| |
| |
| Personal Finance Information | |
|
|
|
Take Control and Master Your Kitchen
Those who keep a watchful eye on where their money is spent, have long conquered the kitchen woes. No last minute panic trips to the market. No longer needing the "give-the-kids-$20-for-fast-food" solution. This is no longer a problem or even a concern for the "Kitchen Master". You too can be a 'Master Of Your Kitchen'. All it takes is a little time and planning! Now you might be saying "I don't have time to plan meals, let alone control my kitchen!" That's fine. Wait until you do have some time. All you need is just a couple of hours some Saturday or Sunday where you can really "dive" into your kitchen. Where To Start Start from scratch. Clean out ALL those cupboards, shelves, racks, pantries, etc.... At some point, you'll want to do the same to your refrigerator and freezer. You must! This is VALUABLE storage space that will save you hundreds off your grocery bills if they are properly put to use. Kitchens were designed to act as 'mini-supermarkets'. Everything you need to prepare meals your family can enjoy morning, noon, and night. Once it is setup, you can accommodate quite a number of meals, without having to go to the market every other day! Once The Cleaning Is Done Now that everything is cleaned and your current supplies organized, you'll need to inventory what you have. What this means is to list out what you have, and what you need to get. Ideally, you should have at least 2-4 weeks of meals available at your disposal. Why? This will reduce the number of trips to the market and help minimize overspending and impulse buying. What helps is if you list foods and meals you know your family likes (and would) eat. These are the items you need to stock your kitchen pantry and frig with. With this approach, you use your cupboards, pantries, and shelves to your advantage. Whenever you come across great bargains on items you use, buy more than usual, and store the rest. Cans of tuna for 40 cents each, buy a lot. Boxes of macaroni and cheese for 50 cents each, buy a lot. Sugar, cheese, spaghetti, rice, pasta, bread, meat, cereal, fruit, chicken, sauces, canned foods, vegetables, boxed foods. These are just a few examples of items than can be stored in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer (depending on what it is) for a reasonable amount of time. You know you are running low on an item by simply opening your well organized pantry and determining what needs to be restocked. Planning Your Meals Now that your kitchen has been cleaned and well stocked, it's time to put it to use. It works best if you plan the following days meals, the night before. This is not hard or very time consuming. Five minutes before going to bed, simply open your cupboards and see what you can plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the following day. Start off just planning one day at a time. Later, as you adjust to this style of living, you'll be able to plan the whole week just by looking at the contents within your kitchen. What also is a must is creativity. Try to steer away from traditional hamburger and hot dog meals. Get creative with your meals. There are literally hundreds of different combinations that can be made to give you and your family the variety they need. For example, think of all the combinations you can put together with rice or potatoes (ie: rice and vegetables, rice and beans, rice with chicken, rice and soup, rice with eggrolls, etc...) And that's just with rice! You have a ton of options. Take the time to think of, or search for some. Here are a few websites that offer a number of recipes and cooking ideas: http://www.notjustbeans.com Conclusion The whole goal of this exercise is to eliminate unnecessary trips and excessive spending at the market in addition to creatively using what you have in your kitchen to prepare meals for the week/month.The more times you go to the market, the more chances you have of spending your money on foods you may not need. Organize and master your kitchen, plan out your meals, stock your storage areas, and you can save $100-$400 a month (depending on your spending habits ;-) Best of luck mastering your kitchen! Gregory Thomas has been writing effective money-saving tips for SavingSecrets.com for over six years. Hop on over and you'll find FREE money-saving articles, a monthly newsletter, and even a FREE Ebook download just for stopping by! http://www.SavingSecrets.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Personal-Finance - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Succession Planning Have you ever thought about what you are going to leave your children when you pass from this earth? Wouldn't it be a great feeling to be able to give them a really good head start in life - without actually spoiling them?It really doesn't matter how old you are, it's something that you need to be thinking about and planning for now. In the process of planning your inheritance and blessing your children, you are really making YOUR life better and more financially secure because you'll enjoy these benefits before you pass them on. Risky Business: You May Not be as Daring as You Think I thought I was through with exams when I finished college. Then my