I realized chatting with friends recently about saving money and how it’s been a really rough year financially for many people. No raises, no bonuses, even furloughs for some has made money a lot tighter than normal. So everyone has been belt-tightening through little and big savings.
It became apparent that I have two MAJOR financial savings that many people my age don’t. I’ll mention one today and one tomorrow. Today’s financial savings, learning how to cook. Seriously. Sounds stupid right? I thought so at first, until one friend was like “wow how did you learn how to cook? It must be a huge savings.”
My DH and I learned to cook out of necessity. Being broke is not condusive to eating out. No matter how cheap eating out is, I’ve never found it to be cheaper than cooking the equivalent meal. I find it really strange that people know that eating out is expensive and cooking cheap. Yet they don’t bother to invest any time or effort to cook and save some money. That when they are belt tightening they still instead budget eating out versus cooking.
As we had more money, I realized that it was easier to eat out, but that I was getting fat. That eating out does save time, and my DH still mentions this but then I began tracking our expenses and found we could easily spend $1k /month on eating out alone! No matter how much money we made, $1k a month was an outrageous amount to be spending. So I began to learn to cook .
My DH would say I still am not a fancy cook and I make a lot of mistakes. But I’ve learned enough recipes to cycle through them for at least two weeks. That would be my tip to someone getting started. Learn a 5-6 different recipes that are easy to make and us a couple of overlapping ingrediants. Learn to make these well and in bulk so you have enough for lunch the next day. This will make packing a lunch super easy. Or if you need to eat out for lunch, allow for leftovers the next day such that you are able to cook every other day.
Another suggestion is to cook once a week a few different recipes and just heat them up as needed. My DH prefers to not freeze or eat old food, so it’s a bit more difficult for us, but for less picky eaters, this is a great way to save time and effort. Cook and prep food on Sunday for the week!
I never imagined that my biggest financial savings would be learning how to cook. It seems like such a simple thing. Imagine it making such a difference in your financial well being? I never thought it would or could.
5 responses so far ↓
1 oilandgarlic // Dec 2, 2009 at 11:20 am
I would also throw in the suggestion that if you’re in a relationship, BOTH should learn to cook. Men included!!! Although my husband is the primary cook, I’ve learned to make many dishes well over the years. It’s a huge burden to fall onto one person. Unlike other ‘chores’, cooking involves more thinking and planning. I also noticed that if only one person cooks and gets sick or is busier, everything falls apart. Most women I know take on the cooking duties and it is tedious after many years and not so cute if their spouse can’t even manage a few decent meals.
2 Megan // Dec 2, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Oh my gosh yes! I, however, could not survive without my freezer, especially since going back to work. I cook on Sunday, but only one thing, but I make 4 of them and then can rotate through a bunch of different meals over a month or so. I use a few cookbooks and it has changed my life!
3 LAL // Dec 3, 2009 at 11:16 am
Oil, definitely. My DH used to be the primary cook, but I’ve learned a lot in the past 3 years. A lot. And now I am definitely edible if not passable.
Megan, wish my DH would eat leftovers so much!
4 Kristy // Dec 4, 2009 at 11:39 am
He may have to learn to enjoy leftovers once in a while! Once that baby comes your menu will become simpler. I cook in bulk typically, but especially when I have a baby. Once they get older and can help out in the kitchen it gets a little easier to cook every night…but not when they are little! LOL!
5 LAL // Dec 4, 2009 at 12:38 pm
My DH is changing in many ways grasshopper! He is cool now with the cosleeper and likes the idea. He likes the idea of breastfeeding. He’s even coming around to a minivan.
So I think it’s just difficult to perceive what happens when a baby comes and the longer you are stuck in DINK ways the harder it is. It’s easier to see what happens and let changes happen to you!
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