student with a budget for food, not getting enough calories

Im a student with very little to work with right now money wise, and I know Im not getting enough into my system.

Im vegetarian, and eat very little dairy. Do you have any ideas for foods that aren't very expensive that can keep me sustained throughout the day and give me enough calories as well?

Are you eating lots of beans and lentils? They're dirt cheap, they're packed with protein, and they really stick to your ribs.

You're going to get a carbohydrate overload, but buy a big bag of one minute or instant oats, and some dry pulses like navy beans, chickpeas, lentils etc. Those are the two cheapest foods you can find! Both will provide you with fibre, and protein from the pulses. Don't buy the instant, prepackaged options- buy the plain oats, and the dried plain beans. Do your own work, and you'll get your calories on very little money.

For fresh stuff, look for in season produce, and never EVER look past the clearance cart. A few brown spots on bananas? Oh well. Bread expires tomorrow? Throw it in the freezer!

Also, I'm a student as well and my university has a food co-op program that I've used in the past that offers large discounts on produce. If your school has one, sign up. For 5, 10 or 15 dollars, you'd be surprised by how much (usually local) produce you can get!

Do you have a cheap grocery store nearby? Look for chains like WinCo's, Grocery Outlet, etc, whose prices can be half of regular grocery stores. Look for bulk! You can get crazy deals in bulk and get exactly how much you can afford and use, and plus most bulk stuff lasts forever. Some nutritious bulk deals: (whole wheat) pasta, beans/lentils, quinoa, steel-cut oats, wheat germ, ground flax-seed, etc. Also, potatoes! They're good for you when they're not fried or smothered in butter, especially skin-on or with colored flesh, like sweet potatoes/yams, or purple potatoes which are my favorite thing ever, if not super cheap.

For breakfast, steel-cut oats (the non-smooshed version of oatmeal) are packed with protein and good stuff for you - just serve with raisins, nuts or dried cranberries if you can afford them, or if you can't, a sprinkle of brown or raw sugar (super cheap) and a dash of soy/almond/rice milk.

Get whole-wheat pasta, buy a huge can of spaghetti sauce (which keeps in a clean container - not the metal can - in the fridge for a few weeks), and cook as needed, throwing in any veggies you have directly into the sauce to cook. If you eat eggs, cook spaghetti, mix eggs and unflavored milk, and stir all ingredients together in a sauce pan, topping with parmesan (the cheap kind works).

Also, smoothies using banana. Bananas are cheap, alternative milk can be cheap, and ice cubes should be free. Even just a banana smoothie using frozen bananas, ice and say, soy milk is delicious (especially with a dusting of cinnamon on top) but you can use any fruit to modify it, and make it more or less tart by using different fruits. Get oranges on sale and peel and seed them, and blending them basically makes orange juice. Add ground flax seed and/or wheat germ for more protein/nutrients. Instead of a cup of drip, add coffee (drip or a teaspoon of instant) to a banana smoothie, which is especially good using white chocolate breakfast powder (like Carnation Instant). 

Good luck!