It’s a new year – and a new opportunity to get that food budget back on track! To help us, my friend Tiffany from Don’t Waste the Crumbs will be sharing a few frugal budgeting ideas with us each month. Take it away, Tiffany …
One of the first lessons I learned early on in my real food journey was that making food from scratch can save a lot of money.
Our grocery budget in The Crumbs Household is $330/month for two adults and two children (ages 6 and 4), so I immediately employed every make-it-from-scratch technique I could possibly find to keep us from overspending.
I started making yogurt, beans and bread. Then salsa, protein bars and tortillas. Recently pie crusts, almond milk and even sweetened condensed milk.
And while we were definitely saving money making some things from scratch, there was another lesson to be learned: Making food from scratch can take a lot of time.
Time is always in short supply and high demand. In fact, it took me a long time to learn the hard way that my time is NOT always best spent making every single food we eat from scratch.
There are instances where it’s more cost- and time-efficient to buy healthy real food ready-made from the market. Yet on the other hand, there are other instances where it’s just as easy to make the same food at home, possibly for less.
In either case, it’s important for every family to find their own unique balance between time and money when it comes to real food. Not just so you can save money, but so you can save your sanity too! After all, being in the kitchen 24-7 isn’t healthy for you or your family who loves you.
Let me share an example with you … Kelly and I were talking on the phone last week about this whole concept of time vs. savings, and she shared with me that many times she doesn’t make regular tomato salsa from scratch. If she needs just a cup or so for one meal, it just doesn’t make sense for her (money- or time-wise) to buy all of the ingredients and make a big batch from scratch, only to use a small portion as a condiment for one meal. Instead, in this case, she buys only as much salsa as she needs from her local market and makes sure only whole foods are listed in the ingredients.
On the other hand, I always make salsa from scratch. My taco-loving family consumes salsa like it’s water, so a single 32oz batch is gone in just a few days. I know first hand that for my family, it doesn’t make sense for me to buy it.
Here’s another time vs. savings example. For the first half of 2103, you could always count on me buying two whole organic chickens and cutting them into chicken pieces myself. Doing this provided enough chicken for eight meals plus stock for four soup nights – that’s 12 nights of meals every month for a total of $18.
Then one day while strolling through Costco, I found pre-packaged, organic chicken drumsticks that cost less per pound than what I was paying for the whole chickens! I thought I had hit the mother load. Not only could I save money, but I could save time by not having to chop up whole chickens (and cleaning up my mess afterward)!
Each Costco package had three individually wrapped sections and each section contained five drumsticks. One package yielded enough meat for three meals plus stock for two soup nights – that’s five nights of meals for only $11.
But do you see where my logic went wrong?
I thought the drumsticks were a better deal because they cost less per pound and didn’t require any of my time to prepare. But I was wrong.
I would have to buy two of the pre-packaged drumsticks, plus another two pounds of meat, to end up with the same amount of meat if I had simply bought two whole chickens. In terms of money, it would cost another $9.
From start to finish, it takes me 15 minutes to rinse, peel off the skin and carve a whole chicken into parts. If I’m doing two chickens at once, it’s a total of 20 minutes.
Are those 20 minutes worth $9? For me, the answer is Yes!
So here’s my proposal to you: As you evolve in your real food journey, consider how much your time is worth, and spend both wisely.
How Do You Do This?
1. Consider What You Eat Often
One of the great advantages of making food from scratch is that you can ensure that only healthy real food ingredients are used, thereby greatly increasing your nutritional intake. So when considering what to make from scratch, it’s important to think about the types of food you eat most often and start with investing the bulk of your time in making these foods, if it makes sense to do so.
It comes down to figuring out not only what made-from-scratch foods will save you the most money, but which ones will also have a higher likelihood of increasing your nutritional intake. Then it’s a matter of balancing your time, since for most of us it’s simply not possible to make everything from scratch.
For example, you’ll hear often among real foodies that making your own cultured foods like yogurt saves a lot of money. And it absolutely does! That is, if you eat a lot of it. However, if your family only eats a cup of yogurt each week, it simply doesn’t make sense for you to spend the time, money or energy in buying a starter culture, milk and then culturing your own. Just buy the single cup, make sure it’s full fat without added sweeteners or fillers.
Beans are another great example. They’re a nutrition powerhouse and average only 30¢ when you make them from scratch compared to $1 or more per can. Saving 70¢ on each can of beans can really add up over time, but only if your family eats them!
It’s important to mention that sometimes it can cost more to make a food from scratch, but if the nutritional benefits far outweigh the cost involved, it may be worth the investment of extra time and money. But again, only you can decide the right balance between nutritional advantages, time saving and money savings.
2. Consider What You Don’t Eat Often
For foods you eat infrequently, it simply may not make sense to spend time creating these foods from scratch, particularly if healthy whole food options are readily available.
As a personal example … breadcrumbs are REALLY easy to make from scratch, but I don’t make them anymore because of one valid point: My family doesn’t eat them. So regardless of how simple they are to make, it’s still too much time, effort and energy to make my own. Instead, if I happen to need them, I simply buy a container (without any artificial ingredients) and call it done.
