I stopped buying canned beans and started cooking dry ones

Everyone told me dry beans were way too much work and the savings weren't worth it. But I tried it anyway after my grocery bill hit $90 one week. A $2 bag of dry pinto beans makes about the same amount as four $1.50 cans. It takes some planning but the texture is way better and I've saved around $40 a month. Has anyone else switched and noticed a big difference in their weekly budget?

3 comments

3 Comments

kaimiller3d agoMost Upvoted

Hang on, I gotta push back on this a bit. I tried the dry bean thing for like two months and honestly, the savings just didn't add up for me after I factored in everything else. You're not just paying for the beans, you're paying for the gas or electricity to cook them for hours, plus the water and the time you spend soaking and rinsing and watching the pot. If your time is worth anything at all, that $40 a month gets eaten up really fast. Plus, canned beans are ready in like 30 seconds, and I'm not about to plan my dinner around a bag of beans that needs an overnight soak and then an hour on the stove. And honestly, the texture thing is overblown, a good rinse of canned beans and they're just as good for chili or burritos. I'd rather spend that extra couple bucks and get my evenings back.

the_mary2d ago

oh man the "time is money" argument always cracks me up because i've definitely spent way more than $40 worth of time just standing in my kitchen staring at the fridge wondering what to eat lmao. like yeah dry beans take some planning but i waste way more time scrolling tiktok than i ever do on bean prep

thompson.finley2d ago

You said the "savings just didn't add up" after factoring in gas and electricity, but I gotta gently push back on that math. Cooking a big pot of dry beans on the stove for an hour or two uses maybe 20-30 cents worth of gas or electricity, tops. A slow cooker or pressure cooker uses even less. As for the water, we're talking maybe a dime's worth for soaking and rinsing. So the real cost difference is basically the beans themselves versus the canned ones. And on the time thing, I get it, nobody wants to watch a pot for an hour. But you can soak them in the morning before work, dump and rinse them when you get home, then let them simmer while you do other stuff. It's not like you have to stand there the whole time. I think a lot of people overestimate what goes into it.