Budget Desserts

The next time you go grocery shopping, try this experiment. Only purchase items that you have to make your food and desserts from scratch. I promise, you'll notice a much lower grocery bill.

I'm still using the butter I bought on sale at Christmas. It was $2.50 a pound, and now it costs over $1.00 more. In this case, I bought as much as I could put in my freezer. If you can afford it and store it, purchase as much as possible when it's on sale.

I'm just not able to go to the store for one item. Buying in bulk means I already have the item on hand, therefore I won't be tempted to spend extra money at the grocery store. Although, this contradicts Tip#1, but one of the items I purchase in bulk is cake mixes. I buy Cake Mixes because they can be used to make more than just cakes. They can be used to make cookies, cobblers and more. Other items you could stock-up on are sugars, flours, dried milks and so on.

You've got company coming tonight and you just don't have time to make dessert. Instead of purchasing a costly dessert from the store, pull one right out of your own freezer. Many desserts can be frozen. So the next time you make dessert, make one for now and another one for later.

Eliminate excess spending at the grocery store. Check your pantry while making your shopping list. This way you won't be purchasing expensive unnecessary baking items.

I think homemade gifts are the best. Plus they are the least expensive.

Potluck, supper clubs and other groups where other people bring food too can be a lot of fun. You get the dining-out experience without the big restaurant bill.

Host, or better yet, talk someone into hosting a cookie exchange. This way everyone will go home with a variety of cookies and only have to bake one type themselves. It's much easier to budget one type of cookie compared to many.