Turtle Wax Black Box- Best Wax For Black Cars?

Turtle Wax Black Box

Turtle Wax Black Box
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

I have waxed cars with Turtle Wax, Carnauba wax, and synthetic wax.  I recently got a used black car and wanted to wax it before winter.  The car is about 10 years old and has some scratches and rock chips.  I was concerned about using any kind of wax that turns white when it dries- this would only highlight rock chips and scratches on a black vehicle.

The black paint finish is a bit faded and not as deep black as a newer car, which is not unexpected for a 10 year old car.  I asked at AutoZone if they made wax for black cars- they recommended the Turtle Wax Black Box Kit.  The kit contains a Step 1 wax cleaner and conditioner (12 oz), black tinted detailing spray (two 12 oz bottles), and Step 2 deep black carnauba  wax (12 oz).  The kit also contains 2 small foam pads for applying the Step 1 and Step 2 products.  Not included in the kit are two microfiber clothes that the instructions say to use to remove the wax cleaner/conditioner and to remove the wax.

How to Apply Turtle Wax Black Box Products

The instructions on the box mention that it may take 2-3 hours to wax a sedan.  This seemed like a pretty big commitment, but I was willing to give it a try.  As with any wax, you need to wash your car before applying the wax. Since all of the products in the Black Box are tinted black, you need to apply it carefully to avoid getting it on any trim, badges, lights, stickers, etc. that are not black.  You may want to wear gloves as well- my hands looked like I had been polishing black shoes all afternoon by the time I was finished applying the Turtle Wax Black Box.  It took me about two hours total for a medium size car.

The Step 1 conditioner seems like black tinted wax to me.  It is fairly thick stuff and did take some time to put on.  It formed a haze within a few minutes.  You then spray a small amount of detailing spray on the hazed conditioner/cleaner and remove it with a microfiber cloth.

Next is Step 2- the deep black wax.  This was very thin- in fact I spilled a bit of wax since it came out of the bottle so fast.  I had never used a wax this thin before.  It went on very easily and also was removed easily using a microfiber cloth and some detailing spray.  Did I mention that you might want to wear gloves when using the Black Box?  Your microfiber clothes will also be black when you are done waxing.

Turtle Wax Black Box- Best Wax For Black Cars?

I would say that the car finish looked better after applying the black wax.  The result was not as dramatic as the example of the faded finish turned to a deep black finish that was shown on the box, but certainly improved.  The black tint did seem to fill in small scratches with black so that they are less noticeable.  There were a couple rock chips on the roof (not sure how that happened) that were not really filled in with black color from the wax at all.  You'll need to use touch-up paint to address rock chips.

My main goal was to get a good coat of was on the car before winter without leaving ugly white wax residue.  The Turtle Wax Black Box certainly accomplished that and more.  The finish of the car looks to be a deeper black and is very shiny.  Compared with regular car wax, the black wax is messier to work with due to the black pigment, and the 2 step process is twice as much work as applying a single coat of wax.  Overall, I would say it is worth the trouble to use the Turtle Wax Black Box for a black car.

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Check Engine Light Flashing- Can I Drive?

Check Engine Light Flashing- What Does it Mean?

Can You Drive With Check Engine Light Flashing?
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Normally when the check engine light comes on, it stays lit to indicate that a fault has been detected by your vehicle's On-Board Diagnostic System.  When a serious fault has been detected that could cause mechanical damage to your car if you drive it, the check engine light will flash.  The flashing check engine light is intended to get your attention and warn you that serious damage can occur if you drive your vehicle.

For example, the check engine light flashing could indicate that raw fuel is being passed through your engine due to serious misfiring in the engine.  This raw fuel can ignite and burn outside the cylinder and cause damage to your engine and catalytic converter- which is very expensive to repair.  Sensors in your engine detect misfiring and the On-Board Diagnostic computer determines whether to set the check engine light to solid or flashing based on how much damage could be caused by the misfiring.

If your check engine light is flashing, you should turn your engine off and call a tow truck to have your car checked by a mechanic.  Driving your vehicle with the check engine light flashing can result in serious mechanical damage.

Can I Drive With Check Engine Light Flashing?

