Do you find that cooking from scratch saves money?

[Momto2Boyz]

I'm trying to rework my grocery budget and lose almost ALL the convenience foods that I buy. Now, what I consider convenience foods, my friends think are staples...my nieghbor thinks I'm crazy for considering these items conveniences, but my thinking is I can make them from scratch instead of buying them prepackaged, so therefore, they really are convenience foods. So here is what I am considering making from scratch to help my budget:

Cream of chix soup (used for cassaroles...I boil chicken, so I'll use some stock from that)
Noodles
Bread
Cornbread
Applesauce
Pancakes, waffles, muffins, biscuits, etc. (basically, buying no baking mixes)

So, I love cooking, so making these things are no issue. And I'm a stay at home mom, so I no longer have to rush home and cook dinner after work.

But my thoughts are more on my budget. Will making as much as I can from scratch help my bottom line, or with needing more flour, baking powder, eggs & milk will it make a difference or even cost more? Does anyone have any ideas?

[monkeywrangler71]

I save a small fortune baking bread. Cream of chicken soup is way cheaper to make than buy - plus the store bought is nothing but salt. Applesauce, depends on the price of apples, I make it in the fall when they are super cheap. The baking mixes are sometimes cheaper than baking from scratch, if you have a really good sale and coupons, etc. but prepared goods from the bakery are generally way more than making it yourself.

The other benefit of making things from scratch is that you save a lot of space in your pantry. You just have the flour, baking powder, etc. instead of all the boxes of different mixes.

I think that overall, it's much cheaper to cook/bake from scratch. The only thing I know costs me more from scratch is ice cream. But if I saw a cake or muffin mix on sale for 20¢, I would definitely pick it up.

[Marie78]

I notice that the pancake, cookie or muffin mixes you buy in the store don't go as far or make as many as making these things from scratch. In that way I feel I am saving money.

[Persimmon Lace]

Because there are 2 of us I do use the Jiffy cornbread mixes most of the time but for bigger batches I make it from scratch. Most usually everything else comes out about the same. I've learned to cut things in half for just dh and I which saves us alot of money. I do base cooking of my meat and package in a double serving size and can add another if needed. I also use a bran muffin mix that is the perfect size for the both of us and we love the flavor of them.

Everything raised in the garden is packaged in small servings for us. Like 2 ears of corn, 2 cups of green beans and so in.

I don't mind leftovers as they go in the freezer, plus I feed my dsis and mom from time to time things that you simply can't break down in really small batches. I don't mind as they do the same for me.

[LizaZ]

I know I'm going to be in the minority here -- but I don't think so. Many of the processed foods are just so cheap.

But that said there are other reasons for cooking from scratch. Some people just enjoy it. The most important to me is that it can be more healthy. Of course it all depends on what you put in what you make from scratch. Bleached white flour and sugar are highly processed foods with little nutritional value left in therm.

We have been eliminating processed foods from our diet over the last year. I make a few things from scratch, but I have totally eliminated others. My focus on food and cooking has been more whole foods oriented focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables as much as possible.

You also need to figure you time into the cost to know if you are really saving money -- your time is valuable.

When it's all said and done though the decision is all up to you. Only you know if it is worth it or not -- no one else can really decide that for you.

[toile]

I cook with whole grain foods, trans fat free, basic white sauce turned into many things from powdered milk and lots of homemade healthy stuff.

I buy staples like:
WW pasta
ww bread
flax seed
wheat germ
ww flour
real oatmeal
beans
meats
veggies
ww pitas
healthy peanut butter
nuts and dried fruits that I hide in stuff

I then try to bake all my kids snacks, WW muffins, with lots of fiber etc..

So I save a ton, because have you priced healthy premade snacks for kids?
Yikes.

So for me yes this is cheaper, but not if I had steak every night.
Now that would by yummy

[erstbrmom]

Think of all the preservatives, food coloring, MSG etc. you're NOT consuming by making as many items from scratch as time and talent allows.

[HappyMama]

Think of all the preservatives, food coloring, MSG etc. you're NOT consuming by making as many items from scratch as time and talent allows.

Exactly! Avoiding all those things have kept us healthy. We cook and bake from scratch for Health purposes but save tons of money too. I make my own breads, pizzas, pita breads, tortillas, calzones, cookies , sauces ( to name a few)

[acidcookie]

Even though you're paying for more flour, etc, I almost guarantee that you will still save money! For instance, I made wheat crackers recently and each of the very few ingredients cost me just cents. The amount I made equaled probably 2 boxes of Wheat Thins, which would NOT cost me just some cents. Plus mine were simple and wholesome (whole wheat flour and olive oil!) unlike packaged crackers.

That said, being on campus up to 12 hours a day and then coming home to do more work, I don't have the TIME to make much from scratch. And I'm not sure my bread saves me any money. So I do what I can when I feel like it.

I know what you mean though, I consider almost anything but the raw ingredient or the produce itself a "convenience food" (even if I still use some of these things), but most others consider them staples.

[Marie78]

Acidcookie, do you have a recipe for those wheat crackers? I would love it if you don't mind sharing it .

[toile]

I would love to learn to make crackers too!
Thats gonna save me a lot of $ with 3 kiddos who love crackers
Thanks if you dont mind sharing the recipe

[toile]

If you really want to savey $ by cooking from scratch, check this out.
They have a free printable cookbook too.

---Food Emergency Shopping List for any time that your food budget is severely restricted due to lack of money.

-----Bare-Bones-Empty-Wallet List for when you're really short on cash, and no food.

-----The Money Saving 100 Shopping List everything you need to make the recipes in this cookbook. Buy these useful and nutritious foods and save the big bucks.


http://www.justpeace.org/shopping.ht...Empty%20Wallet

[toile]

Make your own mixes.
http://www.justpeace.org/mixes.htm

Basic muffin mix

Biscuit mix cake

Chicken flavored rice mix

Chocolate cake mix

Dry onion soup mix

Easy very tasty brownie mix

Hearty soup mix

Homemade burger helper -- Recipes using homemade burger help mix

Homemade chicken gravy mix

Hot chocolate mix

Pudding mix -- Vanilla or chocolate pudding from mix

Taco seasoning

White sauce mix

[toile]

32 frugal recipes that use 1/2 pound of ground beef.
http://www.justpeace.org/burger.htm

[toile]

Frugal Can Of Tuna recipes:
http://www.justpeace.org/tuna.htm

This site has so much more, just trying to give a taste