For years I’ve bought items just because. I never gave much thought on whether there was a cheaper option or whether I truly needed them. I just bought the items because I always had. I guess you could say it was out of habit. But thanks to pancakes, that all changed.

My husband and I have a Saturday morning ritual. We go to the gym for boot camp only to come home and reward ourselves with chocolate chip pancakes. We have become addicted to our Saturday morning chocolate chip pancakes and can’t imagine starting our weekend without them. Well one Sunday we ran out of pancake mix. We’d only left a Tablespoon of Aunt Jemima in the bottom of the box. Rather than run to the store which would have taken way too long, I did a quick online search for a pancake mix recipe. Much to my surprise it was so easy– I already had everything I needed to make it happen! I guess it makes sense that there’s not much to pancake mix, but I had never stopped to think about it before. I just bought the product because I thought I needed it.

This revelation got me thinking about other products that I buy regularly out of convenience: taco seasoning, salad, iced tea, paper towels, cake mixes, flavored rice, pasta sauce and more! It honestly never occurred to me to buy a head of lettuce, wash it, cut it up and bag it myself rather than paying more for less lettuce just because it was already in a bag and ready to go. Now I’m searching for items that I can make much cheaper myself. Have you ever thought about making your own applesauce? It’s as easy as hard boiling an egg, and since I got free apples at Earth Fare this weekend maybe I’ll whip up some of my own. Often we assume paying more for convenience is worth it, but you may be surprised just how easy and cheap it is to do it yourself.