It may be tempting to drive your vehicle to the shop to be checked out if it is running.  However, if the check engine light if flashing, it is not recommended to drive your vehicle.  Pull your vehicle to the side of the road or other nearby safe place to park it and call a tow truck.  Driving a vehicle with a flashing check engine light can result in expensive damage to your vehicle.

What is the Difference Between a Flashing Check Engine Light and a Solid Check Engine Light?

A solid check engine light indicates a fault has been detected by the On-Board Diagnostic system.  For example, this can be a fault with the evaporative emission control system that captures gasoline vapor and burns it in your engine.  There are many sensors in your engine, and many faults that can be indicated with the check engine light.  You can have a mechanic use a fault scanner to read the fault code.  The fault code will provide specific information about the cause of the check engine light in your vehicle.  You can also buy a check engine light fault code scanner for about $30.




A flashing check engine light indicates a serious problem that can cause damage if you drive the vehicle.  Only certain types of severe faults cause the check engine light to flash.  You should not drive a vehicle with a flashing check engine light- driving with a flashing check engine light may result in serious and expensive mechanical damage to your vehicle.


Recommended Reading:
How to Buy a Used Pickup Truck
How to Get the Best Deal on a Used Car

Penny Pincher Journal

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Used Car Inspection: A Vehicle Inspection Can Save You Money

Used Car Inspection: Save Money Buying a Used Car!

Getting a mechanic to inspect a used car that you are considering purchasing is a bit of a pain.  You have to drive the car to a mechanic, the inspection may take an hour or so, and you have to pay $40 to $100 for a used vehicle inspection.  Is it worth the trouble?  On my last used car purchase, getting a vehicle inspection saved me thousands of dollars!

Get a Used Vehicle Inspection and Save Money!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Why Get A Used Car Inspection?

Reason 1: A Used Car Inspection Helps You Avoid Purchasing a Used Vehicle that Requires Expensive Repairs

You get valuable information from a used car inspection.  I test drove a used car that I was interested in at a local used car lot.  It was a "low miles, one owner" special selling for $3650.  The brakes felt soft to me, so I decided to take it to a mechanic for inspection.  I found a nearby Midas shop that would do a used vehicle inspection for under $50.  It felt like a waste of money to spend $50 on a car that wasn't even mine, as well as spending a couple hours driving the car to the shop and having it inspected.  However, since I was thinking of spending several thousand dollars, I decided that spending $50 to find out more about the vehicle may be money well spent.  That turned out to be true.

The mechanic provided a report listing all of the items on the car that needed repair.  The total repair estimate: $4000!  Admittedly, some of the items on the estimate were not critical and did not urgently need repair.  However, the mechanic pointed out that it would take about $2000 of repairs just to make the car safe to drive.  It was an easy decision to pass on this used car and look for one in better shape.  And yes, the brakes were soft- the previous owner tried to put new brake pads on the car, but brake rotors were worn down, rusty, and needed to be replaced.  The brakes were actually unsafe!


Find out why the check engine light is on- read your own engine light fault codes with an OBD II Scanner.  Works on 1996 and newer vehicles- just plug it into your car.

Reason 2: A Used Car Inspection Gives You Bargaining Power to Get a Great Deal Buying a Used Car

I found another car I was interested in.  It was the same make and model as the $3650 special that I didn't buy after getting a vehicle inspection.  This one was one year newer and in much better condition.  It was priced a bit more at $4500, which was right at KBB book price for retail sale.  I actually found the car listed on craigslist for $4250- good thing I did some internet searching.  The dealer explained that he priced his vehicles a bit more aggressively on the internet than he did on his sticker prices.   I could handle spending a bit more for a used car if it would require less repairs.

I called the Midas shop to talk with them about bringing in another used vehicle for inspection.  It turned out that this shop has a policy that they will do a second vehicle inspection for free if you don't end up buying the first car you have inspected.  Great news!

This vehicle inspection turned out much better.  There was a total of about $2000 of repairs on the estimate, but some of these repairs were optional or could be put off for a long time.  The manager of the shop talked me through the recommended repairs and the priority of getting them done.  When I brought the car back to the car lot, I brought the repair estimate with me.  I ran through all of the repair items on the estimate with the car dealer.  The dealer was reassuring me that these repairs were not a big deal, and that his shop could actually do the repairs for less than Midas had estimated on the used vehicle inspection report.

