Are Homemade Food Items Really Less Expensive?

[Rafael Chow]

Is it really less expensive to make your own food items at home as
opposed to buying convenience foods from the store? Once you
factor in the cost of the ingredients and the time that you spend on
it, does it really add up to savings? Most of the time the answer
is a resounding yes!
For instance, is it cheaper to make a loaf of artisan bread versus
buying it from the bakery? In my area it costs approximately
$3.00 for a loaf of plain artisan bread. However, I can make a
very similar loaf of bread for less than 50'. The process is
enjoyable and easy once you get the hang of it, and being able to make
six loaves of bread for the price of one from the bakery definitely
makes it worth it for me. 
To understand how I determine the price, there are a few figures you
have to know. This information is good to keep handy so you can
figure out the cost of making a homemade item anytime you need
to. I have done the math calculations on some common bakery
ingredients but this can be done with anything to determine the true
cost of the ingredients.
The first thing you have to know is how many cups of flour there are
in a pound.  The answer to that is 4.5 cups of flour per
pound. That means that there are 22.5 cups of flour in a 5 lb.
bag. So if you spend $1.45 on a 5 lb. bag of flour, it means that
a cup of flour costs approximately 6'.
Sugar is another staple item.  There are 2.25 cups of sugar per
pound.  A 5 lb bag of sugar has 11.25 cups of sugar in it. 
If a 5 lb bag is around $1.75, a cup of sugar costs approximately 16'.
You can make these calculations with anything, of course.  If
eggs are $1.00 for one dozen, an egg is about 8'.  There are 32
tablespoons of butter per pound, so if butter is $1.80, that means
that butter is 6' per tablespoon. 
When I break down the cost of each ingredient going into the artisan
bread recipe, I am able to determine that one loaf of bread costs
approximately 44' for me to make. This doesn't take into account
the time spent on buying the ingredients and making the bread, but
there are many benefits to doing it yourself that outweigh the time
spent.
First, there is complete control over the ingredients. If you
have a family member who has an allergy, you can ensure that the item
he or she is allergic to is not included. You can also ensure
that the quality of ingredients is up to your standards. If you
only eat organic, for instance, you can make sure that you are using
all organic ingredients. 
You also have the ability to change the recipe based on what sounds
good, what ingredients you have on hand, or what was on sale that
day. You can experiment with different textures and
flavors. 
The other trick to really saving money with homemade food is to be
able to bake multiples of whatever item you are preparing and then
freeze the ones you won't use right away. Then it's as simple as
thawing it out and using it!