Home Made Vs. Shop Bought

watermelon88

I was just having a nosey on Pinterest when I noticed a pin for home made cherry jam. That got me thinking, is it cheaper to make things like that yourself at home, or buy them in the supermarket? Some things, like value bread for instance can cost as little as 47p per loaf, can you make home made bread as cheaply as that?

I can't always do a lot of baking and things because of my bad back, but if it would work out cheaper to make things myself I think I would either try more often, or teach my fianc!e how to do it lol.

When it comes to bread, we go through phases where we don't want any, but if I don't buy any you can guarantee a few days later we will want it. I thought that maybe making it as we want it would be a better idea, I would just have to keep a constant supply of the fresh ingredients. I have no idea what's what with making bread, is it hard to make it without a bread maker? Is a bread maker cost effective when you're trying to save money?

What else can be made at home? I want to try making Jam and/or Marmalade, but would it work out cheaper to make it myself than buy it? Do they keep for a long time? I don't eat jam, my fianc!e likes it, and I rarely buy marmalade so I'm not sure how long it lasts really.

I've heard about making cleaning stuff at home, at the minute I buy the value all purpose cleaner, that does the job, I get a bit overwhelmed when I look at making cleaning stuff myself.

I'm also looking for something I can make myself that will stop things in my wardrobe, airing cupboard and storage cupboards from getting that musty smell, like some kind of home made air freshener or smelly thing.

Basically, I am new at this whole money saving thing, and I am looking for any ways I can find to cut costs, even making things at home. I like the idea of making things myself, if it can work out cost effective. It needs to be either cheaper or the same price really as I can't afford to spend more than I do right now, although I suppose if it was something that would work out cheaper in the long run then that would be ok.

I'm rambling on a bit now lol. I'd be appreciative of any advice or tips anyone has. I've searched through old threads but the really long ones kind of boggle my mind.

I'm still trying to re-learn how to do the shopping, I am so used to buying convenience foods that are quick and easy to do that I have absolutely no idea how to do a healthy food shop. Whether to buy fresh or frozen or what. I've just added home made soup to my meal plan, the stuff is arriving tomorrow so I may have a go at my first batch of home made soup on Saturday :-D.

I have no idea how people way back when used to go and buy all this fresh and healthy food. My main problem is that I avoid fresh veg as we do our shopping once a fortnight and I am worried that it will all spoil before the end of the fortnight. I wish we drove so we could go to markets and shop around etc.

OK, I'm going to stop rambling now or no one will read this post all the way through!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Popperwell

Well I became quite a good cook but now I am alone I either make meals I know I can portion out or freeze to have another day but much as I can bake bread and cakes as an example and feel quite proud, the expense probably is putting the oven on. As you say the prices and offers in supermarkets make you think is it worth bothering. Then again if you have to travel quite a distance and use busses, a car or a taxi. It may be ok to do some home cooking.

Frozen items can be just as good, healthy and cheap(a packet of frozen veg saves all the preparation)and you can portion it out and get quite a few meals.

watermelon88

Yeah I tend to go with frozen veg but want to add more fresh in

lilian1977

watermelon88 wrote: »

Yeah I tend to go with frozen veg but want to add more fresh in

As Popperwell says, frozen veg can (and often is) be better for you than fresh as as soon as fresh veg is picked it starts to lose it's nutrients - if you'll be having things hanging round for even a week you'd be much better off with frozen as the nutrients are stored. x

VJsmum

Is it just about money? In which case I would guess that value brands is the way to go for most things. I avoid most value stuff as I am wary of what goes in it. WHen I make it myself I know exactly what is in it.

