[karaterobot]

I appreciate the work that went into this, but it might be overthinking it to the point of turning some people away.

If someone wants to get into cooking their own meals to save money, the advice I would give is: go to Goodwill, or a store like TJ Maxx or Ross, where they sell this stuff for almost nothing. Buy the heaviest skillet and saucepan they have. Then buy a colander, some spatulas, scrapers, and tongs, and an 8-10" chef's knife and, if they have one, a honing steel. When you want to make soup, buy a stock pot. Subscribe to some YouTube channels and recipe blogs, and if they make some dish that looks good, but you don't have the right equipment, buy what they use, or something like it. Don't buy everything on day one, and don't get the impression that you have to get the right model of equipment or cooking somehow won't work.

[geodel]

+1 on TJ Max, I have brought many cooking utensils from them. Another place was Costco, they had multi-clad Kirkland signature 13 piece cookware set. It has really great quality, I am using it for 7-8 years and they almost look as good as new.

Same with knife set. I had this Amazon basic knife set for long time with regular sharpening it seems to have lasted longer than I'd expect for a 40 dollar knife set.

I am cook everyday, eat out few times a year type of person. So cooking utensils and knives do get use heavily in house.