Food takes a considerable share of any household budget and when we go shopping, the cart is always over 30% foodstuffs. This means that food bears one of the biggest potential for making savings. Here are some easy ideas you can use to save a penny in the kitchen:
1. Buy your groceries and foodstuffs in bulk. If you buy your foodstuffs in bulk you enjoy lower prices. The challenge here is the need for researching where to buy at best prices, availability of enough storage and discipline to be able to control the usage without increasing consumption due to availability.
2. Have a big enough fridge and freezer to store leftovers and good portions of food that was bought in bulk. This ensures that you save money in the long run and preparing meals becomes easier and faster.
3. Store all leftovers and have a day of the week to eat them all. Learn recipes to use leftovers like breadcrumbs, leftover chicken, soup and cereals.
4. Boil and freeze cereals. Do this in good portions so that when you want to use or stew them, you only need to defrost one portion and you save a lot of time.
5. Learn to make your own cakes, bread, granola and other frequently used foods. We generally buy foodstuffs like bread for breakfast, pizza for lunch and cakes for birthdays and other celebrations which can be expensive; baking your own can save you money plus you are assured of quality and freshness.
6. Where possible, have a kitchen garden or use pots where you can plant your spice herbs like mint and small vegetables like coriander (dhania).