3. Start Small
There’s no greater deterrent than trying to do too much at one time. Choose one item that you eat often and try to make it from scratch. Pull out the calculator and see if you saved anything by making it at home versus buying it at the store:
- pre-cut and packaged fruit or veggies vs. buying whole fruits & vegetables and slicing them yourself
- pre-washed bagged lettuce vs. whole heads and washing, cutting at home
- homemade bread vs. packaged or fresh bakery breads
- homemade snacks such as crackers and energy bars vs. less healthy packaged versions
- homemade condiments such as salad dressings and mayo vs. less healthy packaged versions
- homemade cultured foods such as yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, lactoferments, etc vs more expensive store bought versions
- soaking and cooking your own beans vs. more expensive canned versions
Again, consider the nutritional benefits, financial savings and the time required to make the foods you eat from scratch and decide for yourself if it’s worth it. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. Every situation and family is different, so you’ll have to ask yourself – How much is your time worth? And do what’s best for YOUR family!
We’d love to hear your thoughts … What are real foods do you invest your time in making from scratch? And which do you opt to purchase already made instead?
This is a great post. It is so easy to feel like you have to make everything from scratch, and end up with wasted food (and money) when your family just doesn’t eat all of it. When that happens, it is easy to get discouraged and quit trying to make anything.
That’s such a great point – getting overwhelmed is one of the top reasons people give up. True healthy living isn’t about stressing yourself out, it’s about making small positive changes one step at a time. It’s those small steps forward that lead to healthy changes that last a lifetime. And at the end of the day, it’s not about how well you eat, it’s about how well you live. Blessings, Kelly 🙂
So, how do you stretch 1/4 of a chicken to feed everyone for one meal? 1 chicken is about 1-1/2-2 meals for my family of four (2 young kids and one meat-loving husband), plus 1 batch of broth. That would only yield 4 meals, plus 2 soup meals. Just trying to figure how to stretch these things.
Hi Erin!
We often cook one chicken breast for a taco night, supplementing with lentils, a variety of taco toppings and vegetables, and we’ll do something similar with the chicken legs. Another idea is pounding out the breasts/tenders to 1/4″ thick and then slicing them just big enough to fit bread. That allows one breast and 1/2 tenders to cover a night of grilled sandwiches. I can also get one cup of shredded chicken from the carcass after one round of bone broth. It’s not often that we cook up a whole chicken – we would definitely consume WAY more that way!
This was a really good article. My son in law will often ask me why I make this or that from scratch. Or he will ask why I don’t make something else from scratch. I would tell him some things just are not worth my time but you wrote this much more eloquently than me! My only add is sometimes I just make something from scratch because it is a fun learning experience…I may never make that item again. 🙂 Thanks again, really inspirational post and overall blog!
Thanks, Gina! You are so right – for those who love cooking, it’s fun to experiment and learn new things. I totally appreciate you sharing that! And appreciate your kind words. It’s a blessing to have Tiffany here sharing her wisdom on food budgeting with us. Blessings, Kelly 🙂
Not to be difficult, but I’m not seeing how you’re saving $9 total by cutting up whole chickens vs buying the drumsticks ($11) plus an additional $9 of chicken. $20-$18=$2 savings =$6/hr instead of $9savings=$27/hr
Hi Maria! I calculated my math on the cost per meal, not per hour. I did:
$11 drumsticks / 5 meals = $2.20 per meal X 12 meals (how much I could get with whole chickens) = $26.40
$26.40 (needed) – $11 (already spent) = $15.40 to make up the difference at the going rate of pre-cut up chicken
Does that make sense? And obviously I shouldn’t do math past 8pm because I typed it wrong in the first place!
That’s what confused me when I tried to calculate per meal. I just thought maybe you got an amazing deal on the additional chicken needed. The $26.40 rings a bell from one of the ways I was calculating.
It’s just my preference to figure out how much my time costs per hour and I’m willing to work for that amount even though I’m a full time, no income earning, homemaker.
Thank you for your time, explanation and great blog posts!
Sincerely,
Maria
You are so welcome. So glad you and Tiff worked it out – I am no good with math. LOL! 🙂
Tiffany, this is a great post. It would be so easy for some of us to spend entire days making everything from scratch…but to what end? Your evaluation is really helpful for deciding which of those projects are really worthwhile!
Timely post! I’ve recently been branching out into from-scratch bread, yogurt and a number of household products. I’m so LOVING doing these things for my family, and exploring more of God’s creation as I do it….however, I’m quickly realizing that creating the extra time in the kitchen to do these extra things requires taking time away from one or more of my other priorities (husband, kids, family time, serving others). It’s a tough balance, for sure!
