Do you buy convience food if it's cheaper ?

[Katrina-Sisu]

For one, I totally do. Finland's food tax is 25% so it takes a BIG chunk out of our food money.

I can buy a loaf of bread here for 1.20 bucks. Soups are 70 cents a pop and cheesey noodles (good with tuna mixed in) are about a buck a bag.

There is simply no way I can make it at home for the same price. Yeast here is outrageously expensive and cheese is 10 bucks a block.

I make alot of our ethnic foods at home from scratch, hibachi rice and vege lo mein is cheap since I found storebrand Wok mix for 1.35 bucks. I make all of our cassaroles from scratch though.

Anyone buy convience food if it's cheaper?

Kat

[nancy1340]

I would but it's not cheaper here.

25%! :o I won't complain about our 7.5% again. ;)

[Shamrock1121]

These are some convenience foods that may cost less than homemade:

-Frozen 100% Orange Juice and Grape Juice Concentrate
-Macaroni & Cheese
-Cake Mixes
-Frozen/Canned veggies and fruit
-Frozen potato products (french fries, hash browns)
-Spaghetti Sauce, especially from a packet where you add tomato sauce or tomato paste
-Mashed potato flakes
-Pasta

Home-canned foods (foods put up in canning jars) are almost always more expensive than commercial when you factor in the cost of production or the cost of buying produce, if you pay for your water to grow a garden, your time, and the huge cost of energy to heat process food. If you need to buy jars or equipment, you are really going to increase the cost. That's why I dehydrate or freeze much of my garden produce.

I make a lot of my own "convenience" foods so that I can control the ingredients - I avoid trans fats and high fructose corn syrup and the chemicals.

I make things like wholegrain pancake mix, wholegrain baking mix (like Bisquick), those Jifts in a Jar mixes for baked goods, soups, beverages. I make my own chocolate and vanilla pudding mixes, as well as a mix for hot chocolate. I can still make these things cheaper than the commercial products.

I have several convenience foods I buy because they are tedious to make - crackers and some pasta products. But we don't use very much pasta, and I still make my own egg noodles.

Because I mill my own grains, which I can get fairly cheap, and sometimes free, it can cost between 25 and 50 cents (US) to make a loaf of bread (cheaper if I bake in my Solar Ovens). For me, commercial bread is never cheaper than homemade. I could live very nicely without dried yeast because I make naturally-leavened bread with a flour & water sourdough starter.

We stick to whole foods, which is fairly cost effective and easy to prepare.

And I'm with Nancy - I'm not going to gripe about our 7.05% tax... 25% :o

-Karen

[bookwormom]

I guess pasta is a convenience food. yes, I get it at the Amish store for 35 cents. I am wondering if I can freeze yeast, as long as I can get it for 10 cents for three packs, that translates to about 3,3 cents a packet.
I do buy juice, we mix it with water. would you consider canned fish and the like convenience food? I mean I do no have to catch and clean the fish?
Otherwise, no, I do not even look at it. Have no idea what frozen hashbrowns cost. I have a book that explains in detail what all is done to food at the factory and what goes into the different things. Thanks, but no thanks. Bad enough that I have to buy butter, (can't wait to get a cow) you would not believe what can be done to butter. No wonder it does not feel and taste like our homemade.

[Shamrock1121]

I am wondering if I can freeze yeast, as long as I can get it for 10 cents for three packs, that translates to about 3,3 cents a packet.


bookwormom - You sure can freeze yeast, and lucky you to find it for 10 cents for three envelopes :D. It should keep for years if kept frozen. Walton Feed used to have a story from someone who used a 1-pound package of SAF Instant Yeast for years and years by keeping it in the freezer in a jar.

I guess I think of convenience foods as stuff like a cake mix, Hamburger Helper, pancake mix, cornbread mix, etc. Dump the mix in a bowl, add water, stir - kinda' foods. Things you could have made from scratch for much less by boiling your own pasta, adding your own spices.

I consider popcorn a wholegrain, whole food and we pop it in an air popper, while microwave popcorn, to me, is a convenience food and full of who knows what? Look at the difference in price.... !

There have been cost analysis of convenience foods compared to homemade. But you'll find convenience foods generally have more sodium and chemicals and other things I'd rather not eat.

From - http://www.cacfp.org/2006ConHandouts/CostNut.Analysisoverheads.pdf

Some convenience foods and mixes are actually cheaper than what you can
probably make from scratch. Let's look at some of these:

• It cost about 53¢ per serving to make a Hamburger Stroganoff type dish from scratch. It cost about 50¢ per serving to make it using a Hamburger Helper type mix.

