Page 26 | To get annoyed when people parrot that it's always cheaper to cook from scratch?

Katypp · 2022-08-28T10:24:47+00:00

Caveats: Home made food is usually: A. Nicer B. More nutritious C: Made with proper ingredients that you can control D: More filling E: Not made with fillers, starch etc But it's not always cheaper! Time after time, when people post about food costs, the trope is always make it yourself, you'll save money. This post is in frustration after yet again, someone tripped it out on a budgeting forum. Someone commented that Tesco budget hummous is quite nice, to be told, as always, you can make it cheaper yourself. You can't. Eastman's hummous 69p Tesco chickpeas 60p + lemon 30p = 90p and that's before you add olive oil and tahini. Yes I know you can soak your own chickpeas and buy in bulk at an Asian grocer etc, but that level of organisation for most people is beyond the effort of just picking up a tub on the weekly shop. For the record, I am a very keen home cook and have also run a food business and written about food in the past. I enjoy cooking, but I am sick of people trotting out this line without thinking about it, especially on budgeting and money-saving forums.

Starlightstarbright1 · 04/09/2022 17:23

Terfydactyl · 04/09/2022 17:03

Now this I agree with. I can measure out the rice exactly and still somehow we end up with 6 portions. Only recently I followed a recipe to the letter, and yes the rice was divine, but hell it could have fed 7 or 8, and I really do eat a lot.

The hummus I've said before i do not like.
I still think people in general should think before they state scratch cooking and batch cooking are cheaper. In many many cases they are not.

Most people have use of a car, plenty dont and carrying masses of shopping isnt an option, not everyone is online or trusts using cards online (as was proved a while ago when someone had money £90 i think for fuel taken into like escrow even though they hadn't got that much fuel and had to wait a while for it to come back) the people we are talking about have the minimum already, they dont have the money to cook lots/store lots or the freezer space and guaranteed electric to run the freezer. They are not blessed with pots, tubs, utensils.
Some of you may think this is entirely ridiculous, but not that many years ago this was me. I live in minor dread that it could happen again.
I still dont have a car, I can cook pretty well, I can make something from nothing, yet still I lived on 6p a packet noodles that just required boiling water and 3 minutes.
I could not afford any more electric, I had to measure out the water for the noodles and the cheapest tea bags for a cuppa(occasionally I bought the cheapest coffee and had half a teaspoon of *coffee in my hot drink. Washing up liquid was beyond my means. Hell, hot water for washing up was beyond my means.
Just to add a bit after this very low point in my life I could afford a bit more electric and went dumpster diving for food.
Because I ate such shite, we do agree noodles are shite yeah? I didnt have the energy to walk to the shops and back with too much to carry, so noodles fitted the bill.
I tell you this , not to feel sorry for me, but to think before you say stuff like of course its cheaper, it may be, but it can be impossible to even think about cooking well when your in such a desperate place. Plenty of people are in a similar situation now.

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This is a really good post.. it explains to people the reality sorry you were there though.

One of my memories not as desperately poor but financially stuggling was not been able to buy my ds dora shapoed tinned spaghetti because i couldn't justify the extra 8 between that and shop spaghetti hoops. My ds was not psychologically damaged by this but i certainly was feeling unable to provide something he loved. I also remember buying branded crisps for school trips to hide we were living in poverty i often now buy unbranded crsips. It is very different when its a choice rather than need.

Starlightstarbright1 · 04/09/2022 17:28

queenofarles · 03/09/2022 13:15

I find farmers markets much cheaper than supermarkets, specially around this time of year , it’s full of fresh fruits and veg, not for long though!
.

God ours isn't.. its is quite an affluent town..farmers makets are full of chutney lots of cheese nothing cheaper thsn Aldi.

Kennykenkencat · 04/09/2022 20:21

Starlightstarbright1 · 04/09/2022 17:28

God ours isn't.. its is quite an affluent town..farmers makets are full of chutney lots of cheese nothing cheaper thsn Aldi.