Thank you so much for this post! It really put a lot of things in perspective. I started by first just making my own bread crumbs, croutons, and chicken stock…which we eat A LOT!!! Plus, I love how all of them can be thrown together quickly and then you can take care of other things while they cook so for me it’s worth the time!! My next step is to do the whole made salsa, another huge favorite in our house! I love how you mentioned about the yogurt because I had been thinking about it but we don’t eat that much of it so it doesn’t seem like it would be worth it. I also do the beans to! Thanks again!!!
I make my own bread crumbs, what else do you do with the left over bread ends? I make my own yogurt, bread, salsa (Canned too so I have it when I need it) I grow and can a lot of things. But I ‘buy’ Lasagna. It costs to much and takes too much time to make. But we like it once in a while. I also buy pot pies I am not good at making them. Love the post!
This was lovely! I do not make much from scratch due to… you said it… time and sanity. I prefer to spend more time with the hubby and kids and less time in the kitchen! Some of my do’s/don’ts:
I have leaned that making stuff from scratch is NOT cheaper if there is one single ingredient that costs more than the entire pre-made item. For example, blueberry muffin mix costs about $2 per box and makes about 12 muffins, the blueberries to make 12 muffins from scratch cost $4.99. I also figured out that making bread 1-2 times a day in my bread maker was costing a fortune. I was spending $12 a week just on whole wheat flour, and one loaf barely made it through 1 meal. I went back to generic store bought pre-sliced bread, $1.59 per loaf, we use 2 loaves per week, totaling $3.18. Over a month, that’s almost $40 saved. However, chocolate chip cookies are a wash as far as cost and my homemade ones are so much more delicious, so those always are made from scratch.
I almost always buy bagged lettuce and greens because the cost is the same per pound as the uncut stuff, plus that is timed saved by not having to do my own cutting. We use a lot of frozen bagged veggies for the same reason, cheaper than fresh AND already cut.
We do not use whole chickens because most would go to waste… no one eats the dark meat, I have a huge aversion to bones, and that whole broth making thing takes too much time. No way could I tie up my single crock pot for 3-4 days or let something “simmer” on the stove over an open flame unattended. We buy bulk boneless skinless chicken breasts at Costco for $2.99/lb. and 1-1.5 pounds works for a whole meal. Guilty too of buying canned chicken broth at 59 cents a can (but it is low sodium, no MSG, and no artificial junk) since I use it like twice a month.
So while I do cook at least 80% of our meals at home, I do not make much from scratch and do use shortcuts to save time. There is a good reason why “convenience” foods are called as such. And many times, they are cheaper too. Plus I firmly believe that made at home is always better than a drive thru meal.
You are so right, always better to make a meal at home. And everyone has to find that right balance. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us! Many blessings, Kelly 🙂
I learned this back in college work-study, asking the professor how long I should spend trying to clean a particularly nastily burnt beaker. She said it cost $0.50 so don’t spend more than that much labor on it. I knew what I made per hour so always knew from then on what was worth doing or not.
I use the same principle with most things. I decided to raise chickens before expanding my garden because free-range eggs and chickens cost a lot more than produce and take much less work – I get around $100/month of food for 10 minutes work/day – after costs, I earn around $18/hr raising chickens.
Similarly, before I was disabled, when I used to check multiple ads and shop several stores each week, I figured even with gas cost, I was “earning” $15/hour doing that.
When I did get to expanding my garden, I calculated how much space each item would take to grow a year’s worth of and the prices of the food item if bought organic to decide what to plant. I’m not growing neck pumpkins cause I can buy them dead cheap at the farmer’s market, but am growing LOTS of corn cause the type I want can only be bought as seed and would cost a fortune to buy.
There will always be exceptions – I made soap from cleaned bacon grease once for the experience – it was fun. But soap is cheap and not worth my time to do regularly. And I grow a single lavender plant each year cause I love it though I’ve never done anything useful with it.
But knowing what my labor earns gives me a place to start in making decisions. I can’t do everything, so do my best to work smarter – for more money.
i tend to make most everything from scratch mainly because i have little choice as one of my children is highly allergic to eggs,peanuts and the emolgator lithitine which there are in or traces of in most brought foods.i even make my own bread to be on the safe side.the only pre brought things i tend to buy is tinned tuna and tinned tomatoes.i will often by plain frozen vegtables to save time in prep work but that is about it everything else is from scratch.ieven buy dried beans and soak and cook myself.it takes time and energy which i don´t always have but i have no choice to make the time.like your tips though thanks for sharing them.
Karen, that is certainly a hard place to be in when you’re dealing with severe serious allergies. Sounds like you are a wonderful Mom and your children are so blessed to have you as their Mom to care for them!
Hello,
Would you consider posting some of the recipes you use to make 12 meals out of the two full chickens, I never learned how to cook growing up and live with my boyfriend now, with a baby on the way. I would love to learn to make a few meals on a budget, to save for our baby and start eating healthier.
Here is a link to a pdf that I created for the presentations I give at local moms groups. I hope this helps you find lots of ways to save time and money while eating healthier! 🙂
http://thenourishinghome.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Cook-Once-Eat-Twice-Handout-for-Motherhood-Together.pdf