What's in your house to eat?

I keep canned salmon on hand at all times. I limited canned tuna because of the mercury, although I do eat it occasionally. Always have salad greens, too. I can make taco meat ahead and then have a taco salads by adding a little salsa, cheese and light sour cream. I make deviled egg salad a lot, too.

When looking to stretch my food dollar I head for the bulk bins. Brown rice, lentils and other legumes are uber cheap (even not in bulk, but in the bulk section even moreso). Some olive oil, onions and garlic (all inexpensive) and you can make an easy and satisfying meal. Nothing wrong with complex carbs (brown rice) and the lentils and other legumes give plenty of protein.

Buy veggies & fruit in season and local as much as possible (tastes better, more environmentally friendly and cheaper!). And you can always head to the freezer section to look for deals on veggies and fruit too.

Chicken, bulk Greek yogurt, frozen veggies, fresh fruit. And my favorite food, peanut butter.

Lots of canned beans (I like Black and Kidney beans)
Lentils
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Onions
Garlic
Frozen vegetables
Cheese - when on sale. Yesterday, I bought a half a pound of colby jack at the deli counter, sliced thin, for under $2.
Chicken - when it is on sale, I buy whole ones. Then I pre-cook the meat so I have it to add to salads and for easy dinners. And I use the bones to make chicken stock for soup and flavor when cooking.
Whatever fruit is on sale.
Sugar-free jello (which I only make once in a very long while)

I'm a college student and I'm having the same problem right now. I invested in a filtered pitcher so that I could just drink water all the time (they're $10 at walmart) other than that I buy a lot of frozen chicken breasts(5lbs for $9) , shrimp (60 for $5), rice (I buy the family sized ones, can't quite remember the price right now, but there are three servings in one bag and 6 in a box so break out your tupperware!), tilapia, mozzarella string cheese sticks, apple sauce (no sugar added, they're 6 for $1.50), granola bars (18 for $3), a bag of potatoes (10lbs for $5), sometimes I just buy a lot of pasta ($1 for a pound) and some spaghetti sauce when it's on sale and that makes quite a few meals when you stick to the actual serving suggestions (which we should all be doing anyways), eggs are pretty cheap as well, usually less than $2 for a dozen. I do all of my grocery shopping at walmart, I occasionally splurge on lean pockets if they're on sale or I'll go in on the ingredients for something with a few friends but other than that I pretty much stick to the basics. Sorry for the text wall, just kind of typing things out as I remember them lol.

I've found that a decent (and cheap!) lunch is a cheese stick, a granola bar and some apple sauce. Although this may or may not cut it for some depending on when their next meal is.

I also like to eat a chopped up chicken breast with a serving of rice, if you put in a couple of tablespoons of kikkoman teriyaki sauce/marinade while the chicken is cooking it's really yummy! Another really cheap idea is a basic hot sauce (just cayenne pepper, vinegar, water, etc.) as a dipping sauce for a chopped chicken breast. The sauce has no calories and it doesn't matter how you cook the chicken (bake, fry, boil, etc.) the sauce is pretty hot and it makes me drink a lot of water! It's also pretty cheap, maybe a dollar a bottle on sale? Also anything canned as long as it doesn't have too much sugar. I love love love canned sweet peas and they really fill you up!

Anyways, I hope this helps at least a little bit.

Clip coupons and sign up for your grocery stores member programs. Find out what's for sale and stick to a menu for that week. Don't be afraid of left overs.

I get bulk veggies and fruit. Lentil or split pea soup with veggies, minestrone soup with any cheap veggies in season (no meats), steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon or sugar and raisins for breakfast. But mostly discount foods when they are on sale and eat according to sale foods. And I freeze or can anything cheap. Pretty soon I'll be making spaghetti sauce or tomato soup when veggies are cheap. I even make my own pasta when eggs are cheap.Even in an apartment you can grow herbs. Trading with people too- maybe do chores in exchange for fruit and veggies or taking turns making meals with friends so when you cook it's shared and you don't get too bored.Lunches of cobb salad, scrambled eggs with veggies (like onion and peppers),
Doesn't Schnuck's have a discount section?
See if Aihua Oriental Market or River City Food Co-op do bulk or bruised food at the farmer's market to make applesauce or pear sauce or anything like that.
No juice, no soda, no gatorade. No prepared meals.

Old fashioned oatmeal. You can make regular oatmeal or refrigerator oatmeal with plain greek yogurt. You can use it as a filler with meatloaf and use it in place of flour if you have a food processor to grind it up.

Buy a food scale if you don't have one and buy large packages of meat and divide them into 3 oz portions. That'll stretch a long way.

A dozen eggs is good to have on hand. A small jar of honey. Frozen veggies are often cheaper than their fresh counterparts and the nutrition is pretty good. Buy larger bags for more savings.

Talk to a local store about buying older bananas cheaply - you can use them to make bread and such. And, remember that if you have fruit that's a little too ripe you can blend it up with a dollop of yogurt and make a smoothie.

Good luck!

I live alone and probably spend $75/week on groceries. So I definitely think you should look at food banks and local church food pantries. So check those things out and buy beans, eggs, bulk oatmeal, frozen fruits and veggies and other cheap staples. Cheese is expensive, yogurt is kind of expensive if you buy the single servings. Cereal is definitely expensive.

I have really gotten into coupons and frozen vegetables. I go to the website for the item and you can usually find a coupon. Frozen vegetables are cheap, they keep for the longest time and have a variety of uses. I can steam them, grill then, put them in a pan with some salsa.... done.
I also look to buy in bulk when I have some extra cash. Stock up on flexible items such a pasta, rice, soups even.