I confess- I used to spend over $1000 a year on yogurt for my family. I know that sounds absurd, but it is true. I make most of what my family eats from scratch, and I am very picky about any processed foods we do buy. I am a professional chef and I am used to working with the highest quality, freshest ingredients available and I look for the same in any prepackaged, store-bought foods. I don't want any fillers, chemicals, HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup), or unnecessary crap in there. If something has more than 6-7 ingredients listed on the label, chances are I don't want to eat it. I also prefer organic. So you can bet that our grocery bills are pretty steep.

Yes, you can find much less expensive yogurt at the grocery store, but it's not organic, and it tends to have a lot more unnecessary crap in it than the expensive stuff. Have you looked at the ingredient list for Gogurts? It's disturbing. I also do not wish to limit my family's yogurt consumption because it is such a wonderful, healthy thing to eat. Before I started making my own yogurt, my husband would eat an individual Greek yogurt almost every day for breakfast. I would eat one 3 or 4 times a week. The kids would go through at least a 6 pack, and usually more, of the kids yogurts in a week, and approximately once a month I would buy a jumbo tub of plain yogurt for making tzatziki sauce, fresh naan bread, or for another cooking purpose.

Wylie Weekly Yogurt Consumption:

Yogurt Type	Size (oz)	Qty	Cost Per Unit	Weekly Volume (oz)	Weekly Cost
Fage Greek	5.3	6	$1.99	31.8	$11.94
Oikos Greek	5.3	3	$2.39	15.9	$7.17
YoBaby 6 pack	24.0	1	$3.99	24.0	$3.99
Stonyfield Plain	32.0	¼	$3.99	8.0	$1.00
TOTAL				79.7	$24.10

           

Average cost per ounce Plain yogurt = $0.16
Average cost per ounce Greek yogurt = $0.40

Now I did try to stock up whenever these items were on sale, used coupons, and bought large bulk containers whenever possible. Unfortunately the two stores I shop at most often do not carry the large containers of Greek yogurt, only the individual ones. But even assuming I saved 20% by using these cost saving techniques, I was still spending MORE THAN $1000 A YEAR ON YOGURT!

Homemade Plain Yogurt Cost Analysis:

1 gallon of organic 1% milk = $6.00
Makes 1 gallon (128 oz )
Average cost per ounce = $0.05

Homemade Greek Yogurt Cost Analysis:

1 gallon of organic 1% milk = $6.00
Makes 6 cups (48 oz )
Average cost per ounce = $0.13

If I substituted Homemade Plain yogurt for the YoBaby and the Stonyfield's Plain yogurt, and Homemade Greek yogurt for the store bought Greek yogurt, my total cost would be (32 x $0.05 = $1.60) plus (48 x $0.13 = $6.24) = $7.84 per week.

My savings per week would be $24.10 - $7.84 = $16.26, which over the course of the year would add up to a whopping $845.52 in yogurt savings. Now realistically speaking, there will still be weeks where I am too busy to make yogurt and will need to buy the store bought kind.  However at a savings of more than $16 per week it is well worth my time to do this simple process whenever I can. Especially since I'm in the kitchen cooking anyway.