Saving Money When You Cook At Home
One way we keep our dining out costs so low, is by cooking nearly everything at home. One way to cut the cooling costs during the summer while still cooking all the meals is to use the microwave. My method is to cook meals (2 or so at a time) in the early morning hours when I first get up. That way, I am not heating up the kitchen during the hottest part of the day. After the meals are cooked I put them into containers in the fridge. Then, when it is dinner time, I just take out the appropriate meal and heat it in the microwave. This also has the added benefit of stress reduction during the dinner hour. I don’t need to fuss about “what is for dinner” because it is already done! Clean up is easier too because I clean up after cooking in the morning. Gives us more family time to enjoy after dinner because one of us is not “cleaning up the kitchen”. The key to making this work is planning. Planning ahead to get the groceries you will need to make several meals at a time, planning ahead to get the dinner going when you first get up. It may take a while to get the scheduling of this down, but I can guarantee that it is worth the effort invested.
[...] Energy efficient small appliances can help to stretch your energy costs. Cooking your meals at home, or at least reducing your meals eaten out can help too. [...]
[...] I’ve written in the past how I save money by cooking most of our meals at home. To do all that cooking, I have to stock up on items from the grocery store. I really do not like grocery shopping. In fact, it is my least favorite task. However, since food comprises so much of our family budget, it is an area that I cannot afford to ignore. I know my grocery store inside out. I know what foods are on what aisles, when they receive new produce, restocking days, and sale days. I go prepared with a list of items that I will be purchasing. To keep things interesting, I set up a system where I time my trips to the grocery store. I figure that the less time I spend in the grocery store the better, and it helps me to see that it only requires a small amount of my time on a weekly basis. My best time so far is 45 minutes which includes the time to drive to and from the grocery store. (No speeding is allowed).  Here are some of the methods that I use to manage my grocery shopping. [...]