Sunday, January 27, 2008

When homemade isn't cheapest

Sometimes homemade isn't cheapest--or even tastiest. Sometimes you have to do the math.

Here's what I spent on the turkey pitas:

$6.00 -- 3 lbs. deli turkey (super sale)
$4.80 -- 18 pitas
$4.00 -- white cheddar spread
$2.00 -- thin slices colby cheese
$2.00 -- romaine lettuce
___________________________
$18.80 for 18 pitas (I made 2 extra boxes), or 1.04/sandwich

Kroger sells 16 small sandwiches for $9.99 (normally $12). Two pinwheels per box would have cost $1.25.

So, for only 20-cents more, someone else would have put them together for me--and they would have been filled more meats and cheeses than my pitas.

Large pinwheels like Kroger's also fall apart after the first bite, which is why I ultimately chose the pita pockets. If I were assembling box lunches for another time, I would probably buy the pinwheels.

7 comments:

the momma said...

taste has to come into the equation, too & I'd just bet yours tasted beter than the deli's!!
and I'm sure they looked prettier, which counts for something also....

your husband did a lovely job on the napkins :-)

Anonymous said...

I do not believe for a minute that anything Kroger made and sells for 20 cents more than what you can make it for would taste any better than what you made. Not for a minute. You put a personal touch into it that Korger will never have.
Twice a year I must make sandwichs for our day care association group. There are between 30 and 50 that show up for the meetings. We are never sure till the meeting starts how many are there. So we just make a lot of food. For as little as possible. I always make 4 huge sandwiches for the group. Large hoggie type sandwiches. I use French bread, turkey, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and olives...I spread the sandwich with a mixture of mustard and mayo..I can make the 4 sandwiches for about $15.00 (when I get the meat on sale) and serve about 25 people.

Shawna said...

my thoughts exactly...I hardly doubt the deli ones would have been near as tasty. homemade is so much better! anyone can buy food from a deli. :)

Mimi said...

I agree with the others that yours were probably more delicious than Kroger's.

But, I do understand your point, and that's one of the places where I'm least confident in thrift. There's also the time factor, to consider. For example, I am sewing my own curtains for my living room, but since I am an inexperienced seamstress, it may take me a lot of hours to get them just right.

So, when you take into account time and cost, pricing out homemade versus already-made isn't always the easiest for me. If you're ever searching for ideas for your posts, that's a subject I'd like to get a better feel for.

Mimi said...

I wasn't very clear in my last comment. When I say that's an area where I'm least confident, I mean in figuring out the total of how much it will cost me to make something plus time plus quality.

April said...

I think yours were probably FAR more special, also.

But-- if you had more time and were able to make the pitas ahead -- which is actually not too difficult if you have a griddle, you could probably cut a lot off of that cost.

Something to think about for next time! :)

Guitar Widow said...

Bleh - I hate finding out after it would have been more cost effective to just buy it.

I am sure the fun of putting them together with your husband was worth it!