We eat a lot of bread in our house. From sandwich bread to dinner rolls, from buns to cinnamon rolls, bread is a staple in our house like it probably is in yours.
I happen to be a Wonder Bread lover. It’s not just the flavor and the softness, but more importantly the longevity. Without fail, Wonder Bread lasts me twice as long as generic brands, making it more economical for me to spend more to get it.
Still, it has become harder for me to shell out almost $2.40 for a loaf of the good stuff.
Reconsidering my bread purchases has helped me save tremendously in my monthly food bill. Here are two ways I’ve saved:
1. Purchase from the Wonder Bread Store
Fortunately, I work less than a mile from our Wonder Bread store, so it’s very convenient for me to purchase my bread there. I can get loaves, rolls, and buns for $1 per package. Although they aren’t as fresh, I’ve never been able to tell the difference, and for less than half the price, it’s worth it.
This is my personal way of doing it, but every two weeks I buy 1 loaf of white bread and 1 loaf of wheat. Because I’m trying to slowly edge my family to eating more whole grains, I take the bread out the package and alternate 1 slice white, 1 slice wheat, and so on. One loaf of the mixed bread I will freeze for the next week. Freezing bread has worked well for me and has saved me quite a bit of money.
2. Make Your Own Bread
I tried my hand at homemade breadmaking but found the kneading and rising to be time consuming. That’s when I decided I wanted a bread machine. Thanks to my friend Midon searching on Craigslist for a bread machine she knew I wanted, I got a very good used one for 1/3 the cost of a new one.
Using my bread machine, I’ve made rolls, loaves of bread, and cinnamon rolls. I’ve estimated that a loaf of bread only costs about $0.60-$0.75 per loaf (depending on if I use all-purpose flour or bread flour). The same is true for rolls. I can make 16 rolls for this price, compared to 12 rolls for $1 at the Wonder Bread Store. Recently I even made our own cinnamon rolls for about $0.90, which made 18 rolls, enough to feed us one breakfast before church and several breakfast meals that week. A 5-count Grands Cinnamon Roll tube costs over $2. And let me tell ya, nothing can top the taste of from-scratch cinnamon rolls!
I plan on eventually trying my hand at homemade pizza dough using the bread machine, although I don’t think I’m going to try homemade buns yet. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that and will take my $1 per package buns at the Wonder Bread store for now.
You may not have any desire to make your own bread. If that’s the case, I encourage you to take advantage of the Wonder Bread store or stock up on the kind of bread you like when it goes on sale for $1 (and freeze it). By not purchasing the high-priced bread on the grocery store aisle, you will notice the savings.
Bread machine makes it much easier! We have went from that to more gluten free type breads and now to the grain free breads/pancakes/muffins. I must say that Almond flour pancakes and biscuits are so easy to make, tasty, and very puffy. If you are in a hurry and want to make something quick, aside from your machine, the almond flour is great:)