financial adviser (a. Improve Your Professional Image Using Address Labels One of the simplest ways to improve your professional image is by using address labels. Self-adhesive business labels are THE way to go when it comes to a professional image. University: A Course in Personal Finance Recent findings from the Educational Policy Institute indicated that the UK is the third most expensive place in the world to go to university. Combine this with figures from the Prudential, showing that a third of university students have considered abandoning their studies due to the financial strain they have encountered, and it is not surprising that many prospective students are finding the need to seriously think through the merits of going to University. Dramatically Improve Your Stock Trading Success Get Access to Realistic profitable strategies & discover the mindset to dramatically improve trading success.* Avoid those confusing "cookie cutter" technical analysis tips and tricks that you can read anywhere else for free. Are You Ready To Be Fired? Your boss has just informed you that your department is being reduced by two and you are fired. After he leaves, what are you going to do? This is not about finding a job it's about being prepared for financial change. Save Money on Gas Gas prices have soared to unimaginable heights of late. Since most of us are not likely to turn to bikes or horse-drawn buggies we will have to learn to get the most from our gas dollars. Bank On It: Places to Hide and Invest Money Today I passed a thermometer at a bank that read 110 degrees, but I am not telling you that to show you how hot it was. I am telling you that because this bank really needs to fix their thermometer. Top 10 Ways Managing Your Money Is Just Like Riding a Bike An avid cyclist and bike racing fan, I sit transfixed during the many hours of Tour de France coverage every July when the race rolls around. This year, during some of the less-than-scintillating early miles of the sprint stages, my mind wandered a bit, and it occurred to me that there are some interesting parallels between winning the Tour de France and winning at personal finance. If I Had a Structured Settlement, I Would Use It to Pay for Gas Has anyone been to the gas pumps lately? Soon $3 a gallon will be the asking price and we'll either have to become cyclists or create some additional income. I plan to do both of course because you can balance thrift and greed pretty well as you ride your bike to work. Reduce College Debt with Scholarships Six Scholarship judges were sitting around an oval table. Forms were piled into 50 boxes. Car Donations and Used Car Donations Car donations and used car donations are the way many people choose to recycle their older model cars without having the headache of repairing, advertising, showing, and hopefully then selling them. Being able to get rid of an older car and at the same time gaining the benefits of charitable giving and a tax deduction are all part of the allure of used car donations. Grocery Savings - Your Kitchen is a Goldmine! Your food budget is the most flexible area of your household budget. Grocery savings will free up a significant amount of money if you need to balance the budget, or fund your savings accounts. Personal Loans For Homeowners - One Of The Numerous Rewards For Being A Homeowner You no longer look at the pictures of homes cause you yourself bought one. Well, you know how you got that, it was a huge investment. Check Facts and Figures Are you a check fanatic? Don't worry, you aren't alone. Millions of consumers write checks every year. How to Save for A Down Payment Saving for a Down Payment is hard work, so it's a good idea to really want to own your own home by the time you begin your Savings Account. It's difficult to turn down a weekend in the Bahamas (or Downtown at the Clubs!) when you don't have a definite goal. The Benefits of Banking Online How many drawers did you have to look through to find a bank statement the last time you needed one? Chances are you did not lay your hands on it as readily as you would have liked. If that is a familiar scenario in your home, help has arrived in the form of online banking. Affording a Home Can you really afford a house? If so, how much house can you afford? To determine this answer will take serious financial planning, and the best time to start is at least six months before buying the home.Although buying a new home may seem like an American Dream or romantic venture, the reality is that the house you can afford depends on your current income and debt obligations. How You Feel Affects How You Shop & How Much You Spend Have you ever stopped to think about how your "mood" affects the way you shop, not to mention the amount you spend? Think about it.If you want to save a lot of money, avoid shopping whenever you are in one of these moods:DEPRESSED, UPSET, or ANGRYIt's very dangerous for your pocketbook to shop when you're either depressed, upset or angry. 10 Tips To Save Money When Dining Out Here are some tips that can help you save money when dining out. Keep in mind that these tips are intended to help you save money when dining out at a restaurant type setting.
|
| home | site map |
| © myfinancialsolutiononline.com 2007 |
