they go out to eat (and to the bar) all the time. Plus, Marten and Faye's apartment is really nice. Part of this can be explained by the number of cheap restaurants one would expect to find in a college town, but they still go out to eat a bit too often.

* The sewer-dwelling WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}} sure can buy a lot of pizza....

* ''ICarly'' uses an odd variation on this trope: they don't seem to ''eat'' beyond their means (indeed, "spaghetti tacos" are something of a TrademarkFavoriteFood, and they've made a RunningGag of the kids turning down the extras proffered on a stick at [[LocalHangout The Groovy Smoothie]]), but they ''waste'' copious amounts of food in the webshow.

* Joe, Owen, and Terry from ''MenOfACertainAge'' eat at their fave diner at least three times a week (which is 3x an episode). Owen owns a struggling car dealership and has a wife/3 children and a mortgage. Joe is divorced (likely paying alimony and child support), has a mortgage, and has a [[spoiler: gambling problem]], and in the beginning Terry was an unemployed actor.
* Typically inverted with Charlie in ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', as he's shown to have a desperately small food budget that includes purchases not fit for human consumption. Played straight in "Mac and Dennis: Manhunters", when Charlie and Dee buy what must be hundreds of dollars worth of exotic meats from specialty grocery stores to convince themselves they aren't cannibals (might be justified if Dee's doing the buying, since she and Dennis both get money from Frank).

** ''Seriously'' lampshaded in "22 Short Films About Springfield", where Moe sends away to NASA in order to calculate Barney's tab, and it turns out to be $14 billion dollars. (Which in all logic, would be impossible.) To make it even weirder, Barney is able to pay $2,000 of it (in cash) and gives no explanation of how he got it (although some episodes imply that he can make decent money letting himself by used for dubious medical experiments).

* Toyed with in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' franchise. The Weasley family is constantly said to be poor, often unable to afford luxuries and making do with second hand items, yet they are shown eating huge meals and can afford to allow an unexpected guest to gorge himself several times a day with no complaint. In one of the later books, it is revealed that, while magic cannot create food from scratch, it can create copies of already existing food, so all Molly would need to do is make, say, a single sandwich, cast the spell, and suddenly she would have a platter full of sandwiches.