Blog 2: Why Making Everything Yourself Doesn’t Always Save Money

There’s this cosy idea that if you make everything yourself, you’ll save a fortune.

Bread from scratch! Handmade soap! Rows of jam jars! You’ll be rolling in savings, right?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: sometimes DIY is just a fancy way to spend twice as much while swearing at a sticky kitchen counter.

🍅 Tomatoes: The Classic Trap

Every “how to homestead” guide bangs on about growing tomatoes and canning them for winter.

Sounds idyllic… until you actually do the maths.

• Aldi tin of chopped tomatoes: 45p.
• Growing your own (first year): compost, seeds, pots, feed, canning jars… you’re paying £5–6 per kilo once you add it up.
• even the second year, if you don’t have an established compost heap and feed supply it’s a fair penny…not to mention the time and effort!

And the kicker? Tinned tomatoes taste great already. Unless you’ve got a greenhouse jungle of free tomatoes, Aldi wins this one hands down.

🍞 Bread: The 75p Loaf Problem

I love homemade bread — the smell, the crust, the smugness. But is it cheaper?

Not if you’re comparing to Aldi’s 75p everyday loaf.

• Homemade basic loaf (flour, yeast, oven energy) → ~95p.
• Aldi loaf → 75p.

BUT: compare homemade to fancy sourdough (£3+) or naan/wraps (up to 70p each!) and suddenly DIY is the thrifty option.

Lesson: make flatbreads and wraps yourself (pennies each), but let Aldi cover your basic toast loaf. Make bread when you WANT to and it makes it even better, and keeps your chores list down!

🕯️ Soap, Candles & Other Cosy Things

Let’s be real: making soap or candles is a vibe, not a savings plan.

Fun hobby? Yes. Lovely gifts? Absolutely.

Cheaper than Aldi’s 59p soap bars or £1 tealights? Not a chance.
Unless you have an abundance of wax you don’t know what to do with from your beehives….. 

Where DIY Does Save You Money

Not all homemade things are a trap. Some are absolute winners:

• Flatbreads, wraps, pancakes → 5–10p each vs 15–70p shop-bought.
• Beans from dry → cook & freeze for ~20p/kg vs £1.50+ in tins.
• Herbs → growing a pot of basil = £10+ saved in little supermarket packets.
• Jam from homegrown/foraged fruit → Aldi has a 29p “value” jar, but your homemade stuff tastes like the £4–6 artisan jars in farm shops.
• preserving fruit or veg you have an over abundance of, or get really cheap - discounted for pennies 👌🏻

🍓 The Strawberry Exception

Let’s give strawberries their moment.

If you grow enough at home, jam suddenly makes sense.

• Shop: £1.50 Aldi jam jar (or £4+ artisan).
• Homemade with homegrown strawberries: ~30p per jar.

Plus, they make incredible gifts. Wrap a bit of fabric round the lid and suddenly you’ve got “expensive artisan small batch preserves” for pennies.

The Bottom Line

DIY doesn’t automatically mean cheaper. Sometimes it’s just messier.

The trick is knowing what’s worth the apron time and what’s worth chucking in the Aldi trolley.

So don’t feel guilty if you’re not hand-milling flour in your kitchen — save your energy (and your budget) for the things that actually move the needle.

Next up: Tomatoes, Beans & the Myth of “Canning Your Way to Savings.”