Thrifty Thursdays

I did a little cost analysis a few weeks ago after making a dozen bagels. I wondered if it was worth doing that regularly since my kids love bagels for breakfast. While I had the numbers in front of me I figured out how much it costs to make homemade breads from the recipes I use most. Here it goes:

Wheat Bread: $ .58/ loaf

Whole Wheat Bagels: $ .70/dozen

Whole Wheat Tortillas: $ .68/ dozen

Whole Wheat Pancakes: $ .60/ dozen

Granola: $ .38/cup

Oatmeal: $ .08/ serving (1/2 cup uncooked)

Breadsticks: $ .70/ batch (16 breadsticks)

Pizza dough: $ .45/ large

Hamburger buns: $ 1.10/ dozen

Puffy Pancake: $ .68/ pan (nine servings)

These numbers are calculated using the cost of dry milk, oats, and wheat from the church cannery. I grind my own wheat, so using store bought wheat flour would make the numbers different. I think some things are worth making at home and some are probably worth buying. Those hamburger buns are pretty close to store costs, but if I don't have them on hand, it's nice to know I can make them without lugging five kids to the store for a last minute trip. I am convinced that the bagels are a bargain. Seriously, they are $2 for a dozen plain bagels at Walmart. I think those and the granola are the best bargains.

f is for frugal

In posts on this topic I will try to keep it short and sweet. If I don't you will all be scared off by my ocd financial issues. I love to get a good deal. I do not like to buy things I don't need. I spend hours planning and making lists for my menu and grocery store trips. Seriously, hours. And you thought having kids required some kind of time commitment. Oh no. Not when there are ads to be checked and coupons to be cut and lists to be made and scratched through and made again! But, I digress...

I have been using coupons for about 3 years and I have been shopping the ads since I got married, so 7 years (wow!). We used to live on $25 a week for food in college. Even after we had Caleb. I have fluctuated between $10/week to $100/week since we got a job and moved to the real world. Alas, our real world is just Houston, where our cost of living is minuscule. I don't know how the rest of you survive.

Are you ready? I'm about to share some seriously personal information. Relax, it's just about our food budget. But I am such a private person that this feels like some serious baring of my soul. Here goes nothing... Our current number is $50 a week for food. Phew! I did it. Try it, it's liberating to do something you normally wouldn't do (as long as your not compromising standards, hurting feelings, or rooting for the Lakers). Wow, again I digress.

So, we feed seven people on that amount and it works out okay. We're healthy and happy and probably still eat too much. I went shopping yesterday and got three boxes of cereal, two boxes of pop tarts (nutritious, I know), two bottles of bbq sauce, six boxes of microwave popcorn, four packages of hot dogs (turkey dogs, actually), and apple juice for under $15. That's four dinners and at least a week of breakfast in the bag. I wish all my shopping trips were like that, or better!

Our newest strategy is using cash for our variable expenses. For us that means the food and misc. categories in our budget. We take out the cash for it at the beginning of the month and use that until it's gone and that's it. We can't buy any more food after that $200 is gone. We live on rice or oatmeal or beans. Sounds fool-proof, huh? Well, we actually start today, so I'll let you know how it goes. Let's hope you don't see an "o is for overdrawn" post anytime soon!