For the dedicated student of cuisine on a budget and with a famously short attention span (that's YOU, honey), I heartily recommend the current issue of Saveur.  Its a 150th issue celebration, and they just re-ran a bunch of classic recipes from older issues (most of which I already have).  I was kinda pissed, cause I expected it to be rehashed crap, but they really took it seriously.  Its like a brand-new, well-tested cookbook, covering a whole world of classic dishes, for $5.

Its worth noting, by the way, that recipes in Saveur (unlike a lot of cooking magazines) really tend to WORK.

You should grab this if you see it (its on the newsstands now), but txt me if you do, cause if I happen to see it, I'll probably just get it for you.