When the time came to make an offer on the car, I circled about $1000 worth of repair items- the ones that the mechanic said were the highest priority.  I asked the dealer for his best price for the car with the circled repairs completed.  Since he had just explained that these repairs were not serious and that his shop could do the repairs cheaper than Midas, I felt like I was in a pretty good position to bargain.

The dealer went into his shop to talk with his mechanics for a few minutes.  He came back with his offer, which I accepted.  He would sell me the car for $4150 and complete the repairs I wanted included in that price.  Having a detailed used car inspection report gave me a great bargaining tool for buying a used car.



Recommended Reading:
How to Buy a Used Pickup Truck
How to Get the Best Deal on a Used Car

Penny Pincher Journal

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Best Energy Drink

What is the Best Energy Drink?

Energy drinks have grown in popularity in the past few years.  Energy drink have lots of caffeine, sugar, and even vitamins, nutrients, and minerals to perk you up.  Some people drink energy drinks to get an afternoon lift to get through the day.  Some people drink energy drinks to get rolling for a night out.

What is the best energy drink?  People have different preferences for flavor, and energy drinks don't seem to make claims about tasting great anyway.  It seems that the most important features of energy drinks are:

• Caffeine Content
• Calories
• Cost

Rockstar and Starbucks Energy Drinks
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Today we'll consider these factors to select the best energy drink.  We'll check popular energy drinks including 5 Hour Energy, Rockstar, Monster, Red Bull, Amp, and NOS.

How Much Caffeine is in Energy Drinks?

Before energy drinks were popular, people would drink a Mountain Dew for the same effect.  Mountain Dew has 54mg of caffeine in a 12 oz can.  How much caffeine is in energy drinks?

Energy Drink Caffeine Content Table
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Table: Energy Drink Caffeine Content

Energy Drink	Caffeine Content (mg)
5 Hour Energy	215
Rockstar Energy Shot	230
Monster Energy	90
Red Bull	85
Amp	70
NOS	225

The tables above show the caffeine content of popular energy drinks.  All of these energy drinks have a lot more caffeine than a can of Mountain Dew.  NOS, 5 Hour Energy, and Rockstar are loaded with caffeine with over 200mg per container.  Monster, Red Bull, and Amp have under 100mg of caffeine per container.  If I were drinking an energy drink at night, I would choose one with less caffeine in order to interfere less with sleeping.

RedBull Energy Drink is available in at least four sizes!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

How Many Calories are in Energy Drinks?

Some energy drinks contain calories to provide energy, while others have almost no calories.  If you drink energy drinks a lot, calories are a concern.

Energy Drink Calorie Content Table
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Table: Energy Drink Calorie Content Table

Energy Drink	Calories
5 Hour Energy	4
Rockstar Energy Shot	10
Monster Energy	100
Red Bull	110
Amp	110
NOS	220

As you can see in the tables above, 5 Hour Energy and Rockstar Energy Shot have almost no calories.  The other drinks on the list have about the same amount of calories as a soda pop like Mountain Dew.

How Much Do Energy Drinks Cost?

You can buy a 16 oz bottle of Mountain Dew for about $1.50.  How does the cost of energy drinks compare to Mountain Dew?

Energy Drink Cost Table
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Table: Energy Drink Cost Table

Energy Drink	Cost
5 Hour Energy	$2.00
Rockstar Energy Shot	$2.00
Monster Energy	$1.00
Red Bull	$1.75
Amp	$1.00
NOS	$2.50

The cost of energy drinks is a bit more than a bottle of soda pop.  Amp and Monster Energy are the lowest cost among these energy drinks at $1.00 per container.  NOS weighs in as the most expensive in the group at $2.50.

The Best Energy Drink Is...

The best energy drink should have a lot of caffeine, not have many calories, and should not cost very much.  I'm going to go old school for my selection of best energy drink- really old school.

Coffee is the original energy drink and has been enjoyed for over a thousand years.  Coffee compares favorably to modern energy drinks in terms of caffeine content, calories, and cost.

Caffeine Content: A 16 oz cup of coffee shop coffee has about 330mg of caffeine- more than any of the popular energy drinks in our comparison group.  If you want less caffeine, you can use ground coffee rather than grinding your own beans.  You can also mix decaf grounds with regular grounds to adjust the caffeine content to almost any level of caffeine that you desire.

