Easy Ways to Cut Cooking Costs

Here at My Appliances, we’re all about bringing you useful tips that’ll help make your life easier. But more than that, we’d like to save you money, too. This week, we’ve been inspired by this article on the Kitchn site.

In it, a woman with a passion for travelling explained how she managed to save for a long-awaited trip to Paris by making simple cutbacks at home.

Dana started in the kitchen, where she realised she was spending a lot of her monthly budget. Here’s what she did – and here’s how you can reduce your costs, too…

She Cut Down on Takeaways

It can be tempting to reach for the takeaway menu when you can’t be bothered cooking, but by spending some time preparing some tasty meals in advance, you can have your whole week covered in terms of what you’ll plate up when you come home from work. After all, who can be bothered standing by the oven when they’ve had a busy day in the office?

Use Sundays to batch cook everything from lasagne to shepherd’s pie, freezing it in handy, ready-to-serve portions and heating throughout the week as you go.

By cutting back on takeaways, Dana says she saved $50 a month (around £40 at the time of writing!), which certainly isn’t a figure to scoff at. Dana also recreated meals she and her partner would normally eat at restaurants (sushi, for example) at home, meaning they could still enjoy a slightly nicer evening meal without a hefty bill at the end of it.

She Made Use of Leftovers

We’re all guilty of throwing far too much food away. Instead, buy only what you need and use up what you have before it’s past its best. Dana did this, too, using up the salmon she’d bought for her sushi evening in and creating a new meal from it the following day. It’s about being inventive and making the most of every scrap of food. Find some creative ideas here.

She Hosted ‘Happy Hour’ at Home

For Dana, a regular evening out with a friend for drinks was something she always looked forward to. But with a trip to Paris to save for, she made the decision to host ‘Happy Hour’ from home and instead invited her pal round  for a tipple or two. In doing so, she saved the equivalent of £60 a month.

Of course, there are plenty of things you can do to cut costs on your food bill. Start by doing your shop in the evening, when supermarkets reduce the prices of loaves of bread, pastries and other items with a short expiry date. Then, simply freeze your loot to enjoy later.

You can also look out for coupons (to entice new customers, supermarkets offer discounts on your first online shop) and consider budget-friendly meals and recipes.

How do you save money in the kitchen? Let us know by commenting below. You can also follow us on Facebook, too, where you can get involved with cooking-related conversations and discover up-to-the-minute offers on our range of appliances.