18 money saving kitchen hacks that will help you save time and money in the kitchen
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When you're on a journey to save money or get out of debt it's important to find ways to cut costs in your home.
Today I wanted to share some ways we save money in the kitchen. It's the little savings that can have the biggest impact when added together.
1. Make fruit last longer.
Divide your bananas up so they aren't stacked on top of each other. This will make them ripen faster. Also do not store apples with other fruits, this will also cause them to ripen faster.
2. Prep your fruits and vegetables
I like to precut our strawberries, pull grapes off the stems, and prechop carrots and cellary. That way the work is done and the snacks are ready to go and less likely to get wasted.
3. Save your fruit scraps for jelly.
If my kids only eats half a banana or there are a few grapes left on a plate I put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and save them for smoothies. I freeze apple cores, strawberry pieces, and apple peels for jelly.
4. Save your veggies scraps for stock.
I also do the same with scraps of onions, carrot and garlic. When the bag is full I make vegetable stock.
5. Keep snacks fresh.
Our cheddar bunnies were going stale so quickly. I started storing them in old Ragu jars. I feel like this is a two for one because I am not throwing the jar in the trash (our area doesn't recycle glass).
6. Save your aluminum foil
This is not only good for the planet, it is good for your wallet. After I make a casserole where I use aluminum foil I flatten it out to get out the wrinkles and use it again.
7 Wash your ziplock bags.
If you’ve used them to freeze or store nonmeat items, you can reuse them several times. Washing them is very easy! Fill with warm water and a squirt of dish soap. Then just seal, shake and rinse.
Turn them inside out to dry.
8. Invest in reusable snack bags.
I feel like we are talking a lot about plastic bags but... my mother-in-law gave us these cute reusable snack bags made by Bumpkin. They cost about $7 for two but you can use them again and again and again. They are machine washable and perfect for everything from cookies to cracker to grapes and blueberries.
9. Stretch your rice.
If you find your grocery budget busted at the end of the month stretch your rice out as far as you can.
Put one cup rice to three cups water or stock in a pan. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 90 minutes. You will get six servings of rice for just $.32 worth of rice!
10. Make your own cleaning products!
I know a lot of you do this already, but making your own cleaning products can save you a few dollars each month and require a few simple things like vinegar and dish soap. Click here to get a bunch of recipes for cleaning products.
11. Freeze your staples.
We all know things like fruits and vegetables can be frozen. But did you know things like bread stay fresh in the freezer. The bread my husband likes is way more expensive than the run of the mill store variety. So when it's on sale I buy multiple loaves and freeze them.
12. Go meatless once a week.
I read an article that stated going meatless once a week will save $200 a year. I believe it's probably more than that. In fact, I know it. Our family goes meatless at least once a week.
Find some recipes you already love and make them meat-free, like this meat free lasagna casserole.
13. Rollover your leftovers
We freeze a lot of leftovers, but we also figure out ways to use them up. A little bit of leftover chicken becomes quesadillas or a taco casserole.
14. Stop using paper towels.
We talked about this a few weeks ago, but we don't use paper towels. I use old t-shirts cut into strips. They work even better and I don't throw them away.
15. Put your hand soap in a foaming pump.
You will use more with a traditional pump. Instead, put your hand soap in a foaming pump. This also works with body wash.
16. Run your dishwasher at bedtime.
I called my power company and learned that off-peak hours were after between 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
During off peek hours power companies need to buy less energy so they charge less per kWh, up to 40%.
So running your dishwasher at bedtime or in the middle of the day will save you big!
17. Put your dish soap in a spray bottle
Grab a dollar tree spray bottle and squeeze in soap dish soap (about a quarter of the bottle) then add water. Spray your dishes with the dish soap when cleaning. Also this cleans granite!
18. Make your own kitchen staples.
Find a few things your family loves and learn to make them at home. Things like yogurt, chicken stock or dry beans prepared at home can save a lot of money and take little prep.
What about you? What money saving kitchen tips do you have?
