There were two reasons I started cooking from scratch
One was because of studies I read linking dyes and preservatives to the developmental delays my kids had
And two was the cost
We were easily spending $1200 a month on food
I can’t imagine what that would be with the amount my kids eat now!!
But there is a flip side to saving money by cooking from scratch
You need to have a plan and you need to be intentional
Otherwise, you may end up wasting a lot of food and money
Is it cheaper to cook from scratch?
There are a lot of variables when discussing if cooking from scratch is cheaper than buy premade meals or eating out
There is a lot more freedom when you cook from scratch because you control the quality of the ingredients
Often times, it is cheaper to cook from scratch because you are not paying for someone else’s time or for the travel of that product
One of the major issues that people face when cooking everything from scratch is food waste
When you buy a meal for the day, you have enough for that meal
You may have leftovers but not a lot
If you buy ingredients, you will have more than you need for the one meal
It takes months for me to use soy sauce!
So you spend more upfront, and it is easy to forget what you have
That may lead to wasting food and money
So I believe that you have to plan and be intentional if you want to save money by cooking from scratch
If you don’t, you’ll have a much harder time saving money
Check ingredient costs to see if cooking from scratch is cheaper or not
How to tell if it’s cheaper to cook something or buy it
The process to figure out the cost of homemade meals takes a few minutes, but it can be very informative
When I was perfecting my breakfast sandwich recipe, I tracked the cost to make sure it was worth the effort at that time
It costs $1.75 per sandwich to buy the breakfast sandwiches that my husband likes.
I found that by dividing the cost by the number of sandwiches in the box
A box costs $7 and there are 4 sandwiches
So I divide 7 by 4 to get unit cost
Now I look at the homemade cost
Using the same math above, we find out the cost of materials:
Flour-0.25
Yeast-0.25
Salt-0.01
Sugar-0.10
Milk-0.17
Butter-0.35
Egg-0.29
Total: 1.49 for 14 English muffins
Or $0.10 each English muffin
I bought cheese on sale for $6
I’ll estimate each slice at $0.30
I made one egg each
so $0.29 for the egg
And I got pork shoulder on sale for $1.50 per pound
I ground the pork myself and got 60 patties from 2 pork shoulders
That ended up being $0.37 each pattie
So, a homemade breakfast sandwich is $1.06 where I live
I save 69 cents per sandwich by making them at home
How to cook from scratch on a budget without always having to cook
While making food at home is ideal, I have days where I don’t want to cook
Especially not 3 meals a day when they are complex like breakfast sandwiches
The solution is simple
Make more and freeze the extra
I made 28 sandwiches at a time
I made all the ground pork patties at the same time
This is called batching
When I made something, I made a lot of it and froze the extra
That way I spend a couple of hours cooking one day and then had breakfast sandwiches available for the next few weeks
You can do the same thing with dinner
Every time I made a pot pie or a pizza, I make enough for 2 dinners
I freeze the extra dinner for a day that I need a convenient dinner
All I have to do is throw it into the oven!
Making bread products from scratch is cheaper and fun!
15 additional tips to save more money at the grocery store
There are so many tips to saving money at the store
It all comes down to how much time you are willing to invest
15 of my favorite money saving tips when shopping for food are:
- Deconstruct your meat
- Buy more of regular foods during sales
- Use dried beans instead of canned
- Learn to cook rice
- Use bones to make broth and freeze soup for future meals
- Learn to make bread items
- Meal plan and use sales to do it
- Look at rewards programs and memberships
- Buy pantry staples in bulk
- Learn to dry can
- Learn to look at unit price
- Give yourself a budgetÂ
- Allow small treats sometimes
- Find the clearance sections
- Make extra and have leftovers for other meals
Deconstruct your meat
This is one of the best money savers
This means buying larger pieces of meat and breaking them down yourself
I buy whole chickens, chuck eye steaks, pork shoulders, etc
My store has a sale for whole chickens every 3 months
The chicken ends up being 97 cents per pound
I end up spending less on 8 chickens than I would spend on 16 chicken breasts alone
Then I get legs, thighs, wings, and chicken stock as well
Huge savings!
