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Pizza delivery, iced lattes, and endless amounts of bottled water add up quickly. At $20 at many places, a large pie for a family can be an essential when there’s no time to cook, but start relying on these food and drink shortcuts regularly and your wallet will start to feel the pinch.
Your local coffee shop and restaurant are quietly winning a war against your savings. Meal after meal, drink after drink, the habit of eating out costs most people more each year than they might care to admit.
Not all kitchen splurges are created equal, but the right appliances — like coffee machines, water filters, and soda makers — don’t just save you one trip; They can recoup the purchase price within months and continue saving long afterward.
We’ve done the math to determine which kitchen investments deliver the best financial returns, taking into account initial costs and expected annual savings. The most dramatic example we found? Switching from daily visits to the coffee shop to home brewing It can save up to $1,000 per year.
1. Pizza oven
A home pizza oven can be had for a few hundred dollars and will save you the costs of eating out.
Making pizza at home isn’t just fun; It can save you big money if you replace pizza night at home with an expensive store-bought one, even if just a few times a year.
The ingredients needed to make several pies at home — dough, red sauce and cheese — cost about $8. Compare that to an average cost of $17 bachelor Pizza in the United States, and the potential for savings becomes clear. Since most households require two slices of pizza per order, you can save nearly $30 every time you make that craving.
Best of all, pizza ovens are easy to operate, with most models running on gas or wood pellet, and can produce restaurant-quality pies in less than 3 minutes. some Our favorite models It only costs a few hundred dollars, so your pizza oven won’t take long to pay for itself.
- Initial cost: $300 to $500
- How much can you save: $500+ per year (based on one pizza per week)
2. SodaStream sparkling water maker
Making bubbly stuff with SodaStream will cost you much less than buying cans of soda.
I drink a lot of soda, so this analysis hit home. I thought it would be nearly impossible to give up crushing LaCroix and Polar cans, but the decision became easier when I calculated the savings in using SodaStream Instead of regularly buying 12 packs.
I did the math, And those who drink two cans of soda a day would save more than $300 a year if they bought $70 SodaStream, which makes the stuff at home. After the first year, you can subtract the cost of the device and the savings become even greater. Basically, you’ll need two CO2 cartridges — each priced at $15 if you’re using the exchange program — to be able to drink 12 ounces of sparkling water year-round per day. If you drink two cans (24 ounces), you will spend approximately $60 per year on the four CO2 cans needed to produce that amount.
I reduce about three or four boxes a day, so my annual hour of savings comes out to about $600. All of this proved to be more than enough reason for me to kick the can.
- Initial cost: $70
- How much can you save: Up to $600 per year
3. Coffee maker
Coffee is a big expense for many. Make them at home and save hundreds, even thousands, annually.
If you buy coffee from Starbucks or another coffee shop even once a day, the total spending over the course of a year is an astronomical amount. Fortunately, coffee can be made at home for a fraction of the cost of chains and all you need is a good coffee maker and a coffee maker. Constant supply of beans To achieve this.
We crunched the numbers to see exactly How much will making coffee at home save you in a year?. Even a modest person who drinks one cup a day will save up to $700 per year, depending on the specific demand. Those who drink two or more cups a day will likely save nearly $1,000.
- Cost upfront: $30 to $150
- How much can you save: Up to $1,000 (based on consumption of two cups per day)
4. Air fryer
An air fryer uses less than half the energy that a large oven does.
So casual Air fryer users Know that these modern stoves save time and hassle, and anything that inspires us to cook more and order less will save big money in the long run. But you probably haven’t thought about how these convection ovens work either Save money on your energy bill.
A typical air fryer uses much less energy than a large oven to operate, takes less time to preheat and cooks food faster. By my calculations Using New York electricity prices (2023), the operating cost of a standard four-quart capacity air fryer is 25 cents per hour. This is 50% more energy efficient than an average-sized electric oven and about 35% more efficient than a gas oven.
- Cost up front: 50 to 100 dollars
- How much can you save: Up to $114 (based on 300 hours of cooking)
5. Rice cooker
A rice cooker is a must-have for anyone who eats this budget-friendly food regularly.
Rice is as versatile an ingredient as you can get. Throw in a bowl of basmati or hash browns with vegetables and meat or a fried egg with some chili oil and you’ve got yourself a budget-friendly meal.
Former CNET editor David Priest caught the rice cooking bug during quarantine and did just that Details of the cost of preparing a rice meal at home. On average, four servings of home-made rice cost about $1, or 25 cents per serving, while purchasing a portion of cooked rice for four people will cost about $3 or $4. This means you can feed a family or group very cheaply if you start with rice and don’t overdo it with the rest of the ingredients.
Best of all, a decent rice cooker won’t break the bank More than $25. And if you already have it Instant PotIt almost certainly has a rice cooking function.
- Initial cost: $25
- How much can you save: Up to $547.50 (based on two servings of rice per day)
6. Instant Pot or slow cooker
Using a slow cooker is easy and turns cheap cuts of meat into delicious dishes.
These hybrid pressure cookers have been around for decades and for good reason. Multicookers are easy to use and will turn tougher, cheaper cuts of meat into meals you can slice with a butter knife.
In addition to the Instant Pot’s prowess at turning budget ingredients into delicious food, these little stoves also use less energy than a wall oven. We’ve done the math to see How much can you save by using the Instant Pot over a large oven?. While the average large oven costs more than $0.50 per hour to operate, a slow cooker costs just $0.05. Using the pressure cooker mode is a little more expensive at $0.17 but is still about a third of the operating cost of a large oven.
- Cost up front: $40 (slow cooker) or $90 (Instant Pot)
- How much can you save: Up to $135 on power alone (based on 300 hours of cooking)
7. Water filter jug
If you still drink bottled water, a filter jug and reusable water bottle will put money in your pocket.
If you’re still drinking single-use bottled water around the house, or even outside, it’s time to kick this bad habit. Saddle yourself up with a Reusable water bottle And a Water filter jug It will eliminate large amounts of plastic going into landfills and clogging recycling systems. You’ll also save yourself some serious dough and get great tasting water.
We’ve done the mathAnd those who drink three bottles of water a day could save more than $800 a year by switching to a home filter. While the Brita is one of the cheapest models, even the best-performing pitcher in our 10+ pitcher test, the Zero Water Filter, still costs less than $30.
- Cost upfront: $20
- How much can you save: Up to $830 (based on consumption of three 12-ounce bottles per day)