Cooking at home is a great way to save money and know exactly what ingredient goes in each meal you consume. But if you are struggling with affording each ingredient, it can be even more frustrating. You probably know how cooking at home saves money. After all, the average cost of a home cooked meal is very often less than what you’d spend at a restaurant.
Here are some tips for saving money while also cooking your meals at home.
Learn How to Make Food Budget by Buying What You Need
If you want to save money, stick to your budget, cook most of your meals at home, and get into the habit of only buying what you need.
This might change over time when you start stocking up, but for now, don’t get the biggest bottle just because it’s cheaper.
In the long run, you will save more when you buy in bulk, but if you aren’t using all of it before it goes bad, are you really saving that much? Plus, if you are relatively new to cooking, then you don’t really know what you will use the most. It is best to be a little more conservative.
How Cooking at Home Saves Money: Save With Sales
The average cost of a home cooked meal per serving is $4.31, according to Journey Foods.
If want to save even more bucks, try this: When you have gotten some staples and your budget opens up a little more, then you can start taking advantage of sales and stocking up. Wait to do this until you know what ingredients you go through a lot.
If you have found that you love baking, you will probably want bigger containers of oil, eggs, flour, butter, and sugar. On the other hand, someone who enjoys cooking a lot of soup or chili knows to stock up on tomatoes, beans, and lentils.
Stop Using Pre-Cut and Packaged Ingredients to Save Money Cooking at Home
These are not nearly as convenient as you might think! Not only are you getting very little for the high price you pay for them, but pre-cut produce often spoils much faster than if you just purchased them in their whole form.
Consider what you are buying pre-cut and how difficult it actually is to chop and dice yourself.
A cantaloupe is much easier to cut than you think. But getting a container of diced onions can definitely help out if you’re willing to spend a little more on it.
Keep Your Meals Simple
When you start cooking at home, don’t try to create elaborate meals. These are going to be more expensive and often use ingredients you don’t have on hand.
Go with the simplest meals using a handful of ingredients first, then start expanding what you cook as you become more comfortable with it.
Takeaway
If you’re thinking about eating at a restaurant or cooking at home, remember to always weigh the eating out vs cooking cost. These tips will help you as you get started in your cooking at home journey. There is nothing wrong with doing one or two at a time if you think you couldn’t implement these tips all at once.
The most important thing is for you to realize how cooking at home saves money. You should stick to it if you are really eager to grow your savings.
On the other hand, if you’re in doubt and asking this question, ‘do you save money by cooking at home,’ do the abovementioned tips and let the results give you the answer.