I always love to learn new ways to take care of my family, that do not cost bunches of money. I am sharing a few that work for our family in this series.

I follow several blogs, and about a year and a half ago, one topic kept coming up over and over again. Others were talking about how easy and cheap it was to make homemade yogurt. I tried a few times, but mine never thickened quite like it was supposed to, so I gave up and kept buying the stuff at the store. Then I read this post that made it so simple–if I follow this recipe exactly, my yogurt turns out perfectly every time. As for cost, this recipe makes about 64 ounces. It uses half a gallon of milk, and a few tablespoons of store bought yogurt the first time. I just keep a few tablespoons of the homemade stuff for my next few batches. I have to buy a small cup of yogurt every 4-5 batches because the cultures get weak. I’ll figure the price on the most expensive batch. Here’s the breakdown:

Store Bought Yogurt

2  32 oz. tubs plain or vanilla yogurt (64 oz. total)  =  $4 on sale (if not on sale, I’d have to pay close to $5)

Homemade Yogurt

1/2 gallon of milk   =  $1.25

small cup store bought yogurt  =  $.40

Total for 64 oz. homemade yogurt is less than $2!

In our house, yogurt goes fast! My kids love it, so we easily use 64 oz of yogurt in one week. This is one frugal option that saves me 50% to make at home instead of buying at the store.

Have you ever made yogurt at home?