6 Ways To Cook At Home

When Marc and I first decided to really save money, we realized that a huge expenditure was eating out. I've always enjoyed cooking, but that was when I started to cook more. Here are some ways to make cooking at home a little easier:

1. Plan your menus ahead of time.
2. Have a well-stocked pantry.
3. Acquire the basic utensils that you'll need every day.
4. Master some basic cooking skills.
5. Make your kitchen easier to work in.
6. Don't be afraid to experiment.

I'll post more about the first 5 tips in the coming weeks, but I'll discuss #6 right now because I've been doing a lot of it in the last couple of weeks. I've made a bunch of new recipes from Cooking Light and most of them have just been okay. But new dishes makes eating at home more exciting and enjoyable, and luckily my wonderful husband tolerates mediocre leftovers for lunch as long as I keep trying to broaden our palates. The fact that we're eating new dishes at home makes eating out less tempting, so even if they're not the most delicious meals I've ever made, they still save us money.

Read the rest of this series:

• Part 2: Menu Planning
• Part 3: The Well-Stocked Pantry
• Part 4: Basic Kitchen Equipment
• Part 5: Learning How To Cook (Efficiently)