• Depending on the brand you buy, it cost about the same to buy Chili from the can and to make it from scratch

• Making pizza from scratch will cost you about 75¢ a serving. Purchasing it ready to cook from the Deli case at the grocery store will actually cost you
less, about 57¢ a serving. Depending on the brand, you can get it even cheaper in the frozen section for about 38¢ a serving.

These are all much cheaper options than getting it from a fast-food place, which is about $1.23 a serving.

• It is also cheaper to buy your Macaroni & Cheese in the box. It cost about 19¢ a serving this way, and about 50¢ a serving to make from scratch.

Just because some of these ways are cheaper, it does not mean they are better. Nothing beats the taste of homemade Macaroni & Cheese. Remember, those boxes of cheap Mac-n-cheese with powdered cheese do not meet the requirements of the food program.

I think the dumbest "convenience" food is baby food. That's got to be the most over-priced stuff in the whole store.... And the fine folks are dupped into thinking they'll kill their kid if they mash a banana themselves and feed it to their child. ::)

-Karen

[machinemaker]

Just a thought to throw out there: Cheaper does not equal healthier or better. There are some things that are less money to buy, but it is full of refined flour, white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and a lot of chemicals not intended for human, (or animal) consumption. Somewhere you have to weigh the differences between whats good for us and what's affordable. dang, when I was single I'd buy what ever vegetables were on sale that week, ate a lot of cheap beans and brown rice, made lots of home made soup, etc. I could make a large stock pot of soup and have it for several days. It went to work with me for lunch, it reheated quickly for a second time and I'd freeze the rest in single servings. It was low fat, no chemicals other that what did not get washed off on the veggies, low sodium and good home made soup tastes great. It was convenient, fast (cook once for many meals), tasted great,cheap and even my co-workers were envious of the "home made" great smelling soup heating in the micro wave. And then there's all the things that could be made in the 5 qt. crock pot while I was at work. simple and healthy can be cheaper and better than convenience foods if you have a freezer and exercise a bit of creativity.

[Katrina-Sisu]

Thanks for all the great replies!

The overall tax of Finland is 22-25%, but food tax is only 17%. Okay..there shows mine and Hubby's communication skills LOL! :D

We do use alot of convience foods but we also eat alot of fruits and vegetables each day. I know the sodium levels aren't too great but I'm epileptic and would eat a saltlick if I could LOL! ( Don't worry, my blood pressure is good.)

Finland is in sort of a paradox because outside of taters, cabbage, root veges, crab apples, etc.; we can't grow any veges here since the growing season is about 2-3 months a year. Everything has to be imported so vacuum sealed and canned are the most popular.

Lord I live in the boonies :o 1/2 to the homesteading dream lol :D.

Kat

[gratitude]

. *I have a book that explains in detail what all is done to food at the factory and what goes into the different things. Thanks, but no thanks. *


Bookwormom, what book is it, I am interested in reading it :-*

I've found that convenience foods just about always are made with ingredients I won't serve to my family, so I've stopped even considering them. Those that do happen to be made with healthy ingredients are so highly priced we only have them for special and/or desperate situations (eg crackers).

[RangerRick]

We have a mill and we kinda get a kick outta baking our own bread - usually in the machine as it cuts labor. Sweetie usually makes up her own soups and we have the room so we try to buy in bulk for staples like rice and beans of which we eat a bit.

rick

[leera]

OK,I must admit it,I DO buy some convienence foods.

I buy frozen veggies,or no salt added canned. I buy whole wheat pasta and instant mashed potatoes.....

I buy pancake mix and baking mix,but it is also whole wheat.

I have a weakness for the quick cooking rice mixes though.I buy them on sale with coupons and they end up costing me $0.50 or less.

I buy the little three packet strips of yeast,but on sale with coupons,I haven't had to pay for it for a couple of years,as it always is free after the double coupon.

I buy cake mix too,but now buy the reduced sugar kind.

For the most part though,that's it.

[granolaeeter]

I never buy mixes anymore unless it is at an organic grocery and I don't have one nearby so that isn't often.

I don't like eating aluminum and I was finding that most mixes contain aluminum in some form or another.

[mike82934]

Thanks for all the great replies!

The overall tax of Finland is 22-25%, but food tax is only 17%.

Kat

:o

And I thought it was crazy that we actually had to pay tax at all on food in Wyoming. Sheesh.

[exodus]

I generally make my own convenience foods. If in doubt, check out frugalliving.com.

