Frugal Friday: The Cost Analysis of Homemade Yogurt

Another wild morning - my four-year-old got another bloody nose out of nowhere (I think...) and it dripped all over big brother's new shoes which caused a major meltdown...but I think it's under control now. He's off to school and the other one is cleaned up so we're off to another day. I think my least favorite task as a mother is cleaning up blood...and watching my kids bleed...and anything that has to do with blood... What's your least favorite task as a Mom? Diaper changing? Being thrown up on? Mountains of laundry?

On a happier note, I think my one of my most favorite tasks as a Mom is cooking! And I'm going to move on to that with my frugal Friday tip of the day - Homemade Yogurt!

In my Yogurt Recipe I use these ingredients:

3 C. Milk

2 Tbsp. yogurt

 

Milk is on average about $2.50/gal

1 gal = 16 Cups

3 C. Milk costs about $0.47(more or less depending on if it’s on a good sale or not)

I usually use Yoplait greek yogurt which cost me $1.08 when I bought it the other day.

1 small carton is 6 oz. which is about ¾ C.

¾ C. = 12 Tbsp.

So the cost of 1 batch of yogurt is about $0.18

I can make 3 cups of yogurt for about $0.65 or less.

What is my cost savings for making my own yogurt, then? Again for each ¾ Cup of pre-packaged yogurt I have to pay $1.08. It would only cost me $0.16 to make the same amount at home. So that’s a savings of $0.92 for each carton of yogurt! That’s an 85% savings.

If you normally buy your yogurt in larger containers, I’m going to estimate that greek yogurt costs about $3.50 for 32 oz. (that’s probably a bit low…) That’s still $0.88 for each cup. The yogurt I make is $0.22 per cup so I’m saving $0.66 for each cup or 75%! To me that is a significant savings because we eat a lot of yogurt and we want to eat a lot of yogurt because it is really healthy. The nice thing about it is, it really is SO easy to do – it literally takes minutes to make a batch. I usually make a couple batches at a time because we eat so much - it's just as easy to make 2 batches at once as it is to make 1 batch. 

So there you go! If you’re looking to save money and be healthy at the same time, make your own yogurt! It really is worth it.

Linked to Frugal Friday