If we break down what it takes to save a lot of money, cooking may be the most practical skill of all and the corner stone of thrift and frugal living – cooking your own food will save you a lot of money. As food prices continue to rise, along with gasoline and other commodities, those who have mastered the cooking techniques, frugal recipes and food cost, may see their wealth grow faster then they expect. “How’s cooking going to help me get rich?” you say?

2. If we break down what it takes to save a lot of money, cooking may be the most practical skill of all and the corner stone of thrift and frugal living – cooking your own food will save you a lot of money. As food prices continue to rise, along with gasoline and other commodities, those who have mastered the cooking techniques, frugal recipes and food cost, may see their wealth grow faster then they expect. “How’s cooking going to help me get rich?” you say?

3. Quite simply, if you shop in the middle aisles of the grocery store (the processed food aisles), you may be paying twice as much for your calories as you would if you bought fresh food and prepared it yourself. This pre-packaged, toxic junk ain’t cheap! Some frozen “chicken nuggets” packed with Msg will cost you four times more for calories as a fresh whole chicken would. If you know how to butcher that chicken yourself, you save even more – it’s really quite easy and smart to do

4. Food independence starts with being able to cook. So, you need to master cooking techniques like, basic knife skills, butchery, blanching, braising, sautéing, roasting, frying, and many more. Once you’ve picked up these practical skills, you begin producing your own frugal recipes without the aid of a cook book (just your own imagination), and this is when you start to save serious money! That’s the name of the game, right? Saving money!

5. But, “where will I learn?” you’re probably asking yourself, right? Learning to cook doesn’t cost money at all. There is so much high quality information online, free online cooking classes are there for you to enjoy. At ThriftCultureNow.com, we’ve just launched 65 free cooking classes – written and video instruction on cooking techniques, frugal recipes and food cost. Everything you need to begin cooking up delicious gourmet meals at home so that you can save a ton on your grocery bills. What could be better than that?

6. Travis Grier is a Chef and the founder of ThriftCultureNow.com and WhatIsGold.net