The "Make it or Buy it" Thread :)

[sweetnlow30]

I though it would be an interesting idea to compare the costs of either making your own, or buying at the store. This can include prepared foods, canned goods, breads, baked goods, even clothing and household items.

Let's compare costs, taking into account the average retail price or usual price with an easily obtainable coupon (not necessarily rock bottom) as well as the cost involved in buying the ingredients to make at home. Of course homemade is usually healthier and tastes better but lets just discuss cost.

here are some ideas to discuss:

Buying clothes Vs making clothes including the cost of material, thread and needed accessories, notions etc.

baked goods, considering all the ingredients needed to bake

breads

casseroles and home cooking vs prepared frozen meals

boxed meals or kits vs buying individual ingredients

and so much more....

Please include your money saving tips as well

I though of this idea when I was buying ingredients to do some fall baking. I even bought small quantities in bulk and used coupons, yet I still feel it would have been cheaper to just buy a box mix or pre made foods. I am just not sure it is worth making my own sometimes. I do love to bake when my back allows me to stand long enough though

[snuffaluffagus]

I bet your homemade baking/cooking is a million times better than something out of a box, even though it can sometimes be more expensive .

I make my own cleaning solution every now and then and it's much cheaper than store bought cleaners (unless it's free with coupons ).

1 gallon white vinegar @ approx. 2.50$
1L rubbing alcohol @ approx. 2.00$
4 gallons water, Free

We use this for counter surfaces, floors, and dog crates at a cost of 4.50$ every 6 months. Pretty cheap compared to a few gallons of Mr. Clean or Lysol, etc. Bonus is it disinfects and is non-toxic.

[hydroxybutane]

Hi,

I think there are probably many things which are cheaper to make. I do a lot of freezing and canning. So far this year, we have Upicked pears, peaches, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries and frozen them. We have bought large amount of tomatoes, peas, carrots, beans and rhubarb and frozen them. I have canned pickles, pears, peaches, beets and carrots. I still want to pick up pumpkin and apples, but my surgery has made that difficult, so likely we will buy them and I will make applesauce and freeze the pumpkin. We will also be purchasing chicken and turkey whole from a gentleman we know who raises them and getting vension as well. He could sell us pork as well, but I don't eat pork, so it doesn't usually get served here. I haven't found a beef source yet, but I'm sure there will be something that comes up.

I also make home made cleaning stuff with vinegar and rubbing alcohol and use it for floor cleaning in our Swiffer wetjet..

I do bake quite a bit, so there is stuff frozen, but we're running low and I won't be able to bake again for a bit...*sigh*

My husband's work is highly seasonal...so when he goes on EI in the winter, money starts getting very tight. So while we have the extra cash, we do try and stockpile and freeze resources for the winter...just like squirrels

[saddlebag]

homemade things are more time consuming....but worth it in the long run...better quality better taste

[matty's mom]

Making clothes: worth it for little man.

I LOVE thrift stores and consignement stores for fabric. And I repurpose all the time- two pairs of his current pants I remade from 2 prs of size 18 womans cords that I bought @ the consigment store for $1 each. I make almost all of my little guy's pants and do make ALL of his PJ's. Here is my last re-make: Compare: $7.00 (cheap fleece) - $20.00 for fleece pants in store. One inherited mint condition blue fleece shirt from grandma (XL) + $.50 cents worth of elastic +and $.50 cents worth for thread + 40 minutes cutting pattern and sewing= 1 pair of new comfy fleecy pants for little man.

Tops: I watch out for sales on t-shirts etc and buy ahead by sticking to the same store (therefore -hopefully sizing ) : All of his long sleave t-shirts & polos I bought either from Zellers or Lands end this year- I did not pay more than $4.00 for any of them. Most were $3.00. I already have two short sleeve shirts (lands' end $3.00) and one gap (big splurge: $6.) and a plaid shirt ($1) waiting for him in his next size.

Me- it depends- complicated clothing (darts, gathering, ruching etc) in a decent fabric- I will usually buy. The Pure line @ Zellers is really good for fabric quality and style for the price. Joe- can be hit or miss for fabric quality. Even high end places like Melanie Lynn can be hit and miss about fabric quality I have found . I mentioned this elsewhere but I once bought a dress in Zellers for $8.00 that is the same (a copy) found in the Edit line by Jeanne Bekker @ the bay. THAT dress was $150.

But when my local quilting store has their clearance event, and I can buy a pretty paisley fabric for a summer skirt and it cost me $3.00 all in- I AM IN!!! (2 hours and I am good to wear!!!) And I love to "pimp" a bargain line plain t-shirt to have it look like something from J Crew.

My next project is to copy a dolce & gabbana skirt (from last season- was in Marie Claire). It was a black silk tweed pencil skirt with a lace peek out on the leg for myself. I bought a wool/poly fine tweed @ Value Village sale ($2.50) and ordered the lace piece from a vendor on Etsy. The skirt price by D&G was $2,500. Mine will cost less than $10!!!

[lekate]

I'd prefer to make my own clothes, mostly because I can style it the way I want it, and it'd fit perfectly (I'm tall, so a lot of dresses come short on me, oh well that's what tights are for!).