We grind our on wheat, rye, oats, etc. i make envelope packets for the kids to have "instant" oatmeal...add br. sugar and dried apples to it also. Dehydrate our onions, potatoes from garden and make onion powder, and garlic powder with my grinder. We have fruit trees so make our own jams and jellies. Can the broccoli and grean beans from garden but dry some of the corn and freeze some.

I do purchase some things...such TVP, but make my own tofu and soymilk.. buy soybeans and other beans by 5# bags..rice also.

We do not have sales tax on food but i make a lot of the girls clothes and buy second hand a lot where there is no tax. I order a lot on the net so there is no tax there either.We spin some of the wool and make into cloth or knit and felt where necessary.

Trying to be self-sufficient as possible and buy as little as possible. It is a family project..BTW, we only have 2 1/2 acres.

EXodus It can be done.

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Forum Members,

Being an apartment dweller in a small city with no land space of his own yet, I have little other choice but to buy store-bought, but I do try very hard to maximize both the economic value and the nutritional value.

I now only use whole-wheat pastas, which I've found now is available in a cheaper store-brand from Food Lion.

I get Dutch Country Whole-Wheat Bread, which is not only nutritious, but surprisingly as soft as white bread. This, of course, I get at a "dead-bread" store for a very reduced price and keep it in the fridge to make it last longer.

I get all kinds of canned goods, with the lowest fat and Sodium content possible. In the case of canned vegetables, I will drain off the juice, then rinse off excess Sodium in a collender.

And yes, I haven't totally kicked "fast-food" yet, but I order from the value menus, always include a side salad or fruit, and, of course, ask for extra napkins and extra condiments, which pile up very quickly and come in handy.

At the present, I'm trying to grow leaf lettuce, cabbage, spinach, and herbs in little planter beds in hopes of raising my own garden salads, and I've got a sprouter and alfalfa seeds. Next payday, I hope to get a strawberry planter. I've had a Corona Grain Mill for 15 years dating from when I had a suburban plot to plant. One day, I'll bulk order some grain and start back bread-baking again. Hopefully, these will extend my food budget until I get enough money for a tract of cheap land.

[Funkhouser]

I can make a really big pizza from two pkgs. of Great Value (Wal-Mart store brand) pizza crust mix, one cup of traditional GV spaghetti sauce and a generous helping of GV shredded mozzerella chesse. Total cost for one 14 x 20 pizza? About $2.25 and about 20 minutes of my time...well worth it, too (much better than those frozen jobs).

[Katrina-Sisu]

We found instant mashed taters here, whoo!

I get 3 cups of mashed taters from 1 foil bag. You get 4 bags in a box for 1.65 euros. 12 cups of taters from 1 box. To make that much from scratch, I'd spend probably 4 dollars on taters.

We started making our own sub sandwiches. French bread is two bucks, cheese is 1.50, we already have mayo, smoked turkey is 2.50, and lettuce is 1.35. To make a foot long sub for both of us is around 8 euros. We save over half what it would cost to get us two sandwiches at Subway.

[WileyCoyote]

I cannot eat convenience foods.
They are so full of preservatives and sugars and fats (most of them hidden) that they destroy my internal organs... so much so that I have had my gall bladder removed, as well as 1/3 of my colon, and my liver - the part that processes out all of those additives - has almost died once already (TG livers regenerate!). I was in the hospital for 8 weeks on clear liquids while it regenerated.

Convenience foods that are 'store bought' are so overprocessed that they have to add vitamins and minerals to them to make them pass gummint 'nourishment' guidelines, along with the preservatives and coloring and flavoring to make them palatable, that they are literally poison.

I have to make everything from scratch. It ain't fun but it is safer. I rarely eat at restaurants any more, either - even the mass-produced fish and shrimp and fruits and vegetables are genetically engineered or raised under such nasty conditions that they can be easily contaminated.

I had a good friend who had a heart attack because he had so much cholesterol in his blood; not even medication could reduce it significantly. His doctor told him - "I'm going to give you one simple rule - if you didn't grow it or kill it, don't eat it!" He dropped 60 pounds and went down so far on his cholesterol levels that he doesn't even take meds any more. All that exercise and those healthy foods saved his life. A sedentary lifestyle coupled with the poisons in our food is what is killing us, slowly, IMHO.

[Danielle]

I'm with you, Wiley.
My husband had a bout with cancer and to us:
Convenience food = Cancer food

[lplott]

No

[Cowgirl]

I don't buy convenience foods. Our food tax is low (1% for food that isn't restaurant or fast food or ready to eat convenience foods). So even if I could save a little with a convenience food, I'd skip it. I'm also after health benefits of avoiding the highly processed foods and eating healthy ingredients.