Homemade - Cheaper and Better

So many times my friends and family members will comment that it's really not worth it to make things from scratch when you can purchase it from the store. My daughter always says, "Time is money" and she doesn't have the time to put into it. Yes, it is - to a point. I don't work outside the home and she does, so her time is quite valuable to her. Yet, if she is buying things that really don't take much to make, is she really getting the best for her money?

For example, let's talk about store bought Vienna Rolls. First, I had no clue that the store sold its bakery rolls by the pound! My local store sells the rolls at $4.80 a pound and this package of 6 rolls cost $4.50 for 15 ounces! (I guess you can tell that I don't buy bread or rolls much.)

When I make bread, my loaves run between 2-3 pounds and the cost of ingredients runs about 50 cents to 80 cents if I decide to make a more specialty bread. If I make a dough for a one pound loaf, roll it into balls and let it rise - my homemade rolls will cost 25 cents, plus I know exactly what is in them. The texture might be a little bit different (depending on the recipe/type of dough I make), however, everyone says they are so much better than store bought.

If one uses the kneading cycle on a bread machine or uses a mixer to mix and knead the dough, the only time spent is the time it takes to put the ingredients in the bowl or pan. The time that it takes to raise, one could be doing something else - so it's not really working on the rolls. Then there is the punching down and shaping the rolls and putting them on a pan. That takes just a few minutes. The are put aside to raise again, and again, one could be doing something else. Into the oven they go - and baking time is another amount of time that could be spend elsewhere. So really - how much time total is actually going into these rolls? There's 25 cents in ingredients, a few minutes spent putting them into a bowl and then shaping the dough. There is the cost of running the oven, but if planned correctly, one can bake something else at the same time. With 6 rolls, the savings wouldn't be so impressive if you figure minimum wage in. 15-20 minutes is about $2 of labor, however, that's counting the pay BEFORE taxes and other deductions.

If you were to double the amount of rolls baked at one time, you would have about 20-25 minutes invested, and about $3 of labor BEFORE taxes. Three dollars of labor plus 50 cents in ingredients for $9.60 worth of store bought rolls. My rolls will weigh a little more than the store bought ones, because I am using a recipe for a 2 pound dough. By making my own rolls, I've saved over $6 (not counting the energy cost of the oven since that will vary depending on what type one uses). That's about an hour of minimum wage pay AFTER taxes that you SAVED by making your own from scratch!

Is it worth making things from scratch? Yes it is, for 2 reasons...
1. I save money and
2. It tastes better!

One more interesting fact... your rolls would be considered Artisan rolls and that would up the value even more!