So I kind of jumped the gun, folks. If you want to get your kitchen started and make inexpensive meals, you really need to go out and get some starter supplies. A lot of these items are inexpensive (most are under three or four bucks), and last a long time, so they're good to have lying around.

Pantry
Alright, I realize that if you're in college, you don't have a pantry. All I have is a cupboard above my fridge and one of those wire mesh cube storage units. But regardless of what you call your storage area, there are a few essentials you must have in it.

Potatoes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Plain ol' vegetable oil
Cooking spray
Pasta (whatever size and shape you prefer)
Rice (I like Minute rice)
Bread crumbs
Flour
Sugar
Baking powder AND baking soda
Chocolate chips
Chicken broth or stock
Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
Canned tuna
Honey
Peanut butter

Fridge
You might want to note that two-month old leftovers are NOT on this list. Try to clean out your fridge every 2 or 3 weeks; old, moldy food will stink up all of your fresh food.

Milk
Butter
Eggs
Bread (it keeps longer if you store it in here)
Grated parmesan cheese (I really like Kraft's Parmesan-Romano cheese!)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Ketchup/mustard (as your tastes go)
Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
Soy sauce
Steak sauce
Bacon
Lemon juice (you can buy it in little plastic containers that look like lemons...cute!)
Carrots/celery/lettuce/tomatoes (or you can buy the pre-made salad mixes)

Freezer
Throw out those frozen dinners! They're terrible for you and most of the time, they taste terrible as well.

Chicken
Hamburger
Any other meat that you eat regularly, like pork or seafood (which isn't a meat, but you get the picture)

Spices
These are the smallest details with the biggest impact in your whole kitchen. Of course, these are just starter suggestions. If you like Italian, Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean, or some other foreign influence in your meals, of course you'll want a different variety of spices. I like a little bit of everything; consequently, I have almost two dozen different spices on my little shelf--and growing! But for starters, here's a list.

General
Salt
Black pepper
Ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg
Garlic powder
Onion powder (this and the above are great--and inexpensive!--substitutes for the real deal)
Bay leaves
Rosemary

Heat
Crushed red pepper
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Chili powder

Italian
Thyme
Basil
Oregano
Cilantro

There you have it...everything a cook needs to get started. Recipes that I post will usually (if not always) include these ingredients; sometimes they'll call for something not on the list that might be a splurge. But if you keep all of these in your kitchen, cooking on a nightly basis will cost you next to nothing!