What do you make at home for cheaper than store bought?

[Jennifer132]

I was just wondering, what do you make at home that is significantly cheaper than store bought? For example, I can make a gallon of yogurt for $5.81 at home, whereas buying that much yogurt would cost me $18-20 at the store.I can make bread for .44 cents a loaf. Assume we are not considering time and effort as a factor. Only actual ingredient cost.

[whitestavern]

There's a great book I purchased, "Make the Bread; Buy the Butter".  The author goes through a fairly extensive list of foods and tells you which is better to make versus buy and why.  She also has recipes for the ones she suggests making.  It's a good read.

[Guest]

Skin goop.  A tin of the non-petrochemical "vaseline" I bought was $10; it costs me $1 to make the same amount, and about half an hour to make 20 tins.  

 

[Desert Strawberry]

Everything :) 

 

Laundry soap

Bread (overnight sourdough, almost no effort)

Baked goods

Pickles
Burritos
Sandwiches
Freezer meals
Food in general 
Granola

Popcorn (stove popped vs microwave or bagged or virtually any other snack)

Fries

Nut butters

Popsicles
Smoothies (also far less sugar)

Slushies/frozen drinks

Household cleaners-probably all, but mainly floor cleaner, scrubbing powder, grease cutter, Goo Gone, all purpose cleaners. Exceptions being toilet bowl cleaners and dish soap

Bath soaps (A friend of mine makes these for me)
Most personal care items-esp conditioners, lotions, shampoo, beauty treatments, toothpowder (instead of toothpaste)
 

I have recipes for most of these on my blog, linked in my siggie if anyone is interested. 
 

[Zebra]

Tortillas.   So much cheaper and tastier.    I think they cost about .25 to make and about $4 to buy.   Rolling them out is a bit of work, but we really like them.

 

We also make pizza at home, we actually buy the dough and it's still so much cheaper and better tasting.   We have an excellent local dough in our area.

 

I make bread too.   I think it costs me about $1 when you factor in all the energy costs, vs a $4-$5 loaf of bread.  

 

The Tightwad Gazette talks about figuring out what your hourly wage is when making stuff.   So, if it takes you 20 minutes of hands-on work to save $3, then you have made $9 an hour, tax free :) .  

[VaKim]

Tortillas.   So much cheaper and tastier.    I think they cost about .25 to make and about $4 to buy.   Rolling them out is a bit of work, but we really like them.

 

We also make pizza at home, we actually buy the dough and it's still so much cheaper and better tasting.   We have an excellent local dough in our area.

 

I make bread too.   I think it costs me about $1 when you factor in all the energy costs, vs a $4-$5 loaf of bread.  

 

The Tightwad Gazette talks about figuring out what your hourly wage is when making stuff.   So, if it takes you 20 minutes of hands-on work to save $3, then you have made $9 an hour, tax free :) .  

Tortilla recipe, please!

Following this!

[kewb]

Everything :)

 

Laundry soap

Bread (overnight sourdough, almost no effort)

Baked goods

Pickles

Burritos

Sandwiches

Freezer meals

Food in general

Granola

Popcorn (stove popped vs microwave or bagged or virtually any other snack)

Fries

Nut butters

Popsicles

Smoothies (also far less sugar)

Slushies/frozen drinks

Household cleaners-probably all, but mainly floor cleaner, scrubbing powder, grease cutter, Goo Gone, all purpose cleaners. Exceptions being toilet bowl cleaners and dish soap

Bath soaps (A friend of mine makes these for me)

Most personal care items-esp conditioners, lotions, shampoo, beauty treatments, toothpowder (instead of toothpaste)

 

I have recipes for most of these on my blog, linked in my siggie if anyone is interested.

 

I make most of these, too.

I will add kefir to the list.

[Susan in TN]

I make jam, apple sauce, and soup/broth.

[ScoutTN]

Skin goop. A tin of the non-petrochemical "vaseline" I bought was $10; it costs me $1 to make the same amount, and about half an hour to make 20 tins.

Share your recipe?!

[Amira]

Depends on where I am. Right now I make bread, applesauce, jam, pasta, pizza, tahini, yogurt, peanut butter, ice cream, fermented soybean paste, chickpea tofu, pickled cabbage, coconut milk, chickpea flour, and paneer. And shower cleaner. I'd make rice noodles if I could figure out an easier way to make them.

[Spryte]

Shouldn't there be some sort of rule that if you post here, recipes must be included? :)

[Cinder]

Recipes!!!!

