Garden vs Balcony Growing Cost Calculator

Growing your own food is often sold as frugal, but careful accounting usually shows it's more about the experience than the savings. Setup costs (raised beds, soil, tools, seeds) typically run 100-800 first year. Ongoing costs 50-150 annually. Time investment 50-150 hours per year. Produce value often 100-400 depending on what you grow and how skilled you are.

The math depends heavily on what you grow. High-value crops (herbs, salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, chillies) produce 15-50 of equivalent shop produce per square metre — home growing can save 100-300/year on these. Low-value crops (potatoes, onions, standard tomatoes) produce 3-8 per square metre equivalent — rarely worth the time vs cheap supermarket prices.

Time is the biggest cost for most growers. At 15/hour valuation, 75 hours of growing time is 1,125 in opportunity cost — far exceeding produce value in most cases. For most people, growing food is a hobby that happens to produce food, not a cost-saving strategy. Framing it that way is more honest.

How to use it

Input setup cost (first-year only), annual recurring cost (seeds, compost, tools replaced), estimated hours per year, your hourly value, and expected produce value. The tool shows net cost vs benefit.

What the result means

Positive net value means growing saves money (accounting for time cost). Negative means it costs more than buying equivalent produce. For most households, net value is modestly negative once time is valued — but positive when time isn't counted, which matches how most growers actually experience it.

Decision tool, not financial advice.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using setup cost of 300, annual supplies of 80, hours per year of 60, your hourly value of 15, the calculation works out to -1,030.00. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — Setup Cost (First Year), Annual Supplies, Hours Per Year, Your Hourly Value, and Annual Produce Value — do not pull with equal force. Two inputs usually tip the answer one way or the other. Identify which ones matter most by flipping each value past a round threshold and watching whether the option with the lower calculated total changes.

How the math works

Net value is produce value minus total costs (setup + supplies + time opportunity cost). Negative indicates hobby/experience framing is more honest than savings framing.

Reading payback vs outright cost

Payback tells you when you're break-even, not whether the purchase is a good idea. A short payback on something you barely use is still a loss. Pair the number with an honest count of expected usage.

What this doesn't capture

Purchase decisions rarely come down to payback alone. Reliability, time saved, enjoyment, and alternatives outside the calculation all matter. The figure gives you the money side cleanly so you can weigh it against everything else honestly.