re: How to eat cheap...

What level of cheap are we talking here?

I'm gonna go against the grain here because I don't cook in major bulk nearly as often because lots of it ends up getting tossed when I inevitably don't want jambalaya for the 4th time this week. I recently made the switch from ordering out often as well, and it has already shown to be a tremendous help as far as my bank account goes. But you don't need to cook a huge pot of lentils/jambalaya/spaghetti/etc. and eat it 4-5 times to see a difference. If you're eating out a lot already, you'll notice a difference simply from cooking a new meal every night.

I have started cooking Sunday-Thursday evenings. I cook what I want.. and it is often based around what I have on hand and what is on sale. But I don't necessarily make stereotypical "cheap" meals. Last night, I did Vietnamese, for example. Each meal from the night before becomes lunch the next day. I only make huge batches of things I know I'll freeze portions of because making a huge batch of something with intentions of eating it and then it going to waste is as bad as having gone out in the first place.

I've been able to buy groceries for the week for two people, making something different each night, for about ~$75.