For the last couple of months, I have been using a bread maker instead of buying bread. Before buying the maker I would make bread if I had the time or inclination; now it's simpler (though not quicker!) to just let the machine do it.
I would guess that spent $8 a week before. I would mostly buy bagels at $1.67 for six. Plus a loaf or two at $1.88.
The machine cost $60 - good reviews - but of course you could buy used for much less.
It takes 450g of flour, salt, water, sugar, and yeast to make a basic loaf. Yeast is about $4.50 for 113g, which makes about the same number of loaves as a 10kg bag of flour at $7. The other ingredients are very cheap. Say $13 total for 22 loaves.
I borrowed a kill-a-watt from the library last week; 0.37kWh per loaf. I would guess that's 10 cents a loaf.
So in total, $0.69 a loaf. We probably eat a load every two days, so 3.5 a week = $2.42, saving $5.58.
$5.58 x 52 weeks a year = $290.
Nothing earth shattering. Pretty cool, though.