Calories: Coffee naturally has almost zero calories.  If you don't like your coffee black, you can add simple things like sugar, honey, and milk that add 50 to 100 calories to a cup of coffee.  If you don't want to add any calories, you can use artificial sweeteners to create a zero calorie energy drink.  If you don't want a hot drink, you can drink an iced coffee.

Cost: You can make your own 'coffee shop' quality coffee at home for only 60 cents per 16 ounces.  This is less expensive than any of the energy drinks in our group.  If you want, you can make coffee for even cheaper if you buy less expensive coffee grounds.


Coffee wins as best energy drink based on caffeine content, calories, and cost.

Penny Pincher Journal

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How Far Would You Need to Walk to Burn off a Doughnut?

How Far Would you Need to Walk to Burn Off a ...

Walking is the simplest form of exercise.  No special equipment is needed.  You can do it indoors or outdoors.  The amount of calories burned by walking is about 100 calories per mile.  The exact amount of calories burned by walking depends slightly on body weight and walking speed, but is close to 100 calories per mile. 

If you know how many calories are in the food you want to burn off, you can easily calculate how far you would need to walk to burn off a donut, candy bar, hamburger, ice cream cone, etc.  The table below lists some typical junk food items and how far you would need to walk to burn them off.  The table also shows how long this would take at a walking pace of 4 miles per hour.

Food items, walking distance, and time required at 4 mph walking pace
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Table: Food items, walking distance, and time required at 4 mph walking pace

Food Item	Calories	Distance to walk-miles	Time required-minutes
Coke or Pepsi- 16 oz	130	1.3	20
Donut- Duncan, medium	195	2.0	29
Hersheys candy bar	210	2.1	32
Medium Dairy Queen ice cream cone	330	3.3	50
Quarter Pounder with Cheese	520	5.2	78
Value meal: cheeseburger, small soda, small fries	710	7.1	107

For example, the top line of the table shows that if you drink a 16 oz Coke with 130 calories, you would need to walk 1.3 miles to burn it off and this would take 20 minutes at a 4 mile per hour walking pace.  So if you want a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, are you prepared to spend 78 minutes walking 5.2 miles to burn it off?

How Far is it to Walk a Mile to Burn off Calories?

One mile is equivalent to 17.6 football field lengths or about 8 typical city blocks.  This is the distance you need to walk to burn off 100 calories.  Keep this in mind as you are considering ordering a fast food snack!  Fatty foods contain lots of calories and if you eat calorie intense foods, it requires a lot of effort to avoid gaining weight.

How Far to Walk to Burn off X Calories?  How Long Would it Take?

The table below shows how long it takes to burn off calories by walking at various walking paces.  Average human walking speed is about 3 miles per hour.  Measurements of other walking paces show that purposeful walking is about 4 miles per hour.  The fastest most people can walk is about 6 miles per hour- this is almost like running and few people could sustain this pace very long.

Table of walking distance, calories burned, and time required at various walking paces

Table: Walking distance, calories burned, and time required at various walking paces

		Time Required- minutes
Distance- miles	Calories Burned	Leisurely 3mph	Purposeful 4mph	Fitness 5mph	Brisk 6mph
1	100	20	15	12	10
2	200	40	30	24	20
3	300	60	45	36	30
4	400	80	60	48	40
5	500	100	75	60	50
6	600	120	90	72	60
7	700	140	105	84	70
8	800	160	120	96	80
9	900	180	135	108	90
10	1000	200	150	120	100

You can use the table to see how much walking time and walking distance that extra food will cost you.  For example, if you are thinking about eating a huge meal with 1000 extra calories, you can see from the table that it would cost you 150 minutes to burn it off by walking 10 miles.

How Long Does it Take to Burn off a Pound of Fat by Walking?

Losing a pound of fat requires burning about 3500 calories.  If you burn 500 extra calories per day by walking 5 miles per day, you would lose one pound per week.  From the table above, you can see that burning 500 calories requires walking 75 minutes at purposeful walking pace.  So you would need to walk 75 minutes per day to lose one pound per week, assuming you do not increase your caloric intake.

If you are beginning an exercise program, you will likely not see a steady reduction in your weight at first.  You may gain some muscle mass- which is a good thing.  Muscles burn calories all the time, so you want to increase your muscle mass.  Also, you may hydrate more when you start exercising, so even though you will start loosing fat right away, the scale may not show that you are loosing weight until after a few weeks of increasing your exercise level.