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Where is this farmers market. Any I have been to is hugely more expensive than a supermarket
Even the one season fruit and veg

HarrietsweetHarriet · 04/09/2022 23:47

Jack Monroe is your friend for tasty, budget-friendly meal ideas. My DD had her book at uni.

Bubblebubblebah · 05/09/2022 00:00

HarrietsweetHarriet · 04/09/2022 23:47

Jack Monroe is your friend for tasty, budget-friendly meal ideas. My DD had her book at uni.

Yeah I am not sure her recipes stand up to scrutiny tbh. I did money check on the hoops and one more when it was discussed and they are not financially vs amount and nutritional sound at all.
Also... Bit ontroversial character now

Cw122 · 05/09/2022 01:40

I think it works a) if you're batch cooking and freezing because the quantities works out better value and b) if you have a decent stockpile of herbs etc already built up in your cupboard whereas buying that all new in is definitely more expensive.

laurajayneinkent · 05/09/2022 01:59

Flutterbybudget · 28/08/2022 12:50

What a lot of people don’t allow for, is that it’s not JUST the basic cost of ingredients that many have to factor in. There’s the Fijian I’ll implication of the time element, time to shop around for cheap ingredients and bargains. Time to actually cook the meals. Time when you could have been working and earning money.
Theres the cost of fuel. To drive yourself to these various shops to look for bargains. Fuel to cook the food, which will usually be far longer than putting a ready meal in the microwave.
There’s also the “set up cost” of purchasing lots of items that you only use a small amount of at a time, but are a costly outlay in the beginning. I remember watching “Ready Steady Cook” back in the day, where contestants were given a budget of £5 per meal. However they had the use of a store cupboard of “essentials” that would have cost a small fortune to purchase.
Bulk purchasing brings the average cost per meal down, it’s cheaper to buy a 2kg pack of chicken, than it is to buy 10 lots of 200g, but if you only have £5 in your purse, you can’t afford to buy the £20 pack to start with.
Not to mention the cost in quality time. Especially for those working around families, family/ quality time is an increasingly precious commodity. When I get home from a 10hr shift, exhausted, is it more important to spend the two hours before my child goes to bed with THEM, doing things that they enjoy, helping with homework etc, or in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove? Yes, they can help with cooking, but they’re not going to want to do it day in, day out, everyday when they get home shattered after school and childcare.

This 👍👍👍

Murdoch1949 · 05/09/2022 03:18

You're right, it's not cheaper, but it's frequently much nicer. I sporadically get fed up of cooking (for 1) so get a ready meal, M&S or Waitrose, after checking the reviews. Then I find it is rank, to my taste. The readymeal producers really should up their game, they should be offering much better food. Bighams is OK, but some of the products are poor. Even with the state the country is in, there's still a market there, as people have to work more to pay to turn a light on. God knows what average families will be eating over the next year as food prices rocket, energy and fuel prices rise. For the first time ever, I'm thinking twice before roasting anything, but home cooking remains king for me.

queenofarles · 05/09/2022 09:54

God ours isn't.. its is quite an affluent town..farmers makets are full of chutney lots of cheese nothing cheaper thsn Aldi. The apples, plums, blackberries, are cheaper than my Local Waitrose and tasted nicer.

I think most think of two extremes when it comes to cheap eating , it’s either breaded and deep fried <junk> or Boring and bland <healthy > .

but cheap food doesn’t always mean boring Hummus, most Indian, North African and ME cuisine are quite cheap to prepare , no expensive cuts of meats or expensive cheese, delicious , healthy and quite filling.

kateandme · 05/09/2022 12:33

Comedycook · 03/09/2022 10:59

if we take foraging into account, then of course cooking works out much cheaper

Much cheaper? Really? What on earth are you going to forage for that would make a significant dent in the cost of your food shop?

