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How To Make Home Cooked Meals That Taste Like Your Favorite Restaurants

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When you are trying to save money, one of the easiest things to eliminate from your budget is eating out or ordering takeout. Although takeout meals are easy and delicious, getting meals out instead of cooking at home can blow your budget quickly with the high food prices plus tips and delivery fees. 

Your goal is to get serious about cooking more at home, but you do not want to sacrifice taste and variety. So, if you still want delicious meals that taste like dishes from your favorite restaurants, there are ways to recreate your favorite restaurant meals in your kitchen on a budget. 

Ask for the Recipe

If you have a favorite meal from a restaurant nearby, ask the server or manager if they would be willing to give you the recipe. Occasionally, they may tell you that the recipe is a secret, but often, they will be happy to give you the recipe for your favorite dishes. 

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/photos/restaurant-meals-to-make-at-home

Even if you cannot get an answer on the exact recipe from the restaurant, look at the menu description. It most likely lists the individual ingredients so that you can try to recreate the dish on your own. There could be some tweaking to get it right, but this will help you get started. 

Some restaurants also list their recipes or ingredient lists on their websites along with the nutrition facts. Therefore, this is another option if you are trying to sleuth out how to recreate your favorite meal on a budget.

Take a cooking class

A big step towards cooking restaurant-style food at home is to gain confidence in your cooking skills. If you are overwhelmed at the thought of making meals at home, take a cooking class.

Taking a class will help you feel more comfortable in the kitchen or teach you some tricks to up your cooking game. 

There are countless places to take cooking classes in your local community or even at restaurants in your area. Also, reach out to community colleges or town boards that run enrichment programs in your area. Most cooking classes are inexpensive, or even free. 

If there is not a class offered in your area, express your interest. You may not be the only one looking for a cooking class, so you could help get a class started in your area. If in-person classes are not an option, there are also plenty of online cooking classes that you could do from your home. 

https://moneywise.com/life/food/20-cheap-recipes-to-keep-your-stomach-and-wallet-full

You can find general cooking classes to teach you the basics or specialty classes that will focus on cooking a specific type of food like pasta or an Indian food class. So, whether you are a complete cooking newbie or just trying to get better at a specific type of cooking, there is a class for everyone. 

Find copycat recipes

Many food bloggers have made a career out of creating copycat recipes for your favorite takeout meals. Pinterest is loaded with links to things like “Copycat Chick-fil-a” or “Panda Express at Home.” A quick search for your favorites will likely yield some good options to try at home. 

Create a Pinterest board to save all your favorite recipes in one place so you can quickly come back to them when it’s time to give them a try for yourself. This will make it easier when you are looking for meal inspiration. 

Being prepared for dinnertime is a big step in resisting the urge to go out for dinner or order expensive takeout. Instead of calling in an order when you are hungry, you can whip up a similar recipe at home for a fraction of the price. 

In addition to recreating famous chain takeout dishes, there are plenty of recipes that will mimic your favorite types of foods. Use Pinterest, or even just Google “Restaurant style” with your favorite meal, and you will yield plenty of results. 

Rethink your grocery trips

If you feel like you aren’t creative enough to make restaurant-quality meals at home, spend some time exploring at the grocery store. Most of the time, grocery trips are meant to be quick and efficient. You most likely follow a list and work your way through the store methodically. 

While this is often a great way to get your shopping done quickly, sometimes you need to mix things up. So, if you are looking for meal inspiration, take a walk down the aisles with the sauces and ingredients for your favorite types of meals and see what appeals to you. 

For example, if you have been craving Mexican food, take a walk down the aisle with all the enchilada sauces and taco kits. Often, the packages will have recipes on the back, so you can use that as a guide to get everything you need to make the recipe. 

If you are overwhelmed at the idea of going into the grocery store without a plan, set a goal to have one meal per week be a “wing it” meal. Plan your meals and make a grocery list but have one of your meals be something you decide on the spot in the store when you encounter an ingredient that inspires you. 

Use social media 

Food bloggers have been around for a long time, but many are shifting to social media to drive more exposure to their delicious recipes. Search the hashtags for your favorite restaurants and your favorite types of food on Instagram or TikTok to find accounts that are your style. 

Many of these food bloggers post easy recipes in the reels or provide links to their websites where you can find their easy, delicious recipes. Once you start to follow one account, you will start to see more like it on the page, so you can find more food accounts to follow. 

Find food bloggers who share your mindset about cooking. The beauty of the social media food blogger scene is that there are accounts that are incredibly niche. You can find accounts for specific diet preferences like gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, Whole 30, and more. 

