Do You Save Money By Cooking From Scratch?

I don't cook from scratch as often as I could or should. It is better for your wallet, your waistline, and can be entertaining as well. I think the problem with cooking at home is that for the most part it is time consuming. The other factor is that many dishes require specific ingredients that I may or may not have. I try to do some semi homemade cooking at home often. I will customize or add my own touches to premade dishes to make them more like home made or from scratch, and get some of the nutritional benefits as well.

 

I cook from scratch most of the time to save money and eat healthier. I've gotten into the routine of eating the same things every week though, so I should probably learn to make a few more dishes.

 

Oh for sure eating home-made meals cooked from scratch using natural ingredients - is not only more economical and of course way healthier - than eating overly processed ready prepared meals or eating out - but also one of the simplest and easiest things that anyone can do - if wanting to become a little more frugal or looking for extra ways to save money or stretch the monthly budget.

As for me - yes I do and always have - as eating home prepared totally natural non processed food made from scratch - is in fact something that I have done all my life and by that I mean - absolutely everything I eat is made from scratch with all natural ingredients - from snack foods right down to baking my own bread as well as making my own pizzas.

 

I make most of my food from scratch, I make my own cookies and muffins also. It saves money to cook from scratch although it may take more time. I have spent $13 for take out to feed 4 people and did not have enough food, the kids were still hungry within an hour. When I cook from scratch there is more than enough food at a cheaper price. I do try to cook enough for more than one meal to limit the need to cook every day.

 

Most of my cooking is from scratch. I never used to do it, but I found myself in the position of having to take care of another person, which sort of forced me to learn how. It does take a good-sized chunk of time, but I enjoy it, and I’ve become pretty good at it. That’s yet another bonus on top of saving money. Plus I tend to cook in bulk these days, so that’s how I get around the time-consuming bit.

 

Not only is cooking from scratch economical, but it is so much healthier too. The best part of it is that it tastes better too. I never once had a tastier burger than a home made pork chop, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, and a piece of garlic toast. And yes, I'm country. I think you'd save tons of money cooking at home and even more if you bought everything in bulk instead of shopping for more food all of the time. Sam's Club is the next town over and is about 15-20 minutes away, but that's what I'm going to do.

 

Sometimes, I do. At other times, it's actually cheaper not to, like when you find things on sale super cheap. I still prefer food that's cooked from scratch, since it tastes better and is of course better for you, but in a pinch I'll pick up something cheap that's prepared in advance. One thing I used to like to buy is the rotisserie chickens. I used to get them for half price, and at the time, I could not duplicate the taste at home.

 

I cook everything from scratch.. it's so much yummier, cheaper, healthier, sexier (lol, that's my little attempt at trying to convert people.. but it's true! lol). It really takes very little extra time to make meals from whole foods.. many times it's even less time consuming, unless you're eating out of a box from the microwave. I mean, most of it is edible before you even cook it, you can't get easier than that.

 

I predominantly cook most stuff from scratch, but there are some dishes that are more economical to purchase already prepared vs. making them from scratch. For example, something like a General Tso's Chicken or Kung Pao Shrimp would cost me more to make at home than they would be to just buy them as a dinner combo. By the time I buy the ingredients to make the batter to dip the chicken in, buy the ingredients to make the sauce, buy the dry chili peppers and peanuts, not to mention the chicken itself, we're talking at least $20 in ingredients, whereas I can just buy it from takeout for $7 and have enough for several meals since their portions are so huge.

But many other dishes, such as Chicken Marsala, Chicken Picatta, Rigatoni & Meatballs, Ribeye Steak, etc... can all be made at home for a fraction of the price vs. what you would pay dining out. Even things like Hamburgers or Tacos or Burritos, I can make at home for far less than what I would pay at a fast food joint.

 

When we had no stove yet, we would be always eating out in cheap fastfood outlets. When we were able to buy our own stove, we noticed that the food budget is having an excess. That means we were spending so much when dining out. As for cooking, we always cook from scratch since the market is just near our place now.

