My $20 rice cooker changed everything after 3 months

I got a basic aroma rice cooker from a thrift store for $20 and honestly thought it would just make rice. But after using it for 3 months straight, my grocery bill dropped by about $15 a week. The reason is I started making cheap staples like quinoa, lentils, and steel cut oats in it instead of buying expensive pre-made stuff. A $2 bag of dried beans now gives me 4 meals versus spending $4 on a single can. Plus I use the steamer basket for veggies and hard boiled eggs, no extra pots to clean. Anyone else find a cheap appliance that ended up saving you more than expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordanl8212h agoTop Commenter

Hang on, I've gotta push back a bit here. I tried doing the whole dried beans and lentils thing for a few months and my grocery bill barely moved. The cost savings are real on paper but you end up spending more on electricity running that cooker so often, and honestly the time it takes to plan ahead and soak everything just isn't worth it for me. Plus those steel cut oats and quinoa still cost more than just buying a cheap box of instant oatmeal or a bag of white rice. It's a cool idea but I think people oversell how much you actually save once you factor in the effort and energy.

willow_garcia10h agoMost Upvoted

Wait wait wait, you're telling me electricity costs are a real factor here? Like actually making a dent in your savings? I mean I get that a slow cooker or pressure cooker uses power but I never would've thought it'd be enough to cancel out the savings from bulk beans. That's wild to me. Maybe it's just my area but electricity's pretty cheap where I live, I'd have to run my Instant Pot for like 12 hours straight to add a couple dollars to my bill. But the time thing, yeah, I totally get that. Soaking beans overnight and remembering to do it feels like a whole other job sometimes.