If you want quick recipes that will take 30 minutes or less because you’re a multitasking mom, there are accounts for that. If you want to learn how to make things like fancy reduction sauces and don’t mind using every pan in your kitchen, there are gourmet accounts too. 

Go old-fashioned with cookbooks

Cookbooks are not dead! While food blogs and reels are great for some people, there is a lot to be said for a nice, old-fashioned cookbook on your counter. There are cookbooks for every style of food imaginable, and even entire cookbooks dedicated to recreating restaurant recipes. 

Look at your local bookstore or on Amazon for a cookbook that suits your needs. Whether you are looking for recipes to make the best Chinese takeout-style meals at home or an encyclopedia of grilled cheese, you can find a cookbook for that!

The beauty of using a real cookbook is that you can make notes on the recipes that you try. This helps to remind yourself what you liked, and what you would change to make a meal taste more like a meal from your favorite restaurant. It will also note the substitutions you made. 

Image credit: [Prostock-studio]

How to Build Your Credit Score and Stay Debt Free

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Many of us know that being in debt is typically a bad thing from a very young age, but do we know why? Unfortunately, credit scores are not often discussed, so they may come as a bit of a shock to those who have just turned 18 and are looking to start building credit.

Your credit score has a significant impact on many areas of your life. It affects things such as buying a house, getting a credit card, and getting a loan. So, it is crucial always to keep it in mind when going about your everyday business.

Here we will tell you tips to build your credit score without going into debt.

What Is a Credit Score?

Your credit score is a three-figure number that indicates how likely you are to be a safe bet when it comes to loans. Essentially, it lets lenders know whether you are a risk. The higher the number, the better your credit score and the “safer” you are considered. 

https://www.cnbc.com/select/how-to-build-credit-and-achieve-a-good-credit-score/

Your credit reports determine your credit score, but if you had never had to pay anything in your name, then it’s common to have little to no credit history. 

CREDIT SCORE

Building a Credit Score

There are many ways to go about building a credit score, but some are better than others. For example, many people will tell you to get a small loan and pay it off when due simply to prove that you can do so. However, things are not always certain in life. What may not seem like a risk at the beginning can indeed become one.

So, how do you build a credit score without debt? 

Sign on as a Co-Holder’s on a Family Member’s Credit Card

One of the quickest and easiest ways to get a credit score is to be a co-holder of a credit card. For example, if your parents are willing to let you do this, you can be added as an authorized user to their account. Once you are approved, the payment history will lend itself to your credit score. Essentially, you get a boost in credit score with no work. 

It is better to become an authorized user on a trustworthy person’s credit card.

The last thing you would want to happen in this situation is that they make a late payment or even fail to make one altogether. This would then, of course, negatively impact your credit score through no fault of your own.

Open Your Own Credit Card

Perhaps a safer way to boost your credit score is to get a credit card with just you as an authorized user. This way, you won’t be reliant on anyone else’s spending habits for your credit. Of course, most credit cards will require you to have a good credit score already before they approve you. However, one option is a secured credit card.

A secured credit card needs a security deposit. The amount of money that you deposit with them is your credit limit. Essentially, it’s insuring you against yourself. You need to treat it like a typical credit card and pay the amount off when it’s due to receive your deposit back.

However, remember that failure to pay the sum or even a late payment negatively impacts your credit score. It also means that the lender keeps your security deposit to recover the money that you spent.

Set Up Autopay

The easiest way to quickly accumulate bad credit is to make a late payment. Your payment history makes up 35% of your credit scores, and so paying late does significant damage. In addition, late payment even just once can result in you being reported to the three main credit bureaus.

This report of late payment will then stay on your record for up to seven years. So, to avoid this, you should consider setting up autopay. It means that the amount owed will be automatically deducted from your account each month.

You can always keep a record of the amount spent and check it yourself against the amount automatically deducted to ensure that you are not being overcharged.

Get a Credit-builder Loan

A credit-builder loan is not your average loan, but it is designed to help people build up their credit scores. With this type of loan, you will need to place money into an account every month. When the set period is up, you will receive the total sum of your deposited money (possibly plus interest) minus fees. 

What you are doing shows that you can be trusted to pay a certain amount of money by a certain deadline. Additionally, it demonstrates to companies that you are trustworthy and can keep your money in order.

To Sum Up

A credit score has a significant impact on daily life, but it is often overlooked when we are children. The importance of building up a good credit score cannot be stressed enough. However, many people state that getting a loan is the best way to go about this. Unfortunately, that is not always the case, as any form of a loan carries risks.

Instead, we have listed above some of the best alternative ways to build up a good credit score without the need to take out a loan. Each of the methods listed above still carries a small amount of risk, and it is up to you to decide which way is the best for you. 

