Learn English – n idiom about wasting money and a window

"Bring sand to the beach." I have heard this many times, I am from NYC. I've heard it used most often to describe bringing a date to a place where there will be many women.

To stay one's hunger is perfectly acceptable, and not at all uncommon (though it's actually more likely to be "stay your appetite"). Less common, and with less of a "temporarily" sense, would be assuage one's hunger. But I think probably the most common idiomatic usage is...

Here - have a sandwich to stave off your hunger until dinnertime.

...which my mother used to say to me when I was a child. Perhaps this one gains traction by alliteration / association with both stay and starve.

to stave off
to fend off, to ward off (something adverse) _{Merriam-Webster}

(To metaphorically repel / drive away using a stave = staff = stick.)