Cooking tips | Secret money saving tips for the kitchen

Looking for hot cooking tips, which will put extra $20 notes in your wallet and give you time to read a novel or take up an evening belly-dancing class?

Whether you love a perfectly sliced piece of cheese or a fat hit of fish and chips on a Friday night, these tips will curl your lips faster than any fast-cooking French Fry.

In my house, no-one has noticed the lentils in the Spag Bol. In fact, my ‘bulked-up’ version of this delicious tradition has only received grunts of approval, as my hubby and little ones wipe the grease from their lips and crunch into their garlic bread.

Don’t burn hard-earned cash on the stovetop. Add these secret money-saving cooking tips to your collection and make room for more savings!

Cooking tips | Love your freezer

Cheese slicer

Invest in a cheese slicer. Kids will think your cheese slices are the real deal! Plus you will save big dollars by not buying processed cheese slices.

Chest freezer

Invest in a chest freezer. Buy meat in bulk from discount suppliers, cook in bulk and also avoid random trips to the shops where you are open to purchasing smaller and more expensive cuts of meat in a hurry.

Slow cookers

Slow cookers are a must-have for saving time and money in the kitchen. Cook several bulk slow cooked meals each week, add leftovers meals to your freezer, and use extra portions for lunches. These also allow you to buy lower quality meat which you can produce great tasting and tender meals with.

Bulk-buy cling wrap

Purchase cling wrap in bulk. Buy the biggest cling wrap you can find. Now place it on the bench in front of the bread board for easy use throughout the week.

Cooking tips | Bulk is beautiful

Bulk it up

Try bulking up a casserole with a can of chickpeas, lentils or barley. Housemates, partners and children really do not notice!

Bulk a meal up with carbs

You can stretch out stews and meat dishes further by adding potato and rice to the meal.

Keep it simple

Eat simple food and cook simple recipes. Bring things back to simple. Avoid gourmet recipes and watch your savings grow!

Sunday roast

Cook a Sunday roast and use leftovers for lunches. Avoid expensive deli meats and enjoy delicious tasty sandwiches.

Cooking tips | Go homemade

Make it from scratch

Cook it fresh. Packaged and processed meals cost more. This way you will also be able to control sugar, salt and preservative content in your diet.

Reuse leftovers

Mince up vegetable leftovers into muffin batches for kids’ lunches.

Learn to cook

If you can’t cook, learning to cook is singularly one of the best actions you can take towards reducing grocery spend. Cooking meals from scratch saves much money because you can use fresh instead of processed ingredients. Learn to cook by video. Use YouTube’s extensive library of visual cooking lessons. Share your finds with other Frugal Foodies in the Savings Room or invest in a basic and functional cookbook like Table Tucker.

Leftovers as lunch

Always make extra and take the leftovers for lunch. Again, avoid buying expensive deli meats.

Bulk it up

Add lentils to meat patties to make them go further. Freeze extra patties. Bulk up meat sauce with red kidney beans or lentils. Stretch a meal. Stretch a dollar!

Older fruit

If fruit is getting old don’t waste it. Turn it into a smoothie!

Package it yourself

Package your own food. For example, make or buy a large cake and cut it up into pieces. Freeze it for kids’ lunches or treats.

Make it yourself

Always ask. Can I make this myself? If you have the time you can save big money over time with this one single action. You are in the kitchen anyway right? Try to multitask as much as possible to save money over time.

Recycle packaging always

Find ways to reuse packaging instead of buying bags.

Cereal boxes

Reuse the bottoms of food boxes to use as dividers in the pantry or in bedroom drawers.

Baby food

Save on baby food by turning your leftovers into baby food.

Cook extra

Regularly cook extra to always have a stock of frozen meals on hand. Avoid buying takeaways when you do not feel like cooking.

Deep fryer

Fish and chips are becoming increasingly expensive. Invest in a deep-fryer and make fish and chips at home yourself. Keep a stock of battered fish and chips in the fridge for those ‘we want takeaway’ moments.

Cooking tips | Need more great tips?

If you need more ways to save money at the supermarket download money saving cheat sheets and printables! Use up leftovers, create quick and easy meals, find healthy budget lunch and dinner ideas!

• 75+ awesome ways to save on alcohol
• 250 essential tips for saving on food and groceries
• 50 sneaky ways to hide fruit and veggies in food
• 130+ easy cook-ahead dinners for the freezer
• 150+ beaut budget dinner ideas
• 50+ simple meal ideas using sausages
• 250+ super foods for a better you
• 100 happy and healthy high fibre foods
• 50 great ideas for using up roast beef leftovers
• 100 wicked ways with a supermarket roast chicken
• 300+ easy ideas for a happy lunch box
• 100 easy dinner ideas using minced beef
• 50 simple ways to use up leftover Christmas ham
• 100+ budget meal ideas using Aldi ingredients

Printables for creating budget meals and weekly menu planning

• Essentials grocery list
• Blank grocery list
• Monthly menu planner