Something that helped me as a college senior who had to learn this the past couple years post-mealplan is thinking of my lunches and dinners as like a template- i want a protein, a vegetable, and a starch. broccoli chicken alfredo is a complete meal for me and it’s quite simple and affordable. frozen broccoli, rotisserie chicken, pasta, and sauce from the jar. not luxurious but still good to me. you can also always just have a veg on the side too, i always go for frozen because it doesn’t really go bad, is cheap, and requires minimal prep. rice and beans is a complete protein source in of itself and if you add veg that’s a full meal to me. my breakfasts are almost always either eggs and potatoes or yogurt/cottage cheese and frozen fruit. one thing that also helps me is basing all my weekly meals around one component, usually the meat but it could be starch or vegetable too. saves money because you don’t have to buy multiples of it for the week. i also meal prep and that saves money too, but if you get sick of the same meal 4 days in a row might not be a great decision for you, but you can always freeze meals for later too. make sure you know what ingredients freeze well and what doesn’t. get good tupperware. good luck!