People become homeless for various reasons, but regardless of the motive, the need to survive is real. This homeless teenager decided to open a TikTok account and show how he cooks his meals and on how little a person can survive when in need. Calling himself @randomhomelessguy2, he now has nearly 580k followers for having only 3 videos.
His first TikTok was viewed more than 18.5m times. You can check out the cost-efficient meals he prepares using only a few things below and share your thoughts in the comments.
More info: TikTok
This homeless teenager shared a video that went viral overnight of how he cooks meals in a park
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
The hardship of being homeless is unfortunate, but this TikTok user decided to share how he prepares meals and actually does that with a very tight budget. The teenage @randomhomelessguy2 posted his first TikTok showing how he sets everything up for cooking in a local park that is equipped with power outlets and has drinking water fountains.
He uses water from drinking fountains and has bought an electric cooker, which he plugs into an outlet in a public park
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
He starts the video by plugging in his cooker, bought for 15 dollars at Walmart and fills up a $3 pot with water he got from a water fountain. He then chops up hot dogs with a plastic knife, adds noodles and pasta sauce—all 1 dollar each. Some of the users note that @randomhomelessguy2 cooks better than they do when he whips up a meal that cost him 3 bucks.
He cuts up the hot dog sausages with a plastic knife
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
All of the ingredients he used for cooking in this video were $1 each
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
The comments were exploding with concerned people suggesting to set up a GoFundMe, CashApp, and Venmo for him and his mother in order to add some cash to his daily budget.
Although some people were feeling quite altruistic, some users suggested he should sell his phone in order to have more money and even questioned the authenticity of his homelessness as he can afford to have a cellphone.
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
No pasta is complete without a sauce
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
One TikTok user, @sovietman535, questioned how the teenager is homeless and is still making TikToks, to which @randomhomelessguy2 answered with another video. According to the homeless teenager, he has an iPhone 11 that his mom bought for him last year at the beginning of 2020 before becoming homeless—and it has been his most cherished item that he has ever owned. In the comments, he thanked everyone for the concern, but declined the financial help.
And the meal is ready!
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
The TikTok video showing how the homeless teenager prepares his meals now has 19m views
In his second video, he shared that his budget that day was $1.25
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
The second video starts with him explaining that the budget of the day is $1.25—but luckily he has some ramen noodles for 50 cents each that he had in his backpack for about a week. He buys sourdough French bread that he shares with his mom, according to the video. He prepares the noodles using a park’s electric outlet, his electric stove and pot filled with water from drinking fountain. He seasons the noodles and stuffs them in the bread he bought at Walmart.
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
He used $0.50-a-pack ramen noodles he had in his backpack from the week before
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
Together with his mom, @randomhomelessguy2 are living in their car. They both have phones and their contract includes unlimited data; because of that, he is able to watch videos and make his own TikToks.
The teenager eats from the same pan he used to make the noodles
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
The bread bought for $1.25 he shared with his mom
Image credits: randomhomelessguy2
And here you can check out the full video made by @randomhomelessguy2
In his recent TikTok, he expressed understanding of doubts from the online community questioning his situation and the teenager agrees that some accounts are often chasing after fame.
He thanked the viewers for support and their encouraging words. According to Homeless Children’s Education Fund, as many as 62% of youth experiencing homelessness have cell phones. In fact, they share that having a cellphone is a great way to locate resources that can help people to battle the hardship. Cellphones can also help with the isolation homeless people are facing—it helps them to connect with friends and family they might have and it’s also very important to be reachable in the process of job hunting.
Many people expressed their surprise, concern, and support, as well as being impressed with the teenager’s resourcefulness
