Olivia White is a young mum-of-two who runs the popular motherhood and lifestyle blog, House of White. An interactive community and hub for all things parenting, budgeting, travel and more… The following blog appeared on her website and has been republished with permission.

There is no doubt the Thermomix is an investment. But being frugal isn’t about penny-pinching or being ‘cheap’. It’s about making smart choices and thinking about the long term.

When I look to buy anything of value, I always consider how this will benefit us, how it can help us save money in the long term and how it can better our lives. A cost per use approach is always good for these types of things!

I’ve wanted a Thermomix for a few years. I had been to other friends’ demonstrations and loved what I saw. But was it right for us? I thought it over for a long time. Considering the cost versus benefit for us as a family, I assessed what appliances it would potentially replace and what I could do more with it than what I couldn’t currently do.

After a lot of research, we decided it was for us! And we have not looked back! It isn’t just about the money the Thermomix saves us either. I have discovered that there are so many great ways it can help you save. Be it waste, time or even sanity!

I thought that I would pop together some of the key ways the Thermomix has helped us save. This is a great way to work out how you can make the Thermomix pay for itself! It is an investment now, but one that will save you tones in the long term!

Meal Planning

We already were avid meal planners. I have always found this is the best way to keep weekly shopping costs down. But with the Thermomix and Cookidoo, it makes it even easier to plan ahead your week of meals and then auto-generate a shopping list based on those recipes. A great time saver too…

Cookidoo will be your new best friend

Time Spent Cooking

My overall time spent preparing and cooking have dropped dramatically!! This is a game-changer for busy families. I love that it takes away all that time spent checking and stirring what’s in the pot. The practically hands-free cooking means I can spend more time with the girls. There are also heaps of all-in-one recipes, where you can cook different components at once, using your basic Thermomix accessories. Making dinner becomes twice as nice when you can conveniently whip up a main and a side dish at the same time!

Cleaning Up

One thing that always deterred me from cooking is that I cannot stand making a huge mess when I cook. But now, using the Thermomix, I find I am only really using the one bowl to prep and cook in. It saves so much time getting a million pots and pans out or messes from prepping and chopping. It’s easy to keep on top of the mess and I don’t spend hours cleaning up and stacking a million dishes. The Thermomix can easily just be pulled apart and every part of the bowl is dishwasher safe.

Making Basics

A key way I have noticed we have saved almost right away is on the basics in our pantry. There are so many things I didn’t even know I could make myself.

Sugar! Rather than have half a dozen types of sugars in the house, you can easily mill up your own caster or icing sugar from raw sugar.

Got Almonds? Make your own almond meal in seconds or any of your own nut butters. Then grate your own cheese from block cheese to sprinkle over pasta and risottos.

Pasta, bread, even stock! The Thermomix Veggie Stock is the stuff of legends. Just throw in all your old veggies and make a batch of veggie stock that you’ll use in practically every savoury recipe. Honestly, it is endless.

Here are some great examples of what you can save by making your own from scratch.

It’s possible to save quite a bit with your Thermy….

Takeaway & Snacks

It wasn’t until I got my Thermy I realised how much we spent on takeaway and snacks! With the girls both at school, I have found that I am making a lot of my own snacks for them to take. Things like scrolls, muesli bars and muffins. All things I used to buy in pre-packaged packs and cost me a fortune compared to making them myself.

Also, we both work, and the girls have a lot of after school activities, so it gets hard. Toward the end of the week, if we had not done any meal prep and were running low on supplies our go-to was to order takeout. Because whipping something up in the Thermy is so quick and easy, I have found we are more inclined to now make something at home. And using up things we have left in the fridge. A quick soup, curry or pizza honestly is so easy and delicious!

Food Waste

One of the great things about using the Thermomix is that you can use up leftovers of aging foods in your pantry or fridge and save big time on waste.

Chuck in all those last bits of veg that are starting to go off and make some stock. That aging bread is now breadcrumbs. Or meat trimmings and bones are now a beautiful broth. The brown bananas you forgot about are now delicious banana bread!

The easiest and tastiest Banana Bread I’ve ever eaten. The girls love it in their lunch too!

You can also buy a lot of staples like flour and spices in bulk from markets or health food stores and reduce the amount of plastic packaging you have in your shop each week. And when I have an ingredient I’m not sure how to use I just search it in Cookidoo and it brings up a range of recipe suggestions for me to try.

Preservatives & Nasties

It’s not just the time and money you can save. But cooking from scratch and knowing what is exactly in your food saves you from preservatives and other nasties. Buying your basics in bulk also saves on having unnecessary plastics and packaging on your foods. Save your body and the environment all at the same time

Sanity

This is one thing money cannot buy! As a busy mum, I have found the overall benefit of having the Thermomix has been amazing. Just being able to throw everything in one bowl with minimal mess. It then does all the cooking for you, no wasted time. It really does save me my sanity every day.

Visit http://houseofwhite.com.au/ for more blogs from Olivia.