It depends what country you are in and how much the food costs.
In my country you were basically started with 5 NIS , and it took between 1.5-2 NIS to buy Q2 food, so i could train and work , by the time i hit manufacturing skill 2 i could easily pay off any Q2 food i wanted.
Occasionally the Q0 wages are even 1.5 , so you can nearly buy Q2 food from the otuset.
Food prices have gone up recently though sadly. Its nto so cheap anymore.