Fear of Muffins

Do You Know The Muffin Man?

Muffins for breakfast?  What could possibly go wrong?
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Where I live, the muffin man works at the local convenience store, about 3 miles away.  He, or maybe it's she, makes the muffins every morning.  They are really big and sell for $1.49 alongside donuts and cinnamon rolls.

The other day over Labor Day weekend, by son wanted go get muffins for breakfast.  This was a pretty reasonable request.  It was breakfast time, muffins are a relatively healthy breakfast food option, and my wife was at work so buying muffins would have been an easy way for me to take care of breakfast.


So why did I say no?

Fear The Muffin Man

My first thought was that driving several miles and spending that much time in the car would be a waste of time and money.  Next, the cost of muffins would have added up to $4.50 for the three of us, and what if my sons wanted to get a bottle of milk or something else too?  The money envelope would have been rapidly depleted.  Finally, there are other things that could go wrong on a muffin seeking adventure.  What if we drove all the way there and the muffins were sold out?  What if we got a flat tire or my 10 year old car broke down along the way?

I told my son that I had an idea.  "Check the cupboard," I said.  He quickly found what I was remembering.  There was a box of muffin mix.  Instead of wasting time and money, we could have all the muffins we could handle for a fraction of the cost!

Make Cheap Muffins at Home!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

I put him in charge of making the muffins.  In addition to the powdered mix and can of blueberries that came in the box, he added water, oil, and eggs.  After some mixing, preheating, and baking we had a dozen muffins.  We munched on muffins all day and even had some left to give my wife when she got home from work.

I don't know exactly how much the box of muffin mix cost.  I would guess around $3 since they have fresh blueberries.  Considering the cost of other ingredients and cost of electricity, I would say the muffins cost about 30 cents each to make at home.

Making muffins at home was much more enjoyable than driving to a convenience store to buy some- and much less expensive as well.

I think my son is the muffin man now!  If he can make muffins at home for 30 cents each, we have little to fear...

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