As Popperwell says, a lot of the cost is putting the oven on. I try to make best use of my oven by making as much as possible at that time. So if I am cooking jacket spuds I might also make a large lasagne and then portion it out and freeze it. it can be microwaved when you want to eat it. You could also do some baking at that time and freeze any that you want to save for later (make sure it is freezable).

thriftwizard

The "is it cheaper" thing isn't easily answered, because you're not comparing like with like. For example, "value" supermarket jam & home-made jam are two completely different things - the supermarket one is anywhere up to 70% sugar and may well have been made using reconstituted fruit slurry. Home-made is usually 50% sugar & is made using fresh fruit - so the only way it'll work out cheaper is if the sugar & heat are the only things you're paying for, i.e. you have a source of free or very cheap fruit and lots of saved jars! That doesn't mean you need an enormous garden; I make things like crab-apple jelly, elderberry jam & quince marmalade using foraged ingredients. Some of those are "foraged" by knocking on people's doors & asking politely whether they are using their fruit, and if not, please may I? They're usually delighted to have it taken away & very happy to have a jar of it back in jam form. It keeps very well, provided you have sterilised your jars properly, and keep it in the fridge once opened. If it doesn't set, you call it "coulis" and eat it as a posh topping on ice-cream...

Bread: again, good home made bread can be much cheaper than "good" supermarket bread, but it's not cheaper than the Value stuff. I buy my flour directly from a mill, which works out much cheaper than buying individual 1.5Kg packs, but I'm feeding an average of 7 adults most days and a loaf of fresh bread has a life expectancy of about half an hour. We have a bread maker, which generally makes a loaf overnight, but DD1 & I both make bread by hand too - it's not hard.

So - to answer your question, it's probably cheaper to live on the value ranges of stuff from the supermarkets, and some of that's reasonable stuff. But if you want to eat well, go home-made, just source your ingredients as cheaply as possible.

RuthG

Depends whether you want to eat food or filler; additive free or chemicals etc.

'Value' bread isnt bread at all imo - it's some poor nutritional pap they threw together that will fill you but not feed you. The body needs good nutrition for health as well as calories for energy. Value bread will give calories, but very little nutrition. So it isn't good 'value' to buy value bread.

The foods you make yourself usually dont have added preservatives, chemicals to make it taste better, colour enhancers, extra fat, salt, sugar, bulking agents, etc. I know which I would rather have!

Just my opinion.

watermelon88

I hate the value bread, which is why I rarely buy it now.

As I pay off debts I'm addin more to the food budget to bring it up to something more human, at the minute it's £50 a fortnight to feed & water two adults, 6 cats and a dog & buy household sundries!

I might try my hand at making things as an occasional treat until I can afford to do it full time.

Can jam and marmalade be made sugar free? I know there will be sugar from the fruit but that's ok, I mean without adding any? I'm diabetic and need to keep sugar out as much as possible

RuthG

I have something similar to diabetes (sucrase iso-maltase deficiancy) and avoid sugar altogether. The sugar substitutes are so bad for you!

We dont have animals to feed, but there are two adults in the family (me and Hubby) who have healthy appetites and we manage on around £20 per week - and we live well at that.

watermelon88

Is that just on food or food & cleaning supplies??

I used the tesco granulated sweetened & sweetener tablet things. I only use them on porridge & in tea though.

I can still have sugar, just in small amounts.

BitterAndTwisted

It's not particularly difficult to make bread by hand but it does take time and you have the oven on, so it would make sense to be cooking something else at the same time as you're baking.

If you ignore the initial outlay of a bread-maker the actual cost of the ingredients is pennies per loaf but once you compare the quality there's really no comparison. However, buying a bread-maker doesn't have to be expensive, and I've seen the prices of the Panasonics. I bought one second-hand from my local British Heart Foundation shop for fifteen quid and I noticed they have another one in there at the moment for the same price. Lots of people buy them with good intentions but just keep them in a cupboard and rarely use them, so these are the sorts of things which can turn up on Freecycle or Gumtree quite often. Friends of mine passed on their Panny not that long ago.

I think it's the same thing with jam and marmalade making: not necessarily always cheaper but so much more delicious plus you get the satisfaction of enjoying your labours. Unless you can get the fruit really cheaply or free