Saving

It's amazing what you can save with just a dash of effort.

When I was living on my own whilst my parents were abroad and my brother works and plays really hard (before he got married), I never used to cook so much. I find it a bit of a hassle. Especially during Ramadhan. For sahur, I'd buy some lauk and a packet of steamed rice the night before from any nasik campur stores and eat it later when I get up. That alone usually costs me about RM5 - RM10 depending on what kind of lauk and how many I get. Mind you, that's RM5 - RM10 in one sitting. Most of the time, the steamed rice is only half of an ideal portion.

Now, I cook most of the time because I find it satisfying - and we save a lot. For example, when we get fillet chicken breasts from the supermarket, it'll cost more or less RM9 a packet. Before I refrigerate them, I tend to divide them into two, maybe three separate ziplock bags/aluminium foil. That's RM9 for two, maybe three meals.

I can cook any amount of steamed rice that Husband can consume happily without having to worry about exceeding our budget.

And if there are leftovers, we usually try and finish it the next day, which means I don't have to cook on the day there are leftovers from the day/night before - saving more.

Cook = save (if your food consumption is anywhere near the rate of this family's)

We may be frugal. We try to be careful with money. We have a future to plan for. And books to buy. *grins*

Anis.