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Make Your Own Cereal: Good Deal or Not?

Does homemade cereal save you money?

If your family is like mine you eat a good amount of cereal every week. I’d say we go through about 2 boxes a week between the four of us. I think some of that might be just from pure waste, however, since my kids don’t always judge proportions correctly yet! Anyway, I thought I could save some money by making our own cereal (plus it tastes WAY better!) so . . .

I’ve run the numbers and figured out that the #1 reason to make your own cereal is to enjoy its superior yumminess as well as its superior healthfulness over store-bought. Sadly, it doesn’t wind up being much of a bargain unless you are comparing it to expensive cereal that’s not on sale.

Just in case I can save someone else the trouble of going through this cost-comparison, however, I am recording my findings here. You might also be interested in making the cereal I link to below simply for the pleasure of eating good-quality cereal that takes very little time to make.  One could argue that to compare the homemade with the cheap store-bought is unfair. In that case, you might consider it a cost-savings nevertheless. Without further ado, here are the cost differentials and break-downs:

The Cost of Store-Bought Cereal: Low = $4 for 20 servings; Medium = $10 for 20 servings

You could spend as low as $1.60 per pound on Raisin Bran at Safeway right now (2 for $4). If you buy a regularly priced cereal in the mid-range, you would spend around $4.50 (Raisin Nut Bran). Higher priced cereals go over $5 per pound.

The Cost of Homemade Cereal: $11 for 20 servings

First off, the homemade granola found here is delicious! You can adjust it any way you want to by buying different nuts to suit your taste. You can substitute cheaper ingredients as well (the nuts are expensive!). All this is to say that the $11 price-tag may be high depending on what you put in yours. I, however, priced the recipe as-is, minus the optional ingredients.

7 cups oats $2 | 1 cup wheat germ $2.50 | 1 cup wheat bran $0.30 | 1/2 cup brown sugar $0.20 | 1/2 cup vegetable oil $0.31 | 1/2 cup honey $1 | 1 tbsp. vanilla extract (imitation) $0.20 | 1 cup chopped pecans $2.50 | 1 cup chopped dates $2

Note: all prices are from Safeway.com. I priced the generic brands where possible.