[LucyStoner]

There are only a few food things I can think of that I make that cost more than the comparable store bought items.

 

My main make at home things are:

 

Tortillas

Pretzels (soft)

About 1/3-1/2 of our bread

Biscuits

Pancakes

Cookies

Soups

Ice cream (this may well cost more homemade depending on the price of cream and the quality of ingredients).

Pizza

Pasta

Refried beans

Pies

Pasta

Hummus

Guacamole

Salsa

 

I am not really into making many household items like laundry soap etc. We don't buy a ton of that stuff anyways so it's not a big line item to shrink. I don't consider mixing surface cleaning agents at home to be me making anything.

 

Clothes and crochet stuff is generally more than used or even new unless I used recycled yarn and stuff.

 

The final price of something is variable since depends on the base cost of ingredients. Applesauce make from 40 cent a point apples is cheaper than commercial applesauce. Apples at $2 bucks a pound? Not so much.

[DesertBlossom]

Sheesh, I'm not feeling very domestic (or "domesticated" as my brother would say) after reading everyone else's answers.   :p

 

I make yogurt, buttermilk syrup and jam on a regular basis. (no high fructose corn syrup in this house!) And lacto-fermented carrot pickles. I've never seen those in the store, but I bet they would be expensive if they did. ;)  Sometimes I make granola, pickles and laundry detergent. I make homemade glass cleaner because that's super easy to throw together. It's been a long time since I made bread. I should do that more.

 

Recipe for the carrot pickles. I use the whey from the yogurt.

[rebbyribs]

The ones I haven't seen listed are soy milk, seitan, and chocolate syrup.

[Guest]

Share your recipe?!

I will!!

But if I forget, remind me. K?

[Mom in High Heels]

I haven't gone crazy yet, but I'm working on doing more homemade stuff.  Currently I make:

 

Laundry Detergent

Glass Cleaner

Breads for dinner, not loaf sandwich bread

Hot Pockets-these are a little time consuming, but everyone loves them

Pancakes

Muffins

Dry "ranch" dressing

Taco seasoning

Pop Tarts

Dry 'cream of soup' mix

 

[Rosie_0801]

 And lacto-fermented carrot pickles. I've never seen those in the store, but I bet they would be expensive if they did. ;)  

 

Roughly $13 for half a kilo if I was shopping. Food is more expensive here than the US, I think.

 

 

I make breakfast. :p

Dal costs me far less than toast or really anything else dd might prefer to eat for breakfast. $50 of beans would feed us breakfast for a year, I'd estimate. Then there are spices and stock powder on top of that. Oh, and water, I have to pay for that now! (Used to be on tank water.)

[Ausmumof3]

Skin goop. A tin of the non-petrochemical "vaseline" I bought was $10; it costs me $1 to make the same amount, and about half an hour to make 20 tins.

Would you mind sharing the recipe?

[Camelfeet]

Tortillas.   So much cheaper and tastier.    I think they cost about .25 to make and about $4 to buy.   Rolling them out is a bit of work, but we really like them.

 

We also make pizza at home, we actually buy the dough and it's still so much cheaper and better tasting.   We have an excellent local dough in our area.

 

I make bread too.   I think it costs me about $1 when you factor in all the energy costs, vs a $4-$5 loaf of bread.  

 

The Tightwad Gazette talks about figuring out what your hourly wage is when making stuff.   So, if it takes you 20 minutes of hands-on work to save $3, then you have made $9 an hour, tax free :) .  

 

 Can I have your tortilla recipe?  Tortillas are super expensive.

 

I used to make all my bread myself - so delicious warm from the oven!  But not I try to eat a lot less bread and bread-type foods so most of my from scratch baking has stopped.    

 

[Guest]

I would love to make tortillas over buying them!

 

So, for those of you who make yogurt, my burning question is: can you make a thick, creamy, custardy yogurt at home, or is it always thin?

[AimeeM]

Sheesh, I'm not feeling very domestic (or "domesticated" as my brother would say) after reading everyone else's answers.   :p

 

I make yogurt, buttermilk syrup and jam on a regular basis. (no high fructose corn syrup in this house!) And lacto-fermented carrot pickles. I've never seen those in the store, but I bet they would be expensive if they did. ;)  Sometimes I make granola, pickles and laundry detergent. I make homemade glass cleaner because that's super easy to throw together. It's been a long time since I made bread. I should do that more.

 

Recipe for the carrot pickles. I use the whey from the yogurt.

Er...

You're doing better than me. I make absolutely zilch at home.

