Back to school means back to the snack drawer — and back to spending $5 on a box of 10 granola bars with 25 ingredients you can't pronounce. In this episode, Kim makes the case for making your own snacks from scratch: you'll know exactly what's in them and you'll spend a fraction of the store price. She walks through five snacks you can make in under an hour on Sunday — granola bars, trail mix, homemade crackers, oatmeal energy bites, and seasoned popcorn — with the actual cost comparison for each. Plus the one habit that makes from-scratch snacking realistic every week without extra stress.

Recipes at thisoldbaker.com | Facebook & Instagram @thisoldbaker

You went in for one thing and came out $75 poorer. Sound familiar? In this episode, Kim breaks down why the quick grocery store trip is one of the most expensive habits most households have — and why the fix isn't more discipline, it's better infrastructure. A real pantry with good mixes means the quick trip never needs to happen in the first place. Kim walks through the real cost of convenience foods, how impulse spending works, and exactly how to start building a pantry that puts you back in control — one jar at a time.

Pantry mix collection: thisoldbaker.com | Facebook & Instagram @thisoldbaker

It is hot. And the summer drink budget adds up faster than most people realize — $8 to $12 a case, a case a week, three months of summer. In this episode, Kim walks through her full homemade lemonade dry mix collection: six flavors (Classic, Strawberry, Raspberry, Peach, Honey, and Arnold Palmer), all from one pantry base of lemon juice powder, sugar, and salt. Two tablespoons in a glass of cold water. About 10 to 15 cents per serving. And a jar that keeps for up to a year. The practical case for making your own drinks at home — not as a sacrifice, but as a straightforward win.

All six recipes: thisoldbaker.com/homemade-lemonade-dry-mix-collection/ | Facebook & Instagram @thisoldbaker