Cooking is always useful. Learning to cook is good for building attention to detail, developing an eye for quality and understanding what it takes to put something together. It also allows one to learn the value of things. For example, that $20 plate at a restaurant is generally assembled from ingredients that of course, cost much less. I'm glad that I learned to cook early on as it also helped me to learn how to budget and to shop for quality ingredients. Also, it's a skill that appeals to women, in my experience.
Ha unfortunately I don't have any basic ingredients or money to buy them yet. But that'll change soon, and I'll start with a copy of "the Basics" by Mark Bittman loaned by a friend. Two of my roommates are amateur cooks, so they'll help me finding good places to shop.