Making your own breads, granola bars, cookies, and other baked goods not only means you have a more delicious and healthier product, but you are saving money as well. Since it’s my goal to squeeze every penny I can from the grocery budget, I buy base baking supplies in bulk. Let’s do a general price comparison.

I went to Food Lion to search out their baking supply prices, and compared them to what I’m paying buying in bulk. I started looking for sale items to compare, but what you need is consistent prices for year around savings. Comparing sale items would not be a reliable picture.

25 pounds of flour for $6.25 = 25 cents a pound

Five pounds flour for $3.27 = 65 cents a pound

25 pounds of Domino Sugar for $10.66 = 42 cents a pound

10 pounds of Domino Sugar for $6.79 = 68 cents a pound

2 pounds of yeast for $5.35

A three pack of yeast, with each pack containing 2 1/2 tsp of yeast – $1.99

25 pounds of brown sugar for $15.35 = 61 cents a pound (Emptied my bag into a container before I could get a picture!)

1 pound of brown sugar for $1.29 a pound

5 pounds powdered milk for $12.99

A little over half pound of dry milk for $4.28

I also recently acquired oats at 46 cents a pound, and in the stores I’ve seen it at $1.52 a pound.

Let me answer some questions, which are likely swirling in your mind.

How do you use such large amounts?

I make all of our baked goods. For one loaf of sandwich bread alone, it takes 6 or 7 cups of flour, and 2 1/2 TBSPs of yeast. I use bulk sugar for making relish, jam (which we hardly eat) and other certain canned items. And when you make your own quick breads, cookies, granola bars, you go through a lot of sugar. People get horrified when they look at a recipe for something like relish because of the amount of sugar, but they don’t hesitate to buy the processed version, which not only has the sugar, but other stuff you can’t pronounce. It’s like sausage – – you eat it, but you don’t necessarily want to know the ingredients. I use the flour the most, but the sugar does last me awhile. When you make everything from scratch, you just need bigger amounts of staples. If you only cook from scratch occasionally, it isn’t worth buying in bulk.

Where do you store such large amounts?

I have containers which hold 25 pounds of food. I also like to chip in with friends and split bulk items. You can split big bags of oats and beans with friends, not that you won’t eventually use them, but sharing allows you to maximize pantry space.

Is powdered milk really a baking staple?

When you make your own baking mixes, powdered milk comes in handy. For instance, I use dry milk in my instant pancake mix. I use it to make evaporated milk, and to make homemade yogurt thicker.

Where do you buy bulk items?

I buy from Azure Standard, Costco, and Restaurant Depot for bulk dry goods. Find out where your local restaurants buy their supplies. Never just buy something because it’s in bulk — always know your ideal price point when shopping.

Team up with some industrious friends, and see how you can save together. Go in on bulk baking items, and save some dough.