The leading reason for people spending more money than they should on food is lack of energy. The family cook comes home in a tired from a long day at work. It is easier to make a quick run to Burger King or KFC, just because no one wants to cook dinner.

There are a few ways to save money and still get a quick and easy meal. The first is using what has come to be know as the cock pot aka the slow cooker. Yes it does take a little fore thought, but you can definitely save $2 to $5 or maybe even more person, as opposed to having Chinese food delivered.

The available recipes a limitless. About.com has a list of Southern Cockpot recipes that will get the family excited about dinner. Then there is Family Crock Pot Recipes and Crock Pot.com for hundreds of other quick and easy idea.

Slow Cookers rated in sizes by quarts. The smallest being 1.5 quart capacity. Then they go up in 2, 4, and 7 quart sizes, thus allowing you to cook almost any size of meal.

You can get a Hamilton Beach programmable slow cooker for over a $100. Here you can have dinner hot and ready for you when you get home from work. The selection of styles, types go all the way down to a 1.5 quart Proctor Silex for under $20. I have found good crock pots at thrift stores and yard sales in the $5 to $20 range.

Most all crock pots/slow cooker that I have seen always last over 5 years, most extend out to over the 10 year range. This makes it a great investment.

So if you pay $100 for a high quality cock pot, and keep it for only 5 years, then it will cost you only $20 per years. Say you use it once a week, instead of stopping a McDonald’s on the way home for work, it would cost you 39 cents every time you used it. However, you would save at least $5 for that meal.

If you do not have a crock pot in your kitchen, I would urge you to get one. It is a great way to save money along with having some fantastic meals.

Tags: About.com, Burger King, crock pot, Crock Pot.com, Family Crock Pot Recipes, Hamilton Beach, KFC, McDonalds, Proctor Silex, slow cooker