5 Great Tips for How to Save Money By Cooking at Home
Cooking at home is a great way to save money and know exactly what ingredient goes in each meal you eat. But if you are struggling with affording each ingredient, it can be very frustrating. Here are some tips for saving money while also cooking all your meals from home.
Buy What You Need
If you want to save money and cook most of your meals at home, 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 of. It is best to be a little more conservative.
Take Advantage of Sales
On the other hand, when you have gotten some staples (scroll down to see my list of basic pantry 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
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 Homemade 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.
Pantry Staples to Save Money By Cooking at Home
When you want to cook more at home, the best thing you can do is start stocking up on ingredients. It can be really frustrating when every time you want to cook or bake, you are missing ingredients. While you don’t need every ingredient from day one, there are some pantry staples that are great to start with.
Dry Goods to Start With
The first set of pantry staples are your dry goods, which is going to make up a lot of the ingredients you end up using in your cooking and baking recipes. One of the best things about dry goods is that many of them can be purchased in bulk, saving you a lot of money. You can even get them in bins in your grocery store to save even more.
Some dry goods to keep in your pantry for cooking and baking include:
Beans
Lentils
Rice
Pasta
Baking powder
Baking soda
Oats
Sugar (different varieties)
Flour (different varieties)
Herbs and Spices
Next up, you have all your seasonings, herbs, and spices. It is okay to stock up gradually on your spices, depending on your preferences and the types of recipes you make. Dried herbs and seasonings won’t last forever and it sometimes takes a while to get through them, so it’s one thing you might not want to buy all at once until you know you like them and use often.
Start with the basic seasonings you know you will use often, like salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, and cinnamon. You can then get other dried herbs like oregano, basil, cumin, thyme, and others.
Liquid Staples
There are also some pantry and refrigerator items that are liquids, but are just as important as your dry goods. This is when you want to stock up on different types of oils, like avocado, olive, and coconut oil. Make sure you have non-stick oil spray as well. Some other liquids might include:
Vinegar
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Hot sauce
Honey
Vanilla extract
Condiments
Refrigerated Staples
Lastly are your refrigerated staples. These might not go in the pantry, but they are still important to have on hand! This includes:
Milk or plant-based milk
Yogurt
Cheese
Butter
Eggs
As you begin cooking more often, you will become familiar with items you use often, which ones you want to make from scratch yourself, and which ones you should probably stock up on. But these suggestions are good basics to start with.