Penny Pincher Journal

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Old Navy Credit Card Tips

How to apply for an Old Navy Credit Card

Old Navy Card and Old Navy Visa
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

You can apply for an Old Navy credit card at the store or on-line.  On the Old Navy credit card application, you will need to provide your name, address, e-mail address, net annual income, and length residing at current address.  Also required is your date of birth and social security number on the application.  You'll find out in a few minutes if you are approved.  You can be approved for an Old Navy Card- a store credit account that can be used for purchases only at Old Navy and related stores, or for an Old Navy Visa- a credit card which can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

What credit score do I need to get approved for an Old Navy credit card?

You'll likely need a credit score of 600 or higher to be approved for this credit card, although data shows that some applicants are approved with scores in the 500-600 range.

Old Navy credit card interest rate and credit limit

The credit limit on an Old Navy credit card varies from person to person based on income and credit score.  A credit limit in the range of $300 to $3,000 is the most likely.  The current interest rate on Old Navy credit card is 24.9%, so you won't want to carry a balance on this one.

Old Navy- Bargains Await!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Old Navy Card Discounts and Benefits

If you are approved for an Old Navy Card or Old Navy Visa, you can get 10% off all of your purchases that day.  This discount can be combined with one other discount as well.  

The current offer also includes a 10% savings pass good for 10% off for the first 60 days after you get your card.  After you have an Old Navy card, you will get offers and discounts in the mail.

Other Old Navy card exclusive discounts include:

• Rewards program- get a $5 reward for every $100 spent at Old Navy, Gap, Banana Repbulic Piperlime and Athleta
• With Old Navy Visa, earn a $30 bonus when you use your Old Navy Visa outside the stores listed above
• 10% off on Tuesday (both in store and on-line)
• Birthday discount- $15 off
• Bonus point days- earn extra rewards by making purchases on specific days
• Seasonal discounts and promotions will be sent to you throughout the year

Can you use an Old Navy Card at other stores?

The Old Navy Card is a store credit card and can only be used at Old Navy stores and other brands in the Old Navy family.  The Old Navy Visa credit card is a Visa credit card and can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

The Old Navy Card/Old Navy Visa program is similar to the Gap Credit Card program.

Get an Old Navy Credit Card at Old Navy stores
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Old Navy credit card- Should you get one?

Pro:  You'll save 10% on your purchase if you get an Old Navy card, plus you'll get 10% off for 60 days as well as other special discounts and offers.  If you get an Old Navy Visa card, you can get rewards for using your card every day.

Con: At 24.9% interest, you'll want to make sure you pay this card off every month.  The rewards and discounts will quickly get wiped out by interest payments if you carry a balance.

If you shop regularly at Old Navy and will pay off the balance on an Old Navy card every month, then getting and Old Navy card could be a good deal for you.


Recommended Reading
Kohl’s Credit Card: Get Kohl’s Cash and Kohl's Discounts

Penny Pincher Journal

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Why is Cake so Expensive When Cake Mix is so Cheap?

Buying a Cake is Expensive!

I was really wanting some cake the other day and decided to check out some cakes at the grocery store.  They had some really nice looking decorated cakes, but they were expensive!

Following are prices I found in the bakery for simple frosted cakes:

• 7 inch round cake for $11.99
• 1/8 sheet cake for $12.99
• 1/4 sheet cake (9 in x 13 in) for $17.99
• "cupcake" cake with 30 cupcakes for $27.00
• 1/2 sheet cake (12 in x 16 in) for $30.99

Decorated cakes for sale at a bakery- expensive!
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Near the checkout, they had single pieces of frosted cake for sale in individual clear plastic boxes for $2.50.  Yes, $2.50 for one piece of cake!

Since I was at the grocery store, I decided to see how much it would cost to make a cake using cake mix, eggs, and oil and top it with frosting.

How Much does it Cost to Make a Cake?

