Stand-up comedian Frankie Hoy sparked another online sensation after revisiting his viral social experiment: trying to survive on just $100 in New York City.
The 2025 version of his challenge, which was recently shared on TikTok, stretched the budget across 27 days before he finally spent the last of his money on a celebratory beer.
The comedian’s creative approach to city living quickly resonated with audiences across the social media platform.
Frankie Hoy turned frugal living into a TikTok storytelling experiment back in 2022
Image credits: TikTok/frankie_hoy
Hoy first gained attention in 2022 when he documented himself living off $100 while living in his van and performing stand-up gigs across New York.
His daily videos showed everything from brewing coffee in the van to finding cheap pizza slices and reusing leftovers, according to NBC News.
Image credits: Unsplash/Aleksas Stan
Each clip ended with him revealing his remaining total. This provided a transparent, entertaining record of Hoy’s small victories and daily challenges.
Soon, his challenge started getting a lot of viewers.
Image credits: TikTok/frankie_hoy
“I was getting 50,000 (views) and I got anxious,” Hoy told NBC News at the time. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God. I don’t know any of these people.’ And then it became hundreds of thousands, and I got anxious again.”
For Hoy, the project became more than a stunt. It became a way to test his limits, gain financial awareness, and build a community of people interested in simple living.
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Frankie’s 2025 challenge showed how creativity and experience could stretch every dollar
Image credits: TikTok/frankie_hoy
Frankie’s life has changed a lot since his 2022 challenge. As seen in his TikTok videos, he no longer lives in his van and now rides a bike around the city.
He does not seem to be working at a catering company anymore. Instead, he now seems to be working as a mover, which means fewer free meals than before.
Image credits: TikTok/frankie_hoy
Despite these changes, Hoy applied lessons from his first run during his 2025 challenge. Instead of buying water, he refilled bottles around the city.
He also relied on staples like lentils, chicken breast, rice, and pasta that he prepared at home and packed for the next day.
Image credits: TikTok/frankie_hoy
He still used Too Good To Go, an app that lets customers buy surplus food from restaurants at discounted prices.
One of those meals, which cost just over $5, stretched into multiple servings.
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