I personally know some folks who spend all their money on fast food, and then online it seems pretty common folks not knowing how to cook causes massive financial problems.
My super duper cheap meal that takes no effort is “lazy rice veggie soup”: Can of peas and carrots cooked with a bouyon cube until cube is dissolved Add cooked rice to mix, and heat until rice is flavorful with absorbed broth
I do a cup of dried rice, and a can of peas and carrots which means the soup has 800ish calories and I think it’s pretty good as it’s either 2 small meals that you can have sides with, or one large one!
So what are your cheap meals you like to make? The less well known, the better!
I make a lentil salad from time to time. Just cook the lentils (I like red lentils for this because they cook so much faster), crumble some feta in when it has cooled off, olive oil, lemon juice and whatever you find and fancy. Shredded carrots work nice, some parsley, maybe rocket, diced tomatoes, walnuts, …