«زَي سَلَّاقِينِ الْبِيضْ أَوِّلْ بِأَوِّلْ»

The saying portrays people whose scarce resources never stay with them. Whatever money or provisions reach them are consumed at once, because the amount is small and the need is pressing, so nothing is ever left over to build up or keep in reserve.

The image is of people boiling eggs, not selling them: one egg is dropped into bubbling water, lifted out, and replaced by the next. The phrase 'first by first' marks this immediate turnover, not an order of priority. Likewise, each small gain passes straight through a poor person's hands with no accumulation.

Use it to describe a household or person living hand to mouth, whose small earnings are spent on necessities the instant they come in, leaving nothing saved. It suits sympathetic or rueful remarks about poverty rather than criticism of wastefulness.