[Ellie]

Pretty much the only thing I make at home on a regular basis is mayonnaise. And here's the recipe. Yes, it uses raw eggs. No, I'm not worried about it. :-)

 

1 cup oil

1 egg

1 tsp vinegar

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp salt

 

Put about 1/4 c oil, the egg, the vinegar, and the seasonings in the bowl of a food processor, and process for about 1 minute. With the machine still running, slowly add the rest of the oil and process for another minute or so. Scoop out into your favorite storage container and refrigerate.

 

The kind of oil, vinegar, and seasonings you use will change the flavor. I use extra light olive oil, either red wine vinegar or Bragg's apple cider vinegar, and A. Vogel Trocomare seasoned salt. I have tried lemon juice instead of vinegar, and tarragon-flavored white wine vinegar. Nope. Red wine and apple cider vinegar for me. I once used distilled vinegar. :ack2:

[Butter]

I make laundry detergent.  It's super easy and works great.  Here's the recipe (at the bottom of the post in the cost breakdown).  http://thefamilywho.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/laundry-detergent/  My friend who gave me the recipe adds a 55oz bottle of Purex Crystals fabric softener to hers.  My husband doesn't like scents so requested I not use it the second time I made a batch.  I can honestly say it didn't change anything in how our clothes smell after being dried and how clean they get or how they feel by leaving it out.  I've been making a tick mark on a piece of paper for every load of laundry I do.  So far we are up to 175 loads and have more than half of the batch left.  I spent $20.20 to make the detergent.  I was paying $5-6 on sale to get a bottle of detergent that lasted 40-50 loads.  I've already about broken even halfway through.  (I have a high efficiency washing machine.  My recipe works for standard or HE machines.)

[ProudGrandma]

this is a great thread....and I am watching and waiting for recipes too....

 

I make: bread, homemade salad dressing, onion soup mix, pickles, apple pie filling, tomato soup,....wishing I made more....

[KungFuPanda]

I would love to make tortillas over buying them!

 

So, for those of you who make yogurt, my burning question is: can you make a thick, creamy, custardy yogurt at home, or is it always thin?

I thicken mine with powdered milk. You can strain the finished yogurt of you want it Greek style, but I've never bothered since I use regular yogurt for everything.

[ocelotmom]

Coconut milk and flour. 

 

There are lots of other things too, but I think that's the most interesting.

 

Oh, ice cream. 

[Desert Strawberry]

Adding a few more:

Apple and pear sauces

Jam/ fruit spread
Apple and pear butters

Dried fruit
Fruit leathers
Dried tomatoes
Dried herbs
Dried peppers
Frozen fruit
Frozen veggies
Hash browns

 

My 5 year old is making laundry detergent right now. 
 

[upincanada]

Pretty much the only thing I make at home on a regular basis is mayonnaise. And here's the recipe. Yes, it uses raw eggs. No, I'm not worried about it. :-)

 

1 cup oil

1 egg

1 tsp vinegar

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp salt

 

Put about 1/4 c oil, the egg, the vinegar, and the seasonings in the bowl of a food processor, and process for about 1 minute. With the machine still running, slowly add the rest of the oil and process for another minute or so. Scoop out into your favorite storage container and refrigerate.

 

The kind of oil, vinegar, and seasonings you use will change the flavor. I use extra light olive oil, either red wine vinegar or Bragg's apple cider vinegar, and A. Vogel Trocomare seasoned salt. I have tried lemon juice instead of vinegar, and tarragon-flavored white wine vinegar. Nope. Red wine and apple cider vinegar for me. I once used distilled vinegar. :ack2:

 

We go through a lot of mayo because I make our own dressings and dips. 

 

I'd love to do homemade...how long does it keep? A couple of days? A week?

 

It would only be cheaper to make it if I don't end up throwing most of it away because it's gone off, KWIM?

[upincanada]

I would love to make tortillas over buying them!

 

So, for those of you who make yogurt, my burning question is: can you make a thick, creamy, custardy yogurt at home, or is it always thin?

 

My yogurt was runny, but I just strained it through cheesecloth to make it super-thick. 

 

I used a lot of clothes-pins to hold the cheesecloth onto a big metal dish with a lip and poured the yogurt into it. Then I just let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. 

[happypamama]

Kefir

Sometimes yogurt

Banana bread

Smoothies

Cookies (although it's hard to beat the super cheap dollar package of sandwich cookies from Aldi, LOL!)

