I’m pretty frugal, so here’s how I keep my costs down: stick with the 10 meal plan freshman year. I eat all meals, including breakfast and had plenty of food by taking advantage of Outtakes and using my dining dollars to buy breakfast food. After freshman year, I went with cheaper standard apartment style housing and didn’t get a meal plan. (Never get the profiler meal plan - way overpriced.) I do all my grocery shopping at stop and shop, which is about a mile from campus. I don’t eat out much; instead I tend to make a lot of food to feed to my friends. (I highly recommend the website budget bytes.)
Moving off campus and not getting a meal plan dramatically cut costs. I only spend about $25-30/week on food and rent is way cheaper than university housing.