If you need to rely on someone else to get your credit scores, then becoming an authorized user is a great way. However, remember that you are reliant on someone else. Otherwise, lenders will insure you against yourself. Be sure to do you homework before opening a credit card.

Image credit:[Margo Hercules].

The Best Financial Books of 2021

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There are thousands of books out there about how to become better with finances, how to invest, and how to be okay with talking about money.

Listed below are books that will teach you how to go from living tightly with money to retiring debt and being worry-free. There are many books out there for those wanting to learn about finances!

Retire Before Mom and Dad: The Simple Numbers Behind a Lifetime of Financial Freedom by Rob Berger

Retire Before Mom and Dad is a book that teaches you how to improve your financial future by using psychology, finance, and self-help concepts. This is a great book for those that are just beginning to get into the world of personal finance or those that want to learn more!

Rob Berger is a litigation attorney and the founder of popular personal finance and investing website.

Rob’s goal is to help people achieve financial freedom by helping them live a life free of financial stress and worry by teaching them about wealth and living financially free. 

In Retire Before Mom and Dad, Rob writes about the difference between a Roth 401K and a Traditional 401K, the ins and outs of investing, how to retire debt-free, and how to successfully and carefully analyze long-term decisions.

His simple approach and clear writing will teach you how to become financially wise and efficient, as well as how to invest and self-help. This is a great book for those just getting started in the financial world, or those wanting to learn more!

When She Makes More by Farnoosh Torabi

In When She Makes More, Farnoosh Torabi teaches the reader how to deal with income imbalances in relationships, and how to help women manage these circumstances that can have negative impacts. 

Today, there are more women than ever working as the household’s top earners. However, they face higher risks of burning out, depressions, infidelity, and even divorce. Farnoosh uses her real-life experiences to connect the reader on a personal level.

Sold as a physical book or an audiobook, Farnoosh Torabi outlines rules to help her readers learn how to address financial imbalances that can affect relationships negatively and how to become okay with talking about these problems.

In When She Makes More, readers will learn how to deal with changes in dating and marriage in society, how to know when to let your significant other lead, and how to allow your significant other to become a stay-at-home parent without making their life too easy. 

Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together by Erin Lowry

Written for Millennials, Broke Millennial gives great insights on how to save money, handle student loan debt, negotiate a pay raise, and how to ‘adult’.

Erin gives humor and empathy a fun twist in Broke Millennials!

No one likes to think about money, especially when money is tight. In Broke Millennial, the reader will learn how to be okay with talking out loud about money and how to deal with it.

Described as refreshing and conversational, Erin relates to her audience in a way that will guide them to a path of financial wellness! 

Written for Millennials, Erin doesn’t use boring language to talk about investing and credit card debt, but rather uses analogies to relate those topics to Tinder, dating, and marriage.

Erin even talks about how to manage student loans and what to do when your dining out with friends and can’t afford to split the bill.

Written by a millennial for a millennial, this is a must-read!

How I Invest My Money by Joshua Brown and Brian Portnoy

In How I Invest My Money, you will learn about 25 experts and how they invest, spend, save, and give their own money.

Joshua Brown and Brian Portnoy will teach you there is no right or wrong way to use your money!

Joshua and Brian talked to 25 different financial experts, including financial advisors, portfolio managers, and venture capitalists, and have turned their stories into essays about their lives, families, struggles, and aspirations.

https://www.harriman-house.com/Howinvestmoney

How I Invest My Money describes how there is no right or wrong way to handle your money, but rather use these stories to teach the reader how to figure out what works best for them. 

You will read about different perspectives on bonds, stocks, funds, charity, and other means of achieving the life you have always dreamed of. How I Invest My Money will also teach your how to create and keep a healthy relationship with money and your values. 

Spend Well, Live Rich by Michelle Singletary

In Spend Well, Live Rich, Michelle Singletary teaches the reader how to support a family while living on a budget.

Michelle also teaches the reader that it’s okay to not feel bad about not spending. 

Michelle Singletary was raised by Big Mama, her grandmother who made $13,000 a year. Big Mama was the one who taught Michelle the “7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life.”

These mantras include “If it’s on your a$$, it’s not an asset,” “Sweat the small stuff,” Keep it simple,” and “Priorities lead to prosperity.” 

How to Analyze Your Financial Upbringing
Check out our article on analyzing your own financial upbringing.

In Spend Will, Live Rich, Michelle teaches the reader how to teach children the value of money, how to become comfortable talking about money in relationships, how to save money as a household, and how to look for and get the best loans for your situation. 

Summary

There are many resources to help you become comfortable with finances.

By becoming comfortable with your finances, you can have conversations about money in your relationships, learn how to save money as a household, and become okay with saying no. Start your journey to financial freedom today!