We love eating out but never made it a habit.

Cooking at home is an exciting element of our systematic approach to keep our savings rate consistently over 50 % and there is plenty of room for further improvement (see page Savings Rate and post How to shape your Finances? Track your savings rate). We

• rarely eat out,
• do not buy our lunch out at work,
• waste as little food as possible (actually many people underestimate that food waste accounts for a large portion of grocery bills),
• buy in bulks,
• rarely buy processed food,
• carefully consider where we grocery shop and
• always use a grocery list (which has actually not change for years).

We operate on a system that allows us to buy food in bulks and that leads to efficiency. We focus on removing stress and time to elaborate menu plans. We make meals which use “core ingredients” on rotation with small variations. We only take cooking recipes which take little time.

Pumpkins, great for every meal of the day.

One-pot dishes e.g. are great. Fast and easy to prepare and there is hardly any cleanup. One-pot cooking (stews, soups …) are very filling and superb for leftovers. With few basis ingredients (e.g. meat, seasonal vegetable) and spices there are uncountable different variations. Being open to experimentation, the process becomes simpler and  more fun.

It is tasty, uncomplicated and inexpensive. Cooking makes us healthier and richer – in a social, emotional and financial sense.