Foraging a cow from the field perhaps?shooting one of daddies pheasants. But of course for city folk a fox?😏

kateandme · 05/09/2022 12:41

Terfydactyl · 04/09/2022 17:03

Now this I agree with. I can measure out the rice exactly and still somehow we end up with 6 portions. Only recently I followed a recipe to the letter, and yes the rice was divine, but hell it could have fed 7 or 8, and I really do eat a lot.

The hummus I've said before i do not like.
I still think people in general should think before they state scratch cooking and batch cooking are cheaper. In many many cases they are not.

Most people have use of a car, plenty dont and carrying masses of shopping isnt an option, not everyone is online or trusts using cards online (as was proved a while ago when someone had money £90 i think for fuel taken into like escrow even though they hadn't got that much fuel and had to wait a while for it to come back) the people we are talking about have the minimum already, they dont have the money to cook lots/store lots or the freezer space and guaranteed electric to run the freezer. They are not blessed with pots, tubs, utensils.
Some of you may think this is entirely ridiculous, but not that many years ago this was me. I live in minor dread that it could happen again.
I still dont have a car, I can cook pretty well, I can make something from nothing, yet still I lived on 6p a packet noodles that just required boiling water and 3 minutes.
I could not afford any more electric, I had to measure out the water for the noodles and the cheapest tea bags for a cuppa(occasionally I bought the cheapest coffee and had half a teaspoon of *coffee in my hot drink. Washing up liquid was beyond my means. Hell, hot water for washing up was beyond my means.
Just to add a bit after this very low point in my life I could afford a bit more electric and went dumpster diving for food.
Because I ate such shite, we do agree noodles are shite yeah? I didnt have the energy to walk to the shops and back with too much to carry, so noodles fitted the bill.
I tell you this , not to feel sorry for me, but to think before you say stuff like of course its cheaper, it may be, but it can be impossible to even think about cooking well when your in such a desperate place. Plenty of people are in a similar situation now.

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I’m so sorry you had to go through that.that level of dread upon waking is the worst of feelings isn’t it. And it never really leaves you.
have you gotten to a safer place?try to take each moment if you can.try getting a grateful even happy feeling in your stomach that you here,now doing ok and feeling more secure. That’s a good feeling you deserve.
give lots of compassion to that scared past self.

Terfydactyl · 05/09/2022 18:02

kateandme · 05/09/2022 12:41

I’m so sorry you had to go through that.that level of dread upon waking is the worst of feelings isn’t it. And it never really leaves you.
have you gotten to a safer place?try to take each moment if you can.try getting a grateful even happy feeling in your stomach that you here,now doing ok and feeling more secure. That’s a good feeling you deserve.
give lots of compassion to that scared past self.

Show quote history

I'm in a much better place now, no it never leaves you. Theres a reason I bought a small cheap house and have cupboards full to bursting with food.

Oddly I was talking to a neighbour earlier and she regaled me with being told the same thing about cooking a big amount and eating it all week. So she did a pan of something and after day 4 came down with the most horrendous food poisoning and hospitalised, because she hadnt been told not to reheat the whole pan full, and she didnt know not to. She has never made a pan full of anything since. She said it cost her more than a weeks wages at the time and now she lives on microwave meals and omelettes, sandwiches and stuff. Apparently that was 20 years ago but it stuck in her mind.

CrazyKitten · 12/09/2022 07:56

@SallyB392 I agree that value tinned veg is probably cheaper. We get food bags from my son's school (low income) and these contain value tinned veg. It always seems to be in just water. This completely robs the veg of any flavour. Mushrooms, carrots - devoid of flavour. I love both raw with no additives. Why can't the manufacturers add a little salt - they seem very keen on adding it to unhealthy processed foods plus sugar. If you were trying to persuade veg sceptical kids to eat their veg - this would put them off forever. I ended up soaking the mushrooms in soy sauce - but I have the stock of condiments and cooking experience to work around this. It makes me angry that this tasteless food is aimed at the poorest.