What you need:
Clean hands, an apron on, and hair, if you have it, restrained. A large cutting board. A sharp knife and kitchen scissors if you have them. Clean washcloth/sponge, a dishtowel, 4-6 quart pot. Containers or Ziploc bags to put the chicken pieces in. Procedure: Place the chicken on the cutting board and apprehend it. Give it a word of thanks for its life and appreciate the fact that you are helping that chicken to achieve its manifest destiny by becoming your food. The chicken did it all for you, now honor that bird by making use of every bit of bone and flesh and get the most out of it—easily 3 meals for 4 people. Do the math—even if your chicken cost $20 for a 4 or 5 pound bird, that is still very economical.
There is a great video about how to cut up a chicken right here http://www.nytimes.com/video/dining/100000002155362/cutting-up-a-whole-chicken.html I used to cut up a whole chicken for my students at Penn State but I had so many people horrified, you would have thought I was cutting up a baby. People who don’t know where their food comes from are terrified to see the reality. They just want those boneless, skinless, and tasteless chicken cutlets that are all shrink-wrapped and ready to go. Get real, people! Learn where your food comes from and respect the source. If you don’t eat chicken or are a vegetarian or vegan, I fear this is not a blog for you. There is plenty of what you need elsewhere. I start with chicken because the aroma of chicken soup simmering is just about the most reassuring smell in the world. So cut up that chicken and start cooking! You can use the breast cutlets in any number of dishes and the thighs and drumsticks as a separate dinner. Cut up a chicken. You can do it.