Breakfast sandwiches

Babies (Well, the deliveries anyway. At least one would have almost certainly been an emergency c-section if we'd had time to transfer. Saved a lot that way because he arrived safe and sound before we could call for an ambulance.)

[Ellie]

We go through a lot of mayo because I make our own dressings and dips. 

 

I'd love to do homemade...how long does it keep? A couple of days? A week?

 

It would only be cheaper to make it if I don't end up throwing most of it away because it's gone off, KWIM?

 

It's good for *at least* two weeks, probably longer. I just don't keep track. ;-) And if you use it to make those other things, then there's not much chance it will live in your fridge long enough to go bad. ;-)

[SparklyUnicorn]

Dinner.  We can easily drop $50 - $100 for dinner out.  I can make a dinner that is as good for much less.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I was just wondering, what do you make at home that is significantly cheaper than store bought? For example, I can make a gallon of yogurt for $5.81 at home, whereas buying that much yogurt would cost me $18-20 at the store.I can make bread for .44 cents a loaf. Assume we are not considering time and effort as a factor. Only actual ingredient cost.

 

Pricing it out I don't think I could save money making yogurt.  What kind of milk do you buy for it? 

[Artichoke]

I make jam, apple sauce, and soup/broth.

Oh my goodness, I can not believe the cost of soup, either at a restaurant or a grocery store. This is one thing that I always make at home.

 

I also cook dried beams in bulk and freeze them into cup portions to use in recipes. Every couple of weeks, I make about a pound of dried garbanzos for hummus, roasted chickpeas, and to toss in salads

[fraidycat]

I would love to make tortillas over buying them!

 

So, for those of you who make yogurt, my burning question is: can you make a thick, creamy, custardy yogurt at home, or is it always thin?

Thick, creamy, custardy here. ETA: without adding "thickener" or straining for greek yogurt.

 

I start with whole milk because I make yogurt at home for more fat, not necessarily to save money.

[Zebra]

From what I can gather, tortillas require lard.  I literally keep those sticks of Crisco around just for tortilla making.   Just FYI, some people don't want to ever use lard. 

 

The recipe is:

 

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 Tablespoons shortening

warm water

 

Mix all except water until coarse crumbs form

add 3/4 warm water

knead until smooth

cover and let sit 5 minutes

divide into 8 balls, roll out until they look like a tortilla they will plump up a little when cooked, and cook on ungreased skillet 2 minutes each side(you'll see brown spots on the tortillas), keep the warm ones covered with a towel until ready to eat

 

This is one of those things where you get a feel for if the dough is right and the tortillas are cooked, a recipe doesn't really entirely work.   Kind of like bread, you get a feel for it.  And, if you put the hot tortillas in a bag in the fridge they stay soft, as opposed to cooling them first.

 

So, lard and putting hot items in plastic... :lol:  

[East Coast Sue]

Granola!

[Guest]

Thick, creamy, custardy here. ETA: without adding "thickener" or straining for greek yogurt.

 

I start with whole milk because I make yogurt at home for more fat, not necessarily to save money.

I would happily make it with whole milk; I am not aiming for low-fat.

 

Clearly, you need to give me your recipe!

[Guest]

So, lard and putting hot items in plastic...

 

Does it still work if you use butcher paper instead of plastic? I have no opposition to a little lard now and then.

[Erin]

Haircuts!

OK, so it's not something I make, but men's cuts, in particular, are super-easy and will save $20+/- each time.

[Desert Strawberry]

From what I can gather, tortillas require lard.  I literally keep those sticks of Crisco around just for tortilla making.   Just FYI, some people don't want to ever use lard. 

 

The recipe is:

 

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 Tablespoons shortening

warm water

 

Mix all except water until coarse crumbs form

add 3/4 warm water

knead until smooth

cover and let sit 5 minutes

divide into 8 balls, roll out until they look like a tortilla they will plump up a little when cooked, and cook on ungreased skillet 2 minutes each side(you'll see brown spots on the tortillas), keep the warm ones covered with a towel until ready to eat

 

This is one of those things where you get a feel for if the dough is right and the tortillas are cooked, a recipe doesn't really entirely work.   Kind of like bread, you get a feel for it.  And, if you put the hot tortillas in a bag in the fridge they stay soft, as opposed to cooling them first.

 

So, lard and putting hot items in plastic... :lol:  

You can use Palm oil instead of lard or Crisco. It's sometimes labelled as transfat free shortening or vegan ghee.

[lailasmum]

Lip balm. It's much cheaper and similar to Burts bees.

 

Oh and I cut our hair myself.