[walkonby]

matty's mom

I love that! I remember making clothes for all 3 of the kids, not all their clothes mind you, special pj's, shirts, suits made only once for each of my guys and dresses for DD, and the Halloween and costume stuff for plays and such. That is the best recycling large adult clothing to make little man's clothes! DH once complained when I cut up a bathrobe of his ( he never used it ever! ) and it found new life in a costume.
For the cooking part, sometimes homemade recipes do take the extra time, but save you dollar wise, sometimes it does cost more to make your own, but knowing what all the ingredients are in what you are eating should justify that extra spend. That and the taste, as homemade usually is tastier if ya do it right, lol

[vibrantflame]

Buying clothes vs. making clothes - For me, not worth it to make clothes for my family, because (a) I unfortunately can't sew very well and don't know how to read a pattern and (b) I'd never get around to doing it lol

Casseroles and home cooking vs. frozen meals - Definitely I find it cheaper to cook myself versus buying frozen prepared meals. I think though it can depend on how much you eat and how big your family is. We are 4 and we're all big eaters. Plus my husband has allergies to sulphites (which is in just about every pre-packaged food) and dairy, so that complicates things.

Bread - I buy it. I have a breadmaker, so I could make it, but to be honest, I've never had a home made bread that I liked as much or more then store bought (unless it's freshly baked). So I just buy it.

Baked goods - Well, I'm biased here, because I LOVE to bake. But again, generally I find it cheaper to bake then buy it made. For example, you can easily make and frost a cake for under $5 at home (not sure from total scratch, but definitely with a cake mix), but if you buy one it will run you $10 +. Plus, you can get a lot more variety when you bake at home then what the local grocery bakery has. And, I find baking doesn't take much time at all, it's mostly just whip everything into a batter, pour, and bake

boxed meals or kits vs buying individual ingredients - That's a tough one, because it's hard to compare ingredient for ingredient, since most boxed meals and kits are full of weird cheap stuff (like powdered cheese lol). But, here's an example, instead of buying the Old El Paso tortilla kits, which are basically seasoning for ground beef, salsa sauce, and tortillas, I buy the ingredients separately and it always works out to be cheaper (I season the ground beef with spices I have on hand).

[vibrantflame]

But when my local quilting store has their clearance event, and I can buy a pretty paisley fabric for a summer skirt and it cost me $3.00 all in- I AM IN!!! (2 hours and I am good to wear!!!) And I love to "pimp" a bargain line plain t-shirt to have it look like something from J Crew.

My next project is to copy a dolce & gabbana skirt (from last season- was in Marie Claire). It was a black silk tweed pencil skirt with a lace peek out on the leg for myself. I bought a wool/poly fine tweed @ Value Village sale ($2.50) and ordered the lace piece from a vendor on Etsy. The skirt price by D&G was $2,500. Mine will cost less than $10!!!

Omg, can I hire you to make clothes for me?

[Giseledta]

I make alotof things. mostly food items. canning, mixes, spice blends.
I have done luiquid soap, and cleaners.
a bit of sewing items. not my big thrill. Insulated curtains. , napkins. I tend to be a practical person by nature.

[Darth Penguin]

We are about to start brewing again. I was lucky enough to snag some incubators form where I was working so I can control the fermentation temp to within 1C. Makes the results much more predictable.
I need to brush up my aseptic technique to cultivate yeast again...free yeast is good.

I love cooking so making a huge pot of chili, curry or pasta sauce is no problem. I'm not sure how much money I save but i enjoy the prep and the taste is how I want .

[itsmewhoelse]

[QUOTE=hydroxybutane;3963981]Hi,

"I haven't found a beef source yet, but I'm sure there will be something that comes up."


Hi I suggest you search for a local abattoir or one in a close by rural area if you are in a city. My cousin is a farmer and sells his beef out of his local rural abattoir in Manitoba. Love his beef, but I find his ground beef is way too lean for me.
Abattoir is another word for slaughter house or butcher. They sell them by the quarter cow, half cow and whole and the prices are very reasonable. You can even share with a friend if you want to split the cost.

[DianneS]

I have found that the price of bread has increased significantly lately. We bought a bread machine a while back and it has quickly paid for itself. Besides the savings on the bread itself, I find my kids are snacking on fresh bread instead of more expensive grocery items.

When my kids were smaller I made bread 'by hand' often and still like to do so once in a while but I have to say that the bread machine is so easy my teen-agers use it constantly and I don't even have to think about it.

[Tbites]

Started my first garden this year... the start up cost was high but most of the materials will be reusable for many years. Didn't have to buy any veggies this summer... that was AWESOME. Large harvest of sweet potatoes DID NOT save me any money because they were so small. Hopefully, next year will be better.

Not familiar with canning yet but I made my own pesto & froze a bunch of it this year. Definitely a money saver (replaced pine nuts w/ sunflower seeds) compared to the store bought and just as tasty.

I'm quite practical and handy with tools, so I've often built or refinished furniture/frames/shelves rather than purchase new.

[sweetproserpina]

What a great idea for a thread!

Some thoughts..

I would love to spend the time and make all my own clothes, but as far as price goes- I think buying is cheaper for me, since I wear mostly thrift, or buy on sale. Fabric prices are usually more than I would spend on pre-made clothes.

I do all my baking from scratch, and I know it's cheaper than buying premade usually, but not cheaper than buying a box mix. I could buy a box of cake mix on sale for a dollar, but just the butter is usually more for home-baking! Same goes for cookies- a batch of cookies will cost me 1.50 in butter (on sale!), plus at least a dollar of chocolate chips etc. Although homemade cookies are infinitely yummier than storebought, so I still bake!

Some pantry supplies are much cheaper if you make them. I make my own vanilla extract, chocolate syrup, ketchup (from canned tomato paste), yogurt... Cost-wise they are a huge savings, especially the chocolate syrup, which is 2-3 dollars in the store, and homemade just a few pennies.