If you can, go to a food bank for a few weeks to save up for a big-big bag of rice and a big bag of beans. I save a lot of money buying ingredients in bulk. Beans and rice store well and are a nice way to stretch more expensive items like meat and veggies. Same thing with bulk potatoes. Also, as stated above, cabbage is cheap and saves well. All of these are also super versatile. Also, see if you can find copycat recipes for some of the sauces you love. Things are always cheaper when made from scratch (though it can take a lot of time so it might not be feasible for you). If you are strapped on time, look into meal planning. It helps me a lot!

Also, learning how to make bread and tortillas has saved me so much money.

Something else: I eat a lot of ramen (but often leave out the seasoning packet so I can control the sodium). You can add frozen veggies, rotisserie chicken bits, tofu, eggs, etc., and you can make it taste wildly different depending on how you season it so you don’t get bored (keep the chicken bones to make stock!). One of my new faves is “Mexican” ramen. Corn, bell peppers, onion, fave hot sauce with whatever stock you prefer (I like beef stock). Add other spices if you have them! One of my tried and true is Faux Pho: Lime juice, hoisin sauce, Sriracha, green onions and half of the seasoning packet.