Frugal Friday: Clean Your Kitchen

(First, I know it isn't Friday. I'm playing catch-up. Give me a little time to get into a workable schedule!)

Now you may be wondering how the act of cleaning your kitchen is frugal. Don't fret, I'm going to tell you!

One very good way I have found to be frugal is cooking at home. This is much more frugal than eating take out or even quickly cooking convience food. It is much easier to cook at home if your kitchen is acutally clean. I am also including having all the dishes clean in this exercise as well.

Scenario #1: Sunday is Mike's birthday. I have decided to make him a cake. I walk into the kitchen and there is no where to work. Dirty dishes and trash cover every inch of workspace. I become discourgaged and decide it is just easier to go to the store and purchase an already made cake than make him one.

Result: Dirty kitchen, dirty dishes, and an unplanned cake purchase $$. Not frgual at all.
Cost: $10-$15 (I will double check the actual price the next time I'm at the store.)

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Scenario #2: Sunday is Mike's birthday. I have decided to make him a cake. I walk into the kitchen where everything is clean and put away. I gather the ingredients and tools, proceeding to bake him a lovely homemade cake.

Result: Clean kitchen, clean dishes, and a lovely homemade cake. Very frgual.
Cost: $0 I already have all the ingredents on hand. No additional purchase required.

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Both scenarios are very similar yet yeild very different results. On top of spending extra money I would be purchasing a cake with extra sugar and additives in it. Yuck! I would prefer the cake where I control what goes into it and how much. We don't care for much frosting so I would lightly frost or even glaze a cake for Mike. Find that at a store.

My challenge to you is simple. Go clean your kitchen and dishes. This will allow you to bake and cook at home. This will result in more nutricious and more inexpensive meals. Simple and frugal, my favorite!