ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Low-Cost or No-Cost Kitchenware

Updated on January 24, 2009

Ever wish there were an easier way to buy dishes or cookware than getting a whole set? If you don't care that they match, there is. Even if you want to have matching dishes, you can still buy them cheaper than at the stores. Here's a few ideas how:

Watch for giveaways

Many grocery stores have promotional giveaways at Christmas, Easter, and other holidays. If the item required for the giveaway is something you'll use, it's worth it to get the plate, bowl or glass.

Other places give away kitchen items, too. A&W restaurants have a deal where you get the mug if you buy a certain size float. McDonald's periodically has plastic children's plates and glass Coke glasses. Chuck E. Cheese has plastic drink cups, plates, and place mats available as ticket prizes.

Children's cereal boxes are also a reliable source of plastic silverware, plates, and bowls. Be sure to save all the required UPC symbols for the purchase.

Go to garage sales

Garage sales are the best source of matched sets of dishes, stovetop and oven cookware, and serving platters. Look in the local classified ads or drive around to see what's out there. Inspect everything for stains, chips, rust, and crazed glass. Negotiate prices if there is something lacking in a set or if there are minor stains. Always ask to plug in kitchen appliances if you are buying them from sales, even if the people say they work.

Shop at thrift stores and discount stores

Thrift stores and antique stores are excellent places to get full matched sets of dishes, as well as silverware and other kitchen utensils. Goodwill and Value Village often also have cooking ware. Be sure to check everything for stains, chips, cracks, rust, or crazed paint (spiderwebbing in the glaze). Only buy items when they are in "like new" condition.

Dollar stores also have silverware (often matched sets), kitchen utensils such as measuring cups and mixing bowls, and place mats. They sell matched and unmatched cups, mugs, plates, and bowls also.

Pay attention to packaging

At the grocery store, pay attention to what you buy. Welch's jelly periodically has collectible jars, which make great small glasses. Hormel dried beef comes in a glass jar with stars around the top, which makes a great glass and has a reusable lid. Pom juice has varieties which come in tall glasses with reusable lids.

Around each major holiday, check the stores for gift packages. There are often cheese boards, teapots, mug sets, sugar/creamer sets, fondue sets, cornbread and muffin pans, and cookie cutters. If you use the associated products, this is a wonderful way to save money while getting kitchenware. If you are a collector of certain brands or designs (Campbell's, John Deere, fruit patterns, hearts, Norman Rockwell), you can buy gift packs every year for a nice assortment.

Search online

Use eBay, Craiglist, and Freecycle to your advantage. Set a budget for the item you're looking for, then search the auctions or classifieds for it. Put a request on Freecyle for it, in case anyone is giving it away. This is especially helpful for discontinued patterns, hard-to-find items, and ovenware.

Go directly to the manufacturer's website to save on store markups on some products. There are also sometimes coupons or other special offers listed that you may not know about.

Check the Betty Crocker website and compare it to other prices. The points catalog has been discontinued, but there are still deeply discounted items on sale there.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)