Use these frugal kitchen tips to save time and money in the kitchen. Groceries and home goods are expensive these days. Between increasing food costs and even the smaller size of paper towel (for a larger price), it is becoming harder to maintain a grocery/home budget. However, there are ways to save!
1. Wash cloths are in, kitchen sponges (and paper towel) are out!
One of the easiest swaps we made which dramatically cut down on our grocery bill was stopping the use of paper towel. It became so easy for us to use a whole piece of paper towel for a spill when we could have easily cleaned it up with a wash cloth.
Since I have little ones at home, I am consistently doing laundry- so throwing in an extra wash cloth 1-2x per week is not a big deal!
2. Use a compost bin to reduce trash can usage
During the summer time our trash waste is significantly less than in the winter. Though we do like to save our vegetable scraps for homemade bone broth – we do put all of our compostable materials into our compost pile in the garden.
Not only does this mean we pay for less garbage usage, but we are helping the environment, too! (And feeding the awesome composting bugs/insects).
3. Start storing your food correctly
Make sure to brush up on how to make food last longer on the counter or in the fridge. By cleaning produce or moving it from its original container upon arriving home from the store, it becomes easier to keep produce for longer.
Additionally, putting herbs like cilantro in a cup of water can prevent it from becoming wilted or moldy quickly. We also find the more we prep food in advance, the more we eat our fruits and vegetables because it is one less step to eat them.
4. Buy in bulk (especially when items are on sale)
An easy option on this list of frugal kitchen tips is to buy bulk. Just make sure to do so when items are on sale for even more savings.
5. Shop local
Shop at your local farmer’s market to get some of the best deals on seasonal items.
6. Have your own garden
If you can shop your own backyard garden, make it happen! Nothing is better than growing your own food (and eating it, too)!
7. Create cleaning supplies at home
If you are able to create certain cleaning supplies at home, make these easy swaps. Baking soda, vinegar, dish soap and hydrogen peroxide are some of our favorites (though not combined together- ha!)
8. Buy refurbished kitchen utensils (like a KitchenAid)
We saved hundreds when we bought a refurbished Kitchen Aid mixer – and it works great!
9. Learn to can foods
Going along with a garden and buying in bulk, consider learning to can your own foods. There are plenty of resources on how to safely preserve food for long term storage.
10. Use your crock pot
Using a crock pot can save time and money because it is the ‘one pot meal’ experience. Not only does it mean meals are more hands off, but there are typically less dishes, too. This is one of our favorite frugal kitchen tips!
11. Use electricity outside of ‘peak hours’
If you live in a city where there are ‘peak hours’ for the summer, consider using power outside of these times. When it comes to cooking, heat your oven outside of peak hours.
Not only will this help to ensure your house is less hot during the day, but it will save a few extra cents by staying outside the 9am – 7pm range. Thankfully, our city only has peak hours during the summer when we tend to grill more and use the stovetop less.
12. Storage Containers
There is something so easy about reusable storage containers. Rather than putting items in a plastic bag (IE a sandwich), buy a storage container to put them in. Not only does it make for less money spent on groceries, but it contributes to less plastic waste as well.
13. Make it from scratch (baked goods, seasoning mixes, etc.)
Cooking from scratch not only saves money, but it can also save time. Make your favorite baked goods like bread, bagels and cinnamon rolls from scratch.
Take this a step further and buy your seasoning in bulk. Or make your own spice blends.
14. Reduce single use items and swap them to reusable items
There are so many ways to swap one use items when it comes to storage. Swap out:
- reusable sheet pan liners (aluminum foil or parchment paper)
- reusable bags (plastic bags, ziplock bags)
- plastic silverware (compostable silverware or bring your own metal silverware from home)
15. Make or buy your own beeswax wraps
On Thanksgiving we made our own beeswax wraps for our annual craft and absolutely loved it! These have come in handy for more situations than I care to admit – sandwiches, covering containers, wrapping any piece of leftover fruit or vegetable.
