Is thrift in the Kitchen a lost art?

**Inkstain82** · 03-31-2011, 09:21 PM

For me, it's more of the front lines of the frugality war. It's a daily battle. I can pass on a big purchase and it's done. I can drop cable and it's done.

But I have to commit to cooking and not going to McDonald's every single day.

**mndtrp** · 04-03-2011, 07:30 PM

Cooking is also my construction, car repair, landscaping, scrapbooking, whatever else along those lines. It's something that I can take a seemingly disparate set of items, and put them together into something appealing.

**rachelMcK** · 04-13-2011, 10:39 AM

I used to be really good at being frugal in the kitchen but in the last two years, as our income went up, I started buying more expensive and more convenience foods. So I'm back here after a long hiatus to relearn my frugal ways. At one point, I fed my husband and I on $50/ mth, now, I spend $400/mth. It's not a good thing.

**Jessesbride** · 04-16-2011, 06:40 PM

I wasn't raised in a household that cooked.. & God forbid you looked in the fridge... there were science experiments growing in there... looked as if they were there from before I was born more often than not. My mom called herself a frugal shopper... but in reality she was a hoarder. she shopped to make herself feel better... & she never save $$ b/c by the time she thought to use it it had gone bad or she couldn't find it so she bought more.

That said, when times are tough, it is then that most people want to learn how to cook/bake from scratch, especially those of us that have never had the desire or the need to learn beforehand. As a single mom for over 9 years, it was a sink or swim thing. Now I still don't do most things from "scratch" but I've learned the value of cooking & baking myself rather than having everything store bought. Thank God for the internet b/c most of the cookbooks I have tend to have ingredients I've never heard of or using cooking ware I don't have & not sure how to improvise.

NOWDAYS... I am cooking/baking more often & not as "afraid" of cooking b/c if we don't like it ... well, lesson learned & we'll do something else next time. So I wouldn't say thrift in the kitchen is a lost art... these days it seems more & more people are "finding" the art of thriftiness in the kitchen, as well as elsewhere!

Kim

**FrugalKate** · 04-16-2011, 09:39 PM

Oh how true is that article? I have a neighbor who even when she wasn't working would run to McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and order in Lunch and Dinner EVERY night - either that or they would go out every night for dinner. Then she would try to tell me that she was trying to save money - Ha! That bunch have the latest fill-in-the-blank and are always playing the "Keeping up with the Jones" game. Just noticed the empty box on Trash Day that they just got one of those new fangled Pod Coffee Makers for $140. I mean how hard is it to turn on the 'ol coffee maker? They waste money like it is going out of style. I guess cooking for her family is just way too beneath her, but she sure knows how to shop and of course on a credit card no less. @@

**suzanimalbil** · 04-17-2011, 07:06 AM

I have found the "convience" are a big pain in the rear end. I can make mac and cheese without reading the box and measuring - sure it takes a little longer to cook but tastes better and not jacked up with chemicals. Ham. Helper is gross and really how dang hard is it to brown ground beef and boil noodles - you have to do that for the HH anyway...

I grew up in a cook from scratch house so that's just easier for me. My kids (10 & 11) think fast food is gross but most of their friends eat several times a week. Kinda sad when the family dinner table is at McDonalds.