Here are the raw ingredients in the typical sizes sold at the grocery store:
Eggs $1.45/dozen
Vegetable oil $2.59 for 24 oz
Cake mix $1.28 for 15.25 oz (makes 9 in x 13 in cake)
Frosting $1.77 for 16 oz
Dec-a-cake icing $2.29 for 4.25 oz tube

Pillsbury cake mix- on sale cheap
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Things you probably already have at home to bake a cake:
Cake pan $5.99 for 9 in x 13 in

Nonstick spray $2.49 for 5 oz can

Cost of cake ingredients: $1.78
Cake mix $1.28
1 cup water -less than one cent if you use tap water
1/3 cup oil $2.59/18= $0.14
3 eggs $1.45/4=$0.36

Cost of energy for baking a cake: $0.13
Let's consider the cost of energy to bake a cake in the oven at 350 degrees for 34 to 38 minutes.

It takes 2 kilowatt-hours (kW-h) of electricity to run an oven at 350 degrees for one hour.  At 10 cents per kW-h, this is 20 cents of electricity cost per hour to run an oven.  Since the cake only takes 38 minutes the cost of energy to bake a cake is 38/60 x 20 cents= $0.13.

Cost of frosting and cake decorations: $4.06
Frosting and cake decoration cost can vary depending on how much you want to decorate your cake.  Let's include 16oz of frosting and one tube of decoration icing.

Betty Crocker cake frosting- whipped
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Dec-a-cake cake frosting tubes
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The actual cost of making a 1/4 sheet decorated cake at home is: $5.97
This compares with a typical bakery or grocery store price of $17.99.  Your saving is $12.02 by making cake at home rather than buying a cake at a store.

The cost of $5.97 to make a 1/4 sheet decorated cake at home includes all cake ingredients plus frosting and the energy to bake the cake.  If you don't have a cake pan, you will need to buy one, but it is reusable for many years.  You could save money by not buying the Dec-a-cake frosting and using food coloring to make your own colored frosting for decoration.

Why are Cakes so Expensive at the Store?

So my choice between buying a cake at the store and making a cake at home was an easy one!  But why does it cost so much to buy a cake at the store when it is so cheap to make a cake at home?

Ingredient cost?  Bakeries can get ingredients at lower cost than I can since they buy in large quantities, so it can't be ingredient cost.

Labor cost?  I have watched the people working in the bakery- they can frost a sheet cake in a couple minutes, so it can't be labor cost.

I think the reason cakes cost so much comes down to logistics.  It is inexpensive to transport and store the raw ingredients for a cake, but once you bake and decorate a cake it gets expensive.  A decorated cake takes up a lot of space and you have to handle it carefully to avoid damaging it and making it worthless.  The cakes at the bakery I visited were refrigerated, adding to the cost.  Cakes have a limited shelf life of a few days once they are baked- there is risk that cakes will not be sold in time and will get thrown away, also adding to the cost.

Another reason cakes are so expensive- demand.   People are willing to pay for the convenience of picking up a completed cake.  This can be very handy.  You can pick up a birthday cake on the way home from work.  It takes at least an hour to bake a cake from start to finish if you allow the cake to cool before frosting it.  I have even used the shortcut of placing a baked cake in the freezer to cool it off faster.  If you frost a hot cake, the frosting melts and the cake can get torn up, making a mess.

You can order customized cakes, which is also worth the money to some people.  You can get custom designs and edible overlays that you probably couldn't make yourself at home very well.  If you have a kid that is really into Smurfs, you might want to buy them a really slick looking Smurfs cake rather than making a homemade cake and trying to draw a smurf with blue frosting yourself. I don't really care what a cake looks like, as long as it has plenty of frosting.  The rest of my family likes plain cake with no frosting- so that is even easier.  Homemade cakes are the way to go for me.

Smurfs cake- it would be hard to make a cake like this at home!
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Another reason people would spend lots of money buying cakes from a bakery is if they are serving a lot of people at an event like a graduation party or a wedding.  It is easy enough to make one 9 in x 13 in cake in your kitchen- this should serve 16 people with 2 in x 3 in pieces.  But if you want cake for 100 people, you could spend a lot of time and tie up your oven for a long time baking cakes.  Plus you will need to store the cakes somewhere if you bake them yourself in advance of your event.  If you order cakes from a bakery, they can be delivered all at once at the desired time and location which is really convenient.

Penny Pinching Tips

• Make your own cake at home for under $6 and save $12 on a 1/4 sheet cake
• Shop around to find the best deal from bakeries if you are buying large quantities of cake for an event

Recommended Reading
How much does it cost to make coffee?

Penny Pincher Journal

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