 

I think it depends on the ingredient but for the most part it probably is cheaper to cook from scratch. I believe some ingredients that are premade are very much worth the cost, considering you get to save on time and dishwashing soap plus effort for only a little bit extra, or sometimes even for an equal price. I think canned tomatoes or packed broth are good examples of this because you get to save a lot of time which you can use to work, and like I said you also save yourself a few dishes and utensils to wash, but yeah I agree that it's still much better to use less of processed ingredients as possible, both for saving and for health.

 

From scratch can be expensive when a ready made salad at my supermarket goes for $4.58 and a tray of fresh mushrooms on sale this week is $1.88 to total is 6.46 + tax. A McDonald's $1 Menu can bring you a meal for just about $3.50. Meat's at supermarket is already going for upwards of $5 plus, so it depends on what you're buying as for from scratch meals. Plate lunches goes for $7.50 upwards, this includes rice, mac salad and entree. Donuts at Safeway is .89 and Senior coffee at McDonald's is just $1.00. Burger King, McDonald's and even Taco Bell has some sort of $1 Menu too. Sometimes ready made is cheaper.

 

Yeah, as other people have already pointed out, it depends. Some things are just more expensive to make yourself. I find pastas are generally better to prep yourself rather than getting packaged stuff, but anything with meat seems to be far cheaper if you get it ready to go. Sad, too, because the ready-made alternatives are almost never going to be as good for you as stuff you make at home.

 

I agree with JosieP - cooking from scratch really isn't at all time consuming - in fact once you've got the knack it really doesn't take much time at all - especially as we now live in an age where we have a multitude of time saving appliances to make the task even quicker - for example - just using a pressure cooker, a microwave or a slow cooker - can save a huge amount of time when preparing home-cooked meals - as does cooking in bulk or at least making more than one meal at a time.

There is however - unless choosing to only use expensive specialized ingredients - really no reason why cooking from scratch should be more expensive than buying ready prepared meals - especially as there are many, many home prepared meals - to suit almost every taste - that can be made for as little as $2 - $4 - that would easily feed a family of 4 - 6 and very substantially too.

 

Yes, I always try to cook from scratch whenever I am able to. I find that it is much easier to do this, because the food is often healthier, and it means that I know what's in it, and it is also a lot cheaper to buy. So yes, I would certainly want to try and cook from scratch whenever I had the time to do so. I don't manage it all the time, I will admit that now, but I do my best.

 

This is another really good point. I see so many people these days that don't really know how to cook. I mean, they know how to heat stuff up, but not really "cook." I try to teach my kids, and yes, it can be a great way to connect with them.

It's funny too, because all my kids' friends love to eat here. They always brag about my cooking, and talk about the stuff they eat at home. Much of it is packaged or microwaved. Most of them don't know how to cook and say that their parents rarely cook. I know that people get busy, but I'm still rather shocked by how little people seem to cook at home these days. They must spend a fortune on convenience foods and take out.

 

I love making meals from scatch, I especially love sharing how much the meal cost me to make versus buying it at a restaurant. My kids are amazed at how cheap a meal can be but also how flavourful and delicious. They are learning that cooking your own meals saves money, tastes better, and is healthier for you. My oldest son loves to cook with me in the kitchen. I think it's life skill that everyone should have. It's a shame that most people I know don't know how to cook or at least cook very well. I think I am capable of making meals that are as good as restaurants at home. I know what I'm feeding my family and know that the food isn't processed.

 

I never buy any ready-made meals or "heat-only" canned food.

I ate enough of them when I was still working and when I no longer had to work, I decided I'd never eat such foods again. Another advantage here is you can buy virtually any food you need [if you want to] fresh from the farmers who live here. Even when you can't it's a lot cheaper for us to buy almost everything from the local farmers market.