How Adding a Few No Cooking Days Can Save You Money

If you have a family then you are probably used to cooking several meals a week, if not everyday. This causes you to go through the food in your freezer rather quickly. As your kids grow so does your budget. If, however, you schedule a few days a week where you don’t cook you may be able to save you some money. Below you will find a few suggestions on how you can accomplish this.

1. A variety of sandwiches

There is certainly plenty of variety to choose from when it comes to sandwiches. Just by adding a few things to your weekly or monthly food list it can make all the difference. I have also found that swapping out some items for sandwich items can also lower your budget. For example, canned chicken purchased at a bulk store like Costco comes out a lot cheaper than getting lunch meat. Of course you can throw some lunch meat in the mix so that you have a bit of variety. You also have the good old peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or tuna fish sandwiches.

2. Turn your leftovers into a meal

Most families have several days of leftovers during the course of a week. For example if you find you have left over chicken in the fridge you can chop it up, add some barbecue sauce, some onions and have a chopped barbecue sandwich for dinner. Warm it up in the microwave and you have a great meal all from leftovers.

3. Salads can be filling

Salads can really be filling if you add the right ingredients. Remember salad is a lot more than just lettuce. Add some fresh vegetables to the mix, and even some canned chicken and you have a great no cook meal in no time.

4. Have a family day and let others cook

This may seem a bit more unconventional, but having a day where your family comes to visit and each person brings a dish can save you money, and energy at least once a week. In exchange you can offer to do this for them once a week as well. Mot grandparents are more than happy to have you visit once a week, and let them cook for you. The best part is that it won’t break the bank.

5. Go with some wraps

Wraps can work the same way as a sandwich, except buying the wraps can sometimes be cheaper and healthier. For example you can now get spinach wraps, or whole wheat wraps. Then you can have everyone make their own wrap the way they like using a variety of meat and cheeses that you have purchased. It may sound a bit unusual but some also like to add fruit to their wraps with a bit of cottage cheese. Hey you never know how good it tastes until you try it.