16. Use food huggers for food / canned goods to keep items fresh longer
We are big fans of food huggers to cover our foods (like avocados, lemons, limes and onions). Food huggers are also a great alternative to cover fruit cups or canned goods without the use of disposable food preservers like aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
17. Use a program like Flashfood and Imperfect Foods for discounts
I love checking the FlashFood app for discounts. FlashFood is a way for stores to heavily discount their food which might be ‘going bad’. The store simply lists their items within the app and you pick them up at their designated counter.
You can find really good discounts on foods like fresh produce, bags of fruits and vegetables, and even meat for a discounted price. Imperfect Foods is also a great option for discounted foods sent right to your door.
18. Use a food saver
If you are a fan of using a food saver, buying a machine to save your food for longer can be great long term food preservation option. Another option is to manually press out or suck out the air remaining in a bag with a straw.
19. Buy items in season and store extras
Seasonal shopping can have its advantages. By buying items when they are in season – IE strawberries – you may get them for $1 in the spring as opposed to $4 in the fall. Not only do these foods taste better during the time when they are actually ripe, but they are cheaper. A win-win in our book!
We commonly buy items in bulk so we can prep them in advance and have them on hand when cooking in the future. Because we regularly make soups and stews – buying celery, onions and carrots in advance is an easy way to get some freezer meal prep complete.
20. Save by using coupons and time of year sales
Many stores, like Costco, are known to routinely put kitchen items on sale (like napkins, protein bars and even paper towel). If you need to stock up, buy enough for a few months so you are purchasing these items when they are cheapest – not when you need them.
There is never a fee with loyalty / rewards points. If you sign up for rewards at your local grocery store, you will save money with their rewards programs and coupons too!
21. Batch work your food so you are cooking multiple items at once
We are big fans of meal prepping in our household. One of our favorite ways to make multiple foods at once is through batch cooking.
It is a known fact in we are fans of making a double sized portion of food for meals to have leftovers (or an easy freezer meal). But we also batch cook multiple days of protein or produce at once.
This helps so we are not cooking only one serving of protein on the Traeger or Blackstone. We also do when cooking items in the oven. If I am making dinner, I will probably throw in dessert, too. This way, we reduce the amount of time our appliances are turned on to heat up (and to heat our house less too during the summer!).
22. Make your own (or buy) a bread bag
If you make your own baked goods at home, or give them to a friend, keep them fresh longer by using a bread bag. There are a lot of tutorials to make your own bread bag at home. We love using them to store homemade sourdough bread!
23. Use an e-cloth for cleaning
A game changer in our movement towards a ‘low tox’ household was swapping out our cleaning chemicals. One of the best gifts I have received are ‘E-Cloths’. They make it so easy to clean, especially our kitchen window!
24. Meal swap with friends
Finally, the last of our frugal kitchen tips is to share meals with friends. Some of our favorite meals have came from our family and friends. Not only was this great for the postpartum period – but we still love to trade meals. Simply make an extra meal and trade it with a friend! Keeps meal time fresh and takes the pressure off of being creative when some days, it is just not there!
What are some of your favorite frugal kitchen tips to save time and money? Share in the comments below!
Very thorough post. I like the use energy out of peak hours. I don’t think many people know it’s cheaper during different times of the day.
You are welcome! Peak hours are crazy. I am not sure if it is mandated in every state, but Michigan is really playing hard ball this summer running energy costs at 1.5x the regular price (and of course it’s during the hottest hours of the day).
Hope these tips save you some money!
Thanks for the great frugal tips! Cooking at home & having a garden have saved us so much money!😁
You are welcome! Gardens make home cooking that much more enjoyable during the summer season for us Michiganders! Nothing like a salad straight from the garden.
Some great ideas here. I especially like composting. Keeping animals can also be useful – between goats, chickens and dogs and compost there can easily be no food waste. Thanks for the prompts.
So very true! These are great ideas for a ‘zero waste’ apprecoach!
Eventually we want to add more fur friends to our family – starting with chickens.
What animals do you have?