Today’s Post
Today, we wanted to share a blog post with a few financial cooking-related tips we have learned over the last few years of cooking and baking. Obviously, outside of running this blog and developing our recipes, we also cook at home pretty frequently. Cooking homemade food as much as possible requires a lot of organization and structure, especially in times like these, when inflation is high and things are generally more expensive. It is best to have a food budget every month and then try to stick to this as you shop by making lists and following a few of the other tips we have given down below.
However, everyone’s situation is different, so these are just some things that work for us. You may find that you would rather spend more money on certain things for convenience, while making others at home. This is simply a guide that works for us, and we hope you enjoy reading it and perhaps take some inspiration from these tips.
Tip 1: Save veggie scraps and/or bones in the freezer for homemade stock!
This is such a fantastic way to reduce waste and end up with vegetable or bone broth that you can use in other recipes. While this might not directly save you that much money, since stock cubes aren’t that expensive, it uses up scraps for vegetables you have already bought and you end up with a much tastier stock than what you get from the cubes (in my opinion).
So how do you do this? Well, when you chop vegetables, instead of throwing away peels or the ends of vegetables, store them in a bag in your freezer. You can also save bones from meat that you eat. Remember, you are going to be boiling these in water for a while, so any bacteria or dirt will be destroyed by the high temperature. Then, once you have a significant amount of scraps saved up, dump these into a big pot with lots of water and boil for a few hours. You can add fresh herbs, spices, and veggies to this if you want to, but otherwise, just season with plenty of salt at the end. Store tubs of this in the freezer and defrost when you want to use the broth in a dish!
Tip 2: Make homemade bread if you can – it can actually be a quick and easy process!
This is one of my favorite ways to save money on a regular basis. For me, it is very much worth it because I buy flour in bulk and make bread almost every week. However, if you don’t eat a lot of bread or you don’t bake often, it may be more worth it for you to just buy a loaf once in a while instead of flour. So, like I mentioned earlier, it is definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution!
On the other hand, it is definitely cheaper to make your own. I also don’t think it is a difficult or inconvenient process at all. There are plenty of recipes out there for no-knead bread loaves, which require little effort. Personally, I always use our landbrød recipe for basic loaves of rustic bread. You can also make softer and fluffier loaves like white sandwich bread, carrot bread, or potato bread. You can always make multiple loaves, then slice and freeze a few to easily defrost by toasting in your toaster!
Tip 3: Eat more plant-based if possible
Now, this is definitely a tip that is entirely dependent on your own personal situation. It also very much depends on your geographic location, as plant-based products and fresh produce are cheaper in some areas than others. In the UK, for example, I find that fresh fruit and veggies are not very expensive, especially the basics like potatoes, carrots, and onions. Canned vegetables are also very cheap, which means whipping up a hearty chickpea curry (for example) is super inexpensive compared to buying meat.
Also, when I buy animal products, I generally want to spend a bit more money to buy the organic and slightly more ethical ones, so I buy it way less frequently. Obviously, you may have dietary needs that require eating meat or higher-protein, so do what suits you best. I still eat meat once or twice a week, but eating plant-based is cheaper for me and I prefer it too.
Tip 4: Make financially smart substitutions!
What do I mean by “financially smart”? Well, let’s say you want to make homemade pesto, so you look up a recipe for it. This recipe wants you to buy a lot of fresh basil, pine nuts, and parmesan, which are all very expensive ingredients. Instead, you could use other herbs, other nuts, and even other cheese that you may already have or want to use in another recipe for that week. If you are trying to save money, these are smart substitutions to make! Or, just buy a jar of pesto – this is one of those instances where homemade might just not be worth it. Up to you, but recipes (particularly those for cooking) were made to be changed, so don’t waste a bunch of money on expensive ingredients when you could go for some cheaper ones instead.
Tip 5: Make and follow a shopping list in the grocery store
This is absolutely the best tip for saving money – be organized! A shopping list prevents you (somewhat) from buying random things without a plan and ending up with a lot of food waste at the end of the week. Plan out your meals and make a list, then keep track of the money you spent in a spreadsheet or a budgeting app. Eventually, you will come to understand which groceries made your bill more expensive and you can adjust to fit your budget better. I love to plan every meal out, but obviously you might like a bit more spontaneity, which is totally fine! You can still use the grocery list as a general guide and then get a few extra things while you’re at the store. For me, this is the most helpful habit I have put in place to not overspend on groceries.
Tip 6: Bulk buy ingredients for dishes you make a lot!
Bulk buying can be so good for your budget but only if you are someone that cooks or bakes a lot. I like to bulk buy things like rice, pasta, noodles, spices, tea, canned goods, certain snacks, and flour. I know that I use these things multiple times a week, so it will save me money to buy them in large quantities. On the other hand, it is not worth it to bulk buy things you don’t use that often or that will go bad quickly.
Also, always check that it is actually cheaper to buy something in bulk before you do it. I know that here in the UK, you may want to buy a huge bag of rice, but the cheapest brand doesn’t actually sell a big enough bag. So, you would be paying more for a huge bag of expensive brand rice instead of just buying the smaller but cheaper rice every week or every other week. Bulk buying is great for some things, but be smart about it!
Tip 7: Take advantage of sales in the supermarket
This is the main reason why I think a grocery list should really just be a guide for your shopping trip. Sometimes, we turn up at the supermarket, and there are certain sales on that mean we can get produce or products not on our list for a lower price. Adapt your plan for this! In the UK, many stores have five pieces of produce that are on sale that week, so I’ll usually look there first. It may not be worth it, like if they’ve dropped the price of asparagus by a tiny amount, but sometimes there are great deals.
Tip 8: Sign up for cards at grocery stores you frequently visit – they may offer deals or rewards
This is possibly a tip more applicable to the UK (I’m not sure) but grocery store rewards cards are a great way to save money and get rewards. For example, if you have a Tesco Clubcard, you get points every time you shop and then you can exchange those points for 2x their value (used to be 3x 😩) at certain restaurants and stores. Great way to just get rewards while doing what is basically a chore for most people, grocery shopping!
Thanks for Reading!
I hope that this blog post was somewhat helpful or insightful. Like I’ve mentioned several times, these tips may not work for you depending on your dietary needs, financial situation, where you live, etc. But, at a time when lots of people are trying to save money wherever possible, I thought that this might be a helpful topic. Let us know in the comments if you have any tips that work for you or want to ask us a question. Thanks for reading!
