I’ll talk about my frugal way of life today. Good ingredients and simple condiments reduced my food costs. And it was satisfying for me.
How to reduce food costs
This year, I started my slow life. And I began to reduce my reliance on money because I wanted to live as self-sufficiently as possible. That’s my current ideal lifestyle.
But not limited to my ideal lifestyle, sometimes we want to reduce our living costs because it gives us ease of change. The more we can live lighter, the easier it is to change our lives. In other words, if we can create a comfortable life, even with low spending, we can easily be free from our disgusting work. So we want to reduce our living costs.
In addition, food costs are one of the most concerning things, especially for those who often worry about our future, like us.
Perhaps when we try something new with some risks, we might sometimes imagine the fear of starving to death from lack of money in the future. It frightens us a lot. We fear, “If I lose all my money, I cannot eat. I will die. So I cannot start it now. I need more safety. So I must work hard for money, even if it will ruin my health or life.”
So reducing food costs impacts our lives a lot. It affects not only our expenditure but also our current mental states, such as relaxation and confidence to live in the future.
And this year, I have tried to be creative about food and its costs. So today, I’ll talk about my recent, efficient way to reduce food costs.
Spending too much money on condiments
We assume that we cook for ourselves here. And we cook meals from scratch as much as possible. They would save a lot of money.
And this may depend on our circumstances, but I think that good ingredients with simple condiments reduce cost while increasing satisfaction. In other words, I feel we are spending too much money on food condiments.
By the way, this year I began to make fermented foods. And about 3 months ago, I discarded a lot of store-bought sauces because I created better sauces from my fermented foods.
Then I noticed that it saved a lot of money these months. In other words, I had spent a lot of money on condiments, such as broth, herbs, sauces, cooking wines, cooking vinegar, dressings, and dipping sauces.
Eating good ingredients with simple condiments
And I also noticed that if we eat good ingredients, we can be fulfilled just with simple condiments.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to get a chunk of A5 Wagyu beef this year. A5 Wagyu is one of the most expensive kinds of beef meat. That was fatty, tender, and delicious.
And I enjoyed it only with salt, or salt and pepper. Other condiments are unnecessary because they ruin beef’s taste. I enjoyed it once every week for months and had never been bored.
In addition, I recently started picking shellfish on the nearby seashore. And I enjoyed its soup, even though it was cooked only with garlic, butter, and pepper. Perhaps I can enjoy it just with salt. I feel that I won’t get bored soon.
Using seasonal ingredients
Then I noticed that fresh, good ingredients don’t need complex condiments.
To be more precise, the simple and fresh taste gives us long-term fulfillment. On the other hand, the complex taste gives us short-term excitement.
Try eating a fresh, ripe tomato only with salt. And be aware of how long you will be satisfied. If you like tomatoes, it will give you a great realization. It may not be so exciting, but the satisfaction will last a long time. And it is difficult to get bored.
On the other hand, if we add complex tastes to it, it will be exciting, but it will get boring soon. And we will want another exciting taste quickly, in my opinion.
So I came to prefer fresh, good ingredients with simple condiments. I mean that “good ingredients” are seasonal ingredients. There may not be many varieties, but they are fresh, healthy, delicious, and cheap. More long-term, deep fulfillment than short-term excitement. This is the lifestyle I like.
Conclusion
So I think that good ingredients with simple condiments could be a better way to reduce food costs.
Perhaps this is effective in my case. Many other ways could exist. They would depend on the environment.
But if we knew this way, we might be able to reduce our food costs with long-term, deep satisfaction.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
