Wednesday 15 July 2009

5 Best Money-Saving Kitchen Tips

Nowadays, every possible way to save money should be done, especially now that our economy's in crisis. When it comes to our major needs such as food, you may think that that's inappropriate, and that sacrificing our food intake in exchange for saving some bucks is definitely wrong. But the word "sacrifice" here is a little exaggerated and is misused in this case. If only we knew how to be more organized with a little planning involved in our kitchen, you'll be surprise how much money you can save. And we're not going to sacrifice any nutrients and vitamins that we intake nor the quality of taste of our meals, we will even come up with more innovative yet cheaper kitchen ideas which will surely save us a lot.

1. Don't throw away leftover foods.

Don't just throw your leftover meal on the garbage. Instead, put them on the fridge and save them for later. Be sure to use a clean container to avoid spoiling your meal. You can reheat it later on or even make some experiments on it to invent a new dish. With that, you are able to save both time and money, in terms of not buying anymore new ingredients and not preparing and cooking the food from scratch.

2. Pack your own lunch. Instead of buying your lunch from the office cafeteria or fast food chains, just prepare your own sandwich or cook your own rice and viand. Not only you can save a few bucks, you are also assured that what you are eating is safe without any preservatives added on it. You can also bring your own fresh juice which you prepared personally or your own tumbler with water, instead of buying artificially flavored juice drinks, soft drinks, or bottled water.

3. Buy only the kitchen gadgets that you need. Not everything that is offered to you will be useful in your kitchen. So think many times before purchasing your kitchen appliance. If you do not drink coffee at all, then buying a coffee maker will be absurd. In case you really need a particular appliance, make sure that it is of top quality, so you'll know you can use it for a long period of time.

4. Invest on plastic containers, microwavables, and zip lock containers. This has many advantages for you. First, you can save a lot of space on your fridge by using zip lock plastic containers in storing your meats and poultry instead of using bulkier containers. Using these sets of plastic containers will also keep your kitchen, dining, and even fridge well-organized and clean all the time, and with that, you can easily observe which stock you still have and which needs to be bought already.

5. Buy only what you need from the market. Before going to the grocery store, prepare a list of everything you need, and buy only those and as much as possible, avoided any unnecessary picks once you got there. Buy only the necessities, and after you have completed what's indicated in the list, and still there is a budget, then that's the time you can buy some extras. What's most important is you know how to prioritize and you know the basic food needs that you must have for your family.

Sure those are just few of the thousand ideas that you might think about in order to save money. Kitchen is one of the most special places inside our homes, where our basic life requirement such as food is prepared. These money-saving kitchen tips are created and given to you not to make our meals suffer, but in fact, to make us more innovative and imaginative in keeping our meals not only healthier and safer, but most importantly delicious as always.