Okay I never went to uni but I'm a master at cheap eats, from teaching my friends had to actually buy groceries and cook, and explaining that it is much much cheaper then fast food or meal packs.
Prices are in AUD, because I have no clue what food costs in other nations, nor do I care to look it up.
First off, general tips, don't buy meal packs, that means Kraft Mac and Cheese type stuff. If you've got to buy food in tins or packets, buy in bulk when things are on sale and store them.
You'll want a freezer, or access to one, because a lot of these meals are only economical when made in bulk and stored. To that end you'll want a set of decent, but cheap, plastic freezer containers.
First off my personal favourite, given I use to make this about 5 times a month for my friends when they were piss broke... cheap fried rice!
First off, buy a bag of rice. Yes a bag. Not a box. A big old cloth bag of rice. Now buy a tin of peas, a tin of carrots, 4 eggs, 2 onions, 4 rashes of bacon, and any other little bits you personally like.
Now boil up the rice. Fry the eggs and bacon. Dice the onions. Now strain the rice, throw the tinned vegs in, add salt/pepper/soy to taste, throw in the eggs/bacon/onions, etc. Now cook in big old pot. Total cost is about $20AU, cooks enough for 8-10 meals when frozen, easy to reheat in the microwave, and stores very well. Can also be used in part with other meals as a side, or eaten on it's own.
Another good one is chilli, buy some mince (good stuff, can't cheap out on meat) and a few packets of seasoning (we're being lazy here, old el passo is good), a tin or two of refried beans, some onions, tomatoes, some taco sauce and some salsa.
Fry the meat until it's nice and brown, throw in some diced onions and tomatoes, throw in the beans, get it nice and stirred, now add the seasoning, sauce, and salsa. Cook enough it looks right. Now store it. Total cost is about $30AU, tastes great, can be used as sides or main, good on steamed rice. Makes about enough for 8 meals, stores reasonably well.
I've got dozens of other cheap and some good not so cheap stuff that I like to make when I have friends around, if you're interested let me know and I'll post more.
The trick is to set aside a day to cook a heap of food and store it, you'll end up with good healthy home cooked food that costs about $2 a serving if you work it right and do your shopping right.
