Everyone says dried beans save money but nobody does the math on the water and gas

Vera Palmer · 2026-10-11T02:05:04.475657+00:00

I keep seeing folks say you should skip canned beans and buy dried because it's 3 times cheaper, and I finally sat down with my receipts from the last 2 months here in Spokane. A pound of dried pintos runs me $1.79 and makes about 6 cups cooked, but that's 90 minutes on the stove plus an overnight soak, and my gas bill went up about $4 that month just from bean pots. Canned beans at $1.09 a can give me 1.5 cups each, so 4 cans equals the same 6 cups for $4.36, and I'm not babysitting a pot after a 10 hour mail route. If you factor in your time at even $10 an hour, dried beans only win if you're doing huge batches in a pressure cooker you already own. Am I missing something, or are we all just pretending the stove time is free?

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Everyone says dried beans save money but nobody does the math on the water and gas | Budget Friendly Meals - Chatter Central