Cutting Your Cooking Cost

Here at Basics of Cooking, I want to give you tips on all areas of your kitchen and cooking…there is a lot more to cooking than just knowing the difference between broiling and boiling.  So today, I want to talk to you about saving a little money in the kitchen. Here are the top 5 tips for today in how to cut your cooking cost…

As much as we love trying new things, the old recipes can save you money and time.  You all ready know how to make them and you know what you need in each recipe.  So stock up on the staples for that recipe.  Also, have a few main staple recipes that don’t call for meat, such as Vegetarian Lasagna.  Or have recipes that call for canned meat, such as Tuna Casserole, etc.

Watch the sales papers for your local grocery store and stock up on canned goods, pastas, etc. when they go on sale.  These are items that you will use often, so why not pay the least amount for them.

Another idea for keeping cost down…knowing what you need.  Keep a list of what is in your pantry/cabinets and when you use something, mark that item off.  This way at a quick glance, you will know if you have 5 cans of corn or if you need to get some.  You don’t want to get to the store and purchase more cans of corn (unless they are on sale) when you all ready have a good stock of them.

Another reason to check out the store flyers is that you might find one store is having a better sale on something you need over a different grocery store.  If you can buy your meat on sale, that is the best time to do it. So work your menu for the week around what is on sale.

Coupons are another way to save money.  If they are used correctly.  Don’t buy a product just because you have a coupon…only buy that product if you can get it cheaper.