7 Ways I Save Money with an Air Fryer.

One item included on my list of Christmas ideas that save you money was an air fryer. I received so many comments from people on all of the different ways that an air fryer has saved them money, sanity, or calories. I knew they were popular, but the level of fandom for these was at a whole new level! If you don’t have an air fryer, get ready to start looking for one because we are going to talk about the 7 ways I save money with an air fryer!

Eating out is expensive

We all know this fact, but let’s dive into the math of eating out 5 nights a week and see the long-term impact on your financial life. In this example, I am using the phrase eat out to include take out or meal delivery service/Uber Eats etc. Any time you have a restaurant cook your dinner for you. 

I am focusing on how I save money with an air fryer, but many of these tips will work with an Instapot or cooking at home using an old-fashioned oven and stovetop. Use the tools you have at your disposal and work with your cooking style. 

The cost today

Let’s assume you eat out/get take out  5 nights a week and it averages out to $15 per meal. Some of those meals are eaten completely that night, and some give you leftovers for lunch or another dinner. So your weekly cost for eating out is $75 per week. That doesn’t seem so bad. 

If you were cooking at home, let’s estimate your dinner cost $7.50 instead. You can easily get a single serving of salmon, rice, and veggie dinner made at home for that price. 

If you take the $7.50 you are saving 5 nights a week and total that up during the month, you are saving $150 a month. Not a bad sum! That works out to $1,800 a year. You could take a nice trip with that money! 

The future cost 

The cost savings today are only part of the picture. If you save the money on eating out today, that money will just go to other things. Rather than have it leak out of your budget through small spending, give that money a job where it can grow and provide a future benefit for you. 

What if you made a plan to cut down your eating out to one night a week. That way you still get a treat and a break from cooking. You also decide to take that $150 a month you are saving by eating out less and setting up an automatic recurring deposit into your IRA account for $150 a month. 

If you look at the magic of growth through compound interest, saving $150 a month into an IRA that grows at 10% a year for 30 years, you will have accumulated a retirement account balance of $343,964. Yes, this is correct…. More than three hundred thousand dollars. Just from the amount you are saving by cooking at home rather than eating out. 

The best part of this retirement balance is that you have only contributed about $54,000 of the total. The remaining $289,000 is from stock market growth (estimated here at 10% a year which is the average annual overall growth of the stock market). All that by trying to save money with an air fryer!

Now that you have seen the math behind this, are you ready to get started cooking at home! If you are new to cooking at home and need some tools to get started, check out these posts!

• Simple and budget-friendly go-to meals that come together quickly when you are exhausted after a long day.   
• Quick and budget-friendly side dishes and veggie ideas to go with dinner
• If your kitchen is empty, this post has ideas for some of the basic tools you need for a kitchen that is easy for you to cook in. 
• Cooking for one person can be tricky to do without eating the same meal for a week, check out this post for tips to make it easier! 
• If you feel uncertain in the kitchen, these are great tips to help you feel more confident and efficient when you are cooking.  

Ways I save money with an air fryer

Eating at home

I think I covered this one in-depth earlier in this post. Remember that eating at home, and investing the amount saved monthly for 30 years can give you a balance of $343,000. 

A serving of dinner at home costs roughly ⅓ to ½ of the cost of most fast food or dining out options (and the savings are greater when you factor in the delivery fees that add up!)

Breakfast and lunch options

My analysis above focused only on eating at home for dinner. Imagine if you used your air fryer to eat breakfast and lunch at home and invested the savings with your dinner savings? The growth would be huge!

Health

Staying healthy, active, and controlling the calories entering my body is key to maintaining your health over the decades. Cooking at home with an air fryer is healthier than almost any dining out choice. You can control the ingredients and know exactly what is in your meal. 

Time savings

The old adage that “time is money” works here. By cooking food faster in an air fryer, it allows you to shorten your meal prep time so you can use your new free time for anything you choose! The magic is in the fan-assisted convection technology that moves hot air around to cook food faster. 

Recreate restaurant meals

My air fryer allows me to create some of my favorite restaurant meals at home for way less cost. Occasionally, I would get a craving for hot fresh french fries which would result in a $10 trip through my local burger drive-through. 

Well, I am pleased to announce that Ore Ida french fries in an air fryer taste the same as those fries for a fraction of the cost. Plus, I made my own extra spicy dipping sauce for them! I have also recreated my favorite coconut shrimp appetizer in the air fryer so now I don’t need to spend $15 on that appetizer as a treat anymore! 

Energy costs

Previously if you were going to bake salmon for dinner, you would start by preheating your giant oven. Using a much smaller and more efficient air fryer allows you to save money on your energy costs.  This blogger has broken down these costs for you! 

Reheating leftovers

Some leftovers heated in an air fryer can be more appetizing than microwaved leftovers. My air fryer is my favorite way to reheat pizza and leftover french fries. They come out tasting just as good as they did when they were fresh! When my leftovers are microwaved and sad, it makes it more difficult for me to eat them a second time. This is a great way to fight food waste!

If you don’t have an air fryer but are considering getting one, Christmas is a great time to add it to your gift list! These are two highly-rated air fryers.

In January, I am going to start releasing some air fryer dinners that cost less than $10 per serving and can be made in less than 30 minutes using your air fryer and microwave. They will include simple instructions and are perfect for someone who is new or uncomfortable in the kitchen. Keep an eye open for these! They will be perfect to save money with an air fryer!

Do you have a favorite food or recipe that uses an air fryer? Share it with us in the comments below and I may feature it on my blog soon!  

Pin Me!