# Can you make it better and cheaper at home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473 "2018-05-19T20:08:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/61 "2018-05-20T20:08:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Gardening is cheaper than therapy, so my peppers and tomatoes give me double savings! 😃 _Definitely_ cheaper than therapy, plus a gym membership, and sessions at a tanning salon 🙂 Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/62 "2018-05-20T20:12:40Z")
As an artist, my artwork can’t be created AT ALL away from home, by anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/63 "2018-05-20T22:30:24Z")
Are some things better? Hell yeah. Cheaper? Eh, maybe. But some things are a hell of a lot of work. Think something like pierogis. I really am not a fan of the store-bought ones. But they’re really labor intensive, so we only make them once or twice a year. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/64 "2018-05-20T23:49:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Are some things better? Hell yeah. Cheaper? Eh, maybe. > > But some things are a hell of a lot of work. Think something like pierogis. I really am not a fan of the store-bought ones. But they’re really labor intensive, so we only make them once or twice a year. Oh well. Oh, good god, fuck making pierogi! Luckily, there are a couple of places around here that are as good as homemade. I’ve made them a couple of times, and they’re just not worth the trouble. Same with my Polish-born mom. You’ll never find her making pierogi as long as there are Polish delis and frozen brands like the local Alexandra’s around. (No Mrs. T for us, though.) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/65 "2018-05-21T00:06:23Z")
Almost any food, except those requiring precise butchering (like fugu) or which are difficult to get good prices for, like dry-packed scallops. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/66 "2018-05-21T00:06:47Z")
Some firearms and related explosive devices although I do cheat as the old-time gunsmiths do and buy parts from commercial facilities. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/67 "2018-05-21T01:29:15Z")
Ranch dressing, but only because I’m pretty sure my son drinks it as a beverage, so I make it 2 quarts at a time. We go through a lot of ranch dressing. If I was making a 12 ounce bottle and had to buy all the herbs that go it in, it would be far more expensive. But since I have all those herbs on hand anyhow, mayo, yogurt (usually homemade) and milk are far cheaper ounce for ounce than prefab ranch dressing. Yogurt, granola, bread and noodles - although the last two are so time consuming that I just prefer to pay more for a slightly inferior product most of the time. Not because I have anything better to do with my time (it’s not time I’m giving up paid work for, so I don’t consider it to cost me the hourly pay I make in my job), but just because I’d rather fart around on Facebook than roll out noodles. Eliquid for vaping. I can make, literally, a gallon of eliquid for the cost of an ounce sized bottle, and I can alter the recipe to taste. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/68 "2018-05-21T02:07:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, good god, fuck making pierogi! Luckily, there are a couple of places around here that are as good as homemade. I’ve made them a couple of times, and they’re just not worth the trouble. Same with my Polish-born mom. You’ll never find her making pierogi as long as there are Polish delis and frozen brands like the local Alexandra’s around. (No Mrs. T for us, though.) The best option is to ask around and find some little old lady who sells them through her church. Well, we always do my grandmother’s at Xmas – it’s tradition! (That and the traditional saurkraut-mushroom soup) Otherwise, sometimes my mother makes just the potato mixture and serves that with dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/69 "2018-05-21T02:37:47Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’ve never tasted anybody’s home-made ice cream or beer that was better than the bargain priced store brand. Do you like hoppy IPA’s? > [@jtur88](#): > > All you said is perfectly true, except the first line. It’s not MY problem. I have no doubt that very good beer and ice cream can be made at home. But nobody who has acquired that skill has yet invited me to enjoy it. You are invited. > [@diggerwam](#): > > Somebody said above that “the labor is free” when you do it yourself??? No it isn’t, I hate when people say that. Yes, it is. I’m “retired” (unemployed). Nobody pays me for sitting around posting to the Straight Dope anymore. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, no kidding. But if you’re not using that opportunity otherwise and are just idling or enjoying your free time, you’re not losing any money. Well, yeah. Only when I’m making/fixing something I would ordinarily have to pay out the ass to someone else to do, is my time worth anything. Otherwise, I sit around watching TV, off-roading with the dogs and drinking beer. If I bust out the welder and create a throttle cable bracket for a '77 Fiat with a retro-fit Weber 34, not only am I getting exactly what I want, but I’m not paying the fab guy $100/hr for something “close”. > [@Jennshark](#): > > BTW Gato, both my lap and HPDE days were cancelled due to bad weather. I haz sads. Sorry to hear that. I went out and drove the e10 like a maniac the other day. Did me good, it did! ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/70 "2018-05-21T14:30:32Z")
