My neighbor's 'one pot' rule saved my grocery budget last month

My neighbor Linda, she's like 70 and raised 4 kids on one income, told me to just pick one pot for dinner and stick with it. She said if you grab more than one pot, you're gonna start adding extra ingredients and side dishes that cost money. I tried it for two weeks straight, and I'm not kidding, my grocery bill dropped by about $30. I made a big chili in my dutch oven with beans and cheap ground beef, and that was it for the night. No rice on the side, no salad, no bread. It felt weird at first, but we actually ate all of it and didn't waste a thing. Has anyone else tried forcing yourself to cook with just one pot to keep spending down?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylorhunt4d ago

My wife tried this and I almost filed for divorce when she said we were having "one pot" tuna casserole three nights in a row. But honestly she was right, the grocery bill dropped like $40 that week. We just made this giant thing of spaghetti and meat sauce in our biggest stockpot and called it dinner. No garlic bread, no salad, not even a little parmesan on top. My kids looked at me like I was punishing them but they ate every bite.

tara7454d ago

$40 is a good drop but that was probably just the meat and cheese. The real savings come when you stop buying snack foods and pre-made stuff, @taylorhunt.