Jewlsntexas asked me how I figure the cost of a home baked item and I’m just geek enough to know how to do this. (Although whatever you do, don’t ask me about the book of Nahum in the Bible!)
Say your recipe calls for 4 cups of flour and you bought a five pound bag for the horrendous price of $2.95.
First we would need to figure out how much per ounce the bag is worth….
1 lb = 16 ounces so 5 lb = 80 ounces
Say your recipe calls for 4 cups of flour and you bought a five pound bag for the horrendous price of $2.95.
First we would need to figure out how much per ounce the bag is worth….
1 lb = 16 ounces so 5 lb = 80 ounces
(5 lbs x 16 ounces per pound = 80 ounces)
So if 80 ounces of flour (or a 5 lb bag ) costs $2.95 then 1 ounce would cost 4 cents per ounce rounded up.
(2.95 (dollars) divided by 80 (ounces) = .036 cents per ounce or 4 cents rounded up.)
And if you’re still with me….
I weighed one cup of flour on my kitchen scale and it weighed 6 ounces. So one cup of flour would cost me 24 cents.
(6 ounces x 4 cents per ounce = 24 cents)
So how much would four cups cost?
That’s right….96 cents.
(24 cents per cup x 4 cups = 96 cents)
So if 80 ounces of flour (or a 5 lb bag ) costs $2.95 then 1 ounce would cost 4 cents per ounce rounded up.
(2.95 (dollars) divided by 80 (ounces) = .036 cents per ounce or 4 cents rounded up.)
And if you’re still with me….
I weighed one cup of flour on my kitchen scale and it weighed 6 ounces. So one cup of flour would cost me 24 cents.
(6 ounces x 4 cents per ounce = 24 cents)
So how much would four cups cost?
That’s right….96 cents.
(24 cents per cup x 4 cups = 96 cents)
So if you used an egg and you paid $1.69 a dozen than each egg would cost you 14 cents.
(1.69 divided by 12 = .14)
Clear as mud right? Please throw me a bone and let me know if that made any sense at all.
If you want some other good tips on various topics, go check out Works For Me Wednesday or cruise around in my archives.
If you want some other good tips on various topics, go check out Works For Me Wednesday or cruise around in my archives.
14 comments:
or...just estimate.
just kidding, it makes lots of sense just seems so mathy and stressful to figure it out!!!!
And if you’re still with me… :-)
Yes, that made perfect sense, though I'm with Phyllis, I'll just estimate unless I'm starting a baking business.
I'm nerd enough to really get a kick out of knowing EXACTLY how much I spend on something. It makes me feel good (I guess) to break it all down and see how much I can feed my family of six for. Then I brag to my husband at the dinner table, "This meal only cost us $4.67" (And he is impressed!)
I like figuring the cost of our meals. I also need to teach my 14yod and 15yod how to do it, so thanks for the reminder.
That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for posting this. My husband has been asking me recently how much it costs to make meals, and now I'll be able to tell him.
I've always been intreguied by articles with inexpensive meals and your advice helps me do that for myself. THANKS!
Being a Math geek myself, this would totally work for me...if I weren't so lazy! ;)
I am the same way about stuff. I love figuring out how much I spent on making something. Sometimes it is just as much as store bought but at least it is fresher ingredients and I get to chose what goes in our food.
It makes sense! But I'm a spaz with ounces. [I usually look on the serving size (for instance on my flour it says 1/4 cup/75 servings per 5# bag.) I divide 75 by 4 to get 18.75 cups. $1 bag of flour=5 cents per cup.] There is a conversion chart in the front of most cookbooks that helps too. I need to get back into this practice--thanks for the reminder!
Clear as mud.
Kidding, I got it. Learned how to do this in 4-H a miliion years ago.
... and now convert it to grams and euros. LOL!
I just estimate... or let one of the kids do it.
Feel welcome to visit "works for me" at my blog
Laane on the World
Have a great day!!!
Love you're blog, I just had to link to you! We have 4 of us and 4 teenage boys (not mine!) living with us - Have to do something about the grocery budget! I'm still curious about working the chocolate addiction in:)...
I need to sit down and do this sometime--especially since my New Years resoltution was to stick to a set grocery goal for our family.
Great job on laying it all out!
I've been obsessed with pricing out how much homemade items cost lately to figure out if it's just easier to buy them, but I suck at math and dislike the very thought of math, so I usually just have my hubby do it for me. This is an easy way to look at it though, so thanks for sharing! =)
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