Black powder. I can tailor burn characteristics, speed, and grain size to suit any need, and much more economically than commercial brands. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/71 "2018-05-21T15:57:03Z")
Most baked goods are better homemade Spaghetti - I would never order spaghetti at a restaurant. I grew up with my Italian paternal grandma’s spaghetti. She taught my mom who has been able to come pretty close to duplicating my grandma’s recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/72 "2018-05-21T17:37:06Z")
No, not if I factor in the time it takes to make it. There are some things I do make better and cheaper (in terms of raw ingredients) than store bought, (soup, tabouli, cowboy caviar, potato salad, …) but that’s because I enjoy to process of cooking so I’m willing to spend the time. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/73 "2018-05-21T17:43:27Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’ve never tasted anybody’s home-made ice cream or beer that was better than the bargain priced store brand. Beer I get. Trying tastes of my dad’s homebrew as a kid is why I don’t drink beer as an adult. But ice cream?? The best commercial ice cream I’ve ever had has been leagues behind the worst home made. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/74 "2018-05-21T18:10:52Z")
Of course. But you pay for it in time spent. But, if you value my time at the hourly rate I get paid at work then there is virtually nothing I can make at home cheaper than store bought. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/75 "2018-05-21T18:21:16Z")
There are a number of meals that I can make “better and cheaper”, but my signature meal is my Eggplant Parmigiana. It is so good, in fact, that I never order it at a restaurant anymore because it always pales in comparison to my own, and I’m invariably disappointed. The catch, of course, is time. It actually takes three days because two days involve a special preparation of the eggplant for cooking, and there is also the preparation of my homemade sauce. and that takes hours. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/76 "2018-05-21T18:29:30Z")
I can make homemade soup from scratch better, and cheaper if you can pro-rate the cost of the veggies that you need to buy more of than you need, and throw in the cost of the bones for the broth for free since you have them already. The freshness of the ingredients compared to canned soup, even when they are store-bought and lack of a drowning amount of sodium make it taste better, but I rarely make it since it takes several hours to boil the broth. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/77 "2018-05-21T18:45:42Z")
Yes, I’m a hobbyist woodworker. For Christmas for my wife I made a standup cabinet from an upcycled door and it cost me 150 dollars in materials. The example that she wanted was selling from a furniture store for 750 dollars, so 600 dollar savings. My time was maybe 15 hours, so even if you paid my time I was way ahead. For chairs, I can make them cheaper and stronger, but the amount of time I put into them kills me, so if you count my time as compensated, probably not cheaper. I did custom built in cabinets and window seats for my boy’s room and kept costs a bit over 200, typically custom cabinet work would have run me maybe 7500, so that was way cheaper, I put in some serious hours, but not 7000 dollars worth of hours. Pretty much any work that needs done on the house I do at least as well as the professionals and generally cheaper (with the exception of drywalling, I can’t mud to save my soul. It always comes out in waves.) I’m an electrical engineer, so I do my own wiring obviously. I do most of my plumbing. All of the typical repairs that having a 90 year old house entails. My current project is a new dining room table and then I think I’m going to shiplap the living room. I think that I can do all of these better and cheaper than buying them. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/78 "2018-05-22T06:00:22Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Oh… also, children. 🙂 Nope, I had to get the store bough version. Should do the job though she’ll have a lot of work do before she starts making a profit. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/79 "2018-05-22T06:23:47Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Nope, I had to get the store bough version. When I was 3, my younger sister was born. Not being nearly old enough to have a grasp of the birds and the bees, my parents explained that they had gone to “the baby store” to get her. That concept stuck with me for a number of years. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473/80 "2018-05-22T18:16:36Z")
Low alcohol beer. I brew a fair amount of beer in the 2% - 4% alcohol range. Good luck trying to buy that in the supermarket or at a bar. There isn’t a good commercial market for low alcohol beer in the US. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-it-better-and-cheaper-at-home/814473.md?page=5)