[Chris in VA]

Halloween costumes, apparently! :laugh:

[fraidycat]

I would happily make it with whole milk; I am not aiming for low-fat.

 

Clearly, you need to give me your recipe!

Heat milk to 180 degrees.

 

Cool to 110 degrees.

 

Stir in starter (I use 1 container yobaby organic vanilla for 1/2 gallon of milk).

 

I also prefer vanilla to plain, so I add 3 tbsp. vanilla + 3/4 c. Sugar. If you want plain, make sure your starter is also plain.

 

Pour into jars, put on lid, place into cooler, add a couple inches of hot water (from tap is fine) to bottom of cooler, close lid. I make mine at night so that the cooler isn't being bumped into throughout the day, in the morning I put the jars into the fridge.

[Guest]

Would you mind sharing the recipe?

 

Recipe for non-petrochemical skin goop.  Texture is a little firmer than Vaseline.  You can make it less firm by reducing the amount of beeswax.  

 

1 oz beeswax, melted.  (This turns out to be about 2 TBSP once it is melted but it is easier to measure as a solid.)

12 TBSP safflower oil

6 TBSP olive oil, which includes table-grade olive oil, caledula in olive oil, and a splash of Vitamin E oil and in my case a drip of Holy Oil. 

Essential oils to scent or to treat specific conditions.  Do your own research.

 

I use a small pan specifically for this purpose, as this stuff is hard to clean up.  I got a small Farberware chocolatier at a local discount store, which works great as it has a pouring lip.  It was about $13.  I use bamboo skewers to stir the mixture, and I put the pan on a flat griddle so it is super stable.  Put foil on the griddle so it doesn't get messed up by drips of the goop mixture.  

 

Melt the beeswax on a low heat and add the oils.  Put the essential oils into the receiving container.  

 

When the beeswax in the oils is all melted, pour into ceramic or metal containers.  I use a couple of Corningware bowls that people usually use to make creme brulees and that sort of thing.  They have "tupperware" type lids.  I also have some small tins that I saved from when I bought this stuff; they are nice for travel.  

 

If you really get into doing this and use a lot of the salve, I recommend getting a silicone "cupcake" kind of pan, but one that has small rather than large molds.  I melt a bunch of beeswax all at once and make 18-36 beeswax pastilles by pouring the melted wax into the silicone pan.  The pan I got amounts to 2 pastilles per recipe.  It cut the time to make the salve in less than half.  

 

If you don't know where to get beeswax, you can look online for bulk providers or art stores (artists use it in encaustic painting).  I myself get the beeswax from a monastery which makes candles.  I get the candles in bulk and melt them down.  It may sound silly, but their candles are cheaper than bulk wax.  http://www.monasteryofstjohn.org/?p=candles  This is how the monks support themselves, so it does good in that way, too.  

 

Most of the time, I get the stubs from the candles we burn in church (beeswax only) and so that supply is largely free for me.  Even if I have to purchase the candles, the goop is still less than half the cost of purchasing it.  

 

I also have a recipe that includes cocoa butter, which I like better, but it turns out I am allergic to cocoa butter.  

 

1 oz beeswax

1 oz cocoa butter

14 oz safflower and/or olive oil, which includes olive oil with calendula in it and Vitamin E oil (a drip of it)

Essential oils as preferred or needed.  

[Guest]

Share your recipe?!

I did it, just above in this thread.  :0)

[Mom in High Heels]

You can find the recipe to make almost anything on Pinterest.  Of course I usually spend more time pinning that making though.  I have gotten some great recipes, including the taco seasoning and dry ranch.  I also found several good recipes for laundry soap.  My favorite one though is a bit time consuming, but really no more than grating bars.

 

2c washing soda

2c borax (this can be left out)

1/2c Dr Bronner's liquid soap (I use the non-scented)

10-12 drops essential oil (I use lemon or lemon grass)

 

Mix the washing soda and borax well, then pour the liquid over it.  Let it sit for a while, until the soap has soaked into the dry ingredients.  This takes about 15-20mins.  After that, use a potato masher to mash the lumps down in the powder, so it's fine, which can take time, then stir to mix well.  Add oils if you want.

 

[MFG]

Martinis

[zoobie]

I would happily make it with whole milk; I am not aiming for low-fat.

 

Clearly, you need to give me your recipe!

Mine is super thick too. There are some great threads in this forum with tips and recipes. I'm on my phone and my baby keeps trying to kick it, so searching is harder at the moment or I'd link you up...