Everyone around us, especially the middle class and the poor lot, has been affected by the sudden hit of the COVID-19 pandemic. In such a situation, when you’re already suffering financially, seeing resources going to waste is heart-wrenching.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help you reduce the monthly budget allocated to your kitchen.

1. Service your appliances regularly

It is crucial to maintain and service your electrical appliances every 3 to 4 months to elongate their lifespan. Just like an air conditioner, a refrigerator’s condenser coil gets clogged by the dirt particles. If not cleaned up within the due time, it can cause a significant breakdown, and the appliance may end up in a beyond-repair condition.

2. Enhance the life of your kitchen utensils

Use your microwave, dishwasher, oven, and other electric appliances with caution and care. Try to use less of your cooking oven by preparing quick meals in the microwave or oven toaster.

Limit the use of an aerosol cooking spray on your cookware as it piles up on the pans and woks, causing permanent damage to your utensils. Try replacing your non-stick pans and skillets with cast-iron wok and grill pan as they can survive high temperatures without getting worn off.

3. Stock up your appliances in an organized manner

It’s essential to systematically organize your refrigerator, keeping in mind that you do not overload it with tons of eatables. The more it is stocked up, the more energy it would require.

On the other hand, please wait for your dishes and utensils to pile up before you stuff them into the dishwasher. A half-filled dishwasher wears up twice as faster than a less filled one. You’d save up on both electricity as well as dishwashing soap by filling it up to its recommended limit.

4. Bring innovation to your cooking

The real wastage that we experience in the kitchen is of grocery. Almost every day, we discard loads of rotten groceries or leftovers. Invest a little time at the beginning of every month to conserve your fruits or veggies. You can blend the tomatoes and store the puree in small pouches in the freezer.

You can also cut, blanch, and keep the veggies in the freezer to increase their life span. This way, they will be readily available for use at a later date. You can make jam or smoothies out of fruits in their season and then store them for a whole year. This way, you are not only preventing food items from rotting away, but you are also decreasing your cooking time.

Try to invent new dishes using the leftovers from the previous day. For instance, you can use the leftover gravy to make pasta for the next day or add the leftover noodles in a soup to make noodle soup. Make breadcrumbs of the leftover bread and store them in the freezer in an airtight container.

These quick and easy hacks would surely help you save a few dollars that will eventually add up to a hefty amount to tackle other expenditures.