Baking Bread - Depression Era Tip for Saving Money

Beverly Bright
People growing up in the Depression Era knew how to save money. Baking their own bread was a major part of their day. Biscuits were the staple of the day, but yeast breads were also baked regularly. Baking yeast bread is a time-consuming project, which the modern day homemaker usually avoids. Enter the popular 'bread machine'.

A loaf of bread at the store is convenient and somewhat expensive. It becomes more expensive when one-half is thrown away because it becomes stale before it is used. Sara Lee Potato Bread costs $3.00 a loaf. When one-half is put into the garbage, the loaf now costs $4.50. Leftover bread can be used for many future recipes, but a freezer can only hold so many bread crumbs. Why not bake your own bread and save money?

Baking Bread Savings Made Easy

The modern day bread machine is an appliance that should not sit on a shelf with little use. Even the busy homemaker with children and a full-time job can make bread daily, if need be. With a delay setting on the appliance, bread can be ready on returning home from work. On the other hand, nothing smells better than a fresh loaf of cinnamon bread first thing in the morning. The homemade bread is fresher and healthier than a loaf from the local grocery store.

An Example of the Saving Cost of Homemade Bread

The ingredients for a one-pound loaf of Country White Bread costs about $1.00.

• Bread Flour - $ .75
• Butter - .09
• Yeast - .04
• Dry Milk - .10
• Sugar & Salt - .02

Popular Searched Recipes

Below is a list of the most popular searched recipes with links. If the desired recipe is not listed here, there are 215 different recipes listed at the Bread Machine Digest. Their recipes were tested on 30 different bread machines.

Gluten Free Bread
Banana Bread
Zucchini Bread
Pita Bread
Pumpkin Bread
Vegan Bread
Beer Bread
Sourdough Bread

Milling Your Own Flour to Save Money

There are health benefits and savings to milling your personal flour. Commercially grain flours have the germ removed to extend the shelf life of the flour. The grain germ contains healthy nutritious oils. There is an extensive section at the Bread Machine Digest on milling your own flour if you would be interested in trying this method.

Saving money by 'pinching pennies' is important in the economy of today. By baking your own bread there could be an additional $156.00, or more, in the savings account at the end of the year. Take the bread machine that has been sitting on the shelf and put it to economical use. Enjoy the aroma and flavor of fresh, homemade bread.

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Published by Beverly Bright

Beverly worked in Architectural drafting/design for 40 years (industrial/commercial) and owned her own business for 17 years. Retired, loving life in the country! Beverly enjoys learning, research, and has...  View profile

2 Comments

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  • nice!!!4/21/2011

    This blog is truly amazing and awesome to read in. Very full of information and knowledge. I hope you will continue create blogs that are nice and very helpful to everybody. Panasonic SD-YD250

  • Vicki D. Messer3/8/2011

    Great article . . . I could almost smell that bread baking!

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