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if you are new to cooking, you might wanna check out some of the cookbooks geared towards men and college students. they offer easy meals with basic ingredients so just browsing through stuff you like will give you a good idea of what you want to have on hand.
we don't eat a ton of meat in our house, but i usually look at sales to see what i want that week. it's not bad to have some ground something or other in the freezer, especially if you enjoy hamburger helper type meals. unless i come across a great sale, i mostly buy meat as i'll use it. i keep frozen ground turkey around because we like it better than ground beef or pork (healthier and cheaper).
if you aren't much of a cook, i really recommend the noodle and rice sides (knorr-lipton is a very good one and many stores offer a generic) that you can use add-ins to make a meal. i made use of these in college and they are still an easy dish when i don't have time to cook! top 3 favorites in my house are spanish rice with canned or frozen corn and salsa; butter and herb noodles with mushrooms, peas and tuna; cheese and brocolli with a can of chicken. i will also admit that even though i'm an adult who no longer has to eat ramen to survive, i really like roast beef ramen noodles with onions(cook noodles, drain, add seasoning and cooked onion).
we also eat a lot of pasta so i have several varieties on hand all the time along with a couple jars of sauce. if straight out of the jar sauce makes you cringe, you can doctor it up with spices and add-ins like mushrooms and tomatoes.
i also do a lot of bulk cooking and then freeze stuff to use later when i don't feel like cooking (or when i'm not home and my partner has to fend for himself). meatballs are a great freezer staple for me. a bit of bbq sauce and you can eat as is, put over noodles/rice, toss in a bun to make a sandwich or you can use sweet and sour sauce, add some veggies and put it over rice for a chinese flavor. you could make your own (cheaper and healthier) or buy them (costs a bit more and isn't as good for you, but it's easy).
if you have a farmer's market close that's the way to go for fruits and veggies. they are great for you and when they are in season, are good for the pocketbook too!
for me, the best way to learn what i needed was planning meals for a week and then shopping for it. i got out of the meal planning habit, but doing it did help me learn what we eat and how much i needed to have on hand.
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