I get steaks and steak bites from chuck eye roasts
You get the idea
I look at large cuts for sale and look online to see what kind of meat I can deconstruct them into
Then I just do it myself!
All I usually need is a sharp knife and some time!
Buy more of regular foods during sales
Use dried beans instead of canned
Learn to cook rice
Rice is a very cheap food that can be used in many different ways
However, a lot of people struggle to cook it without a special rice cooker
It is actually pretty simple!
Boil 2 cups of water
I add salt and garlic to my water
Rinse 1 cup of rice before adding it
Reduce the heat to low and cover your pan
Cook for 18 minutes
Do not touch it unless it starts boiling over
If that happens, tilt the pan lid so some steam can escape but not all of it
Do not touch the rice while it is cooking!
When the 18 minutes is done, turn off the heat and uncover
Do not touch the rice yet!
Allow it to rest for 5 minutes then fluff it with a fork
And that’s it!
Use bones to make broth and freeze soup for future meals
Every time I deconstruct chicken, I make chicken broth
That chicken broth can be canned or frozen
I use it to make soups, rice, or anything else you use store bought broth for
And all it cost was the water and leftover bones!
Learn to make bread items
I have saved a lot of money by making all my own bread products
I have made hamburger buns, sandwich bread, hotdog buns, tortillas, subway sandwich bread, garlic knots, focaccia, and more
It costs me $2 to make sourdough sandwich bread
It costs $7.50 to buy it in my local store
Meal plan and use sales to do it
Meal planning takes the stress away from what to make and saves you money
I shop my pantry and the sales at my store using my app while making our meal plan
That way I can save as much money as possible
Look at rewards programs and memberships
We do a lot of shopping at Fred Meyer since it is the biggest store close to where we live
They have a rewards program that allows us to save money on gas
It doesn’t save us money on food but it still helps
I also use the apps Fetch and Ibotta to coupon and get gift cards based on what I buy
Buy pantry staples in bulk
I use a lot of sugar and flour
Since I use it a lot, it is cheaper to buy it in bulk
Pay attention to the things you use a lot of in your home
Check prices to see if you can save money by buying your pantry staples in bulk
Learn to dry can
Dry canning is when you use a vacuum sealer to seal a jar with only dry goods in it
You can do this with chips, flour, sugar, homemade mixes, and anything else that is fully dry
This increases shelf life and keeps bugs out of your food
Learn to look at unit price
It is common that larger packages of food cost less than smaller packages
But that isn’t always the case
To make sure that I’m getting the best deal, I shop using cost per oz instead of package cost
This makes a big difference if there are sales
Give yourself a budget
My family has a monthly food budget, then I divide that budget by the number of weeks in that month to find out how much I can spend each week
By going into the store or using the app with a max budget, it is easier not to be surprised by the price at the end
I find that using an app is way easier to keep track of since you can look and adjust easier than you can in the store
Allow small treats sometimes
Budget in treats!
It is important to have a plan to give yourself treats
If you deprive yourself of your favorite things for too long, it becomes easier to make mistakes and overdo it
Think about cheat days during a diet
Those days are usually overdone
It is usually better to plan treats into normal life so it doesn’t become overwhelming later
Find the clearance sections
Most stores have a clearance section or several sections
My store has 4 clearance sections
I check 3 every time I go
I check the baked goods, meats, and freezer clearance
The last one is home goods and I rarely need anything
If I don’t need something then I don’t even look to avoid temptation
Make extra and have leftovers for other meals
I love to make extra food and plan leftover days
Usually we eat our leftovers for lunch the next day
This makes the day easier for me and saves us money
Lunch is hard for me to cook from scratch so having leftovers avoids the use of expensive convenience meals
It also keeps my family from just eating snacks for lunch
Whatever you decide to do, I hope these tips help you reduce food costs for your family
Take what works for you and leave whatever doesn’t work for you
You got this!
