You can almost always find frozen dinner meals at some local supermarket for about a dollar each. Perparation is "partially open box; throw in microwave for X

You can almost always find frozen dinner meals at some local supermarket for about a dollar each. Perparation is "partially open box; throw in microwave for X minutes". That's it. If you want more food with slightly more prep time, there are lots of box dinners that are a dollar or less, but require margarine, a gigantic tub of which is two dollars, and will keep for many weeks in the fridge. I agree about rice, but at a minimum you'll also need egg, meat, and soy sauce. ;) Anyway, speaking from experience, the amount of rice I make creeps up week to week, so I end up making three cups plus a breast of chicken and two eggs, for example, even though that's way more than I ought to be eating. Since I cook for two or three, usually, you can double or triple that for what I actually prepare. I can eat very cheaply and still eat healthy food, but unless I spend lots of time cooking, I tend to get bored very quickly with what I'm eating, and since I try to optimize so I spend less time cooking, I end up spending far more than I would strictly need to.