So, I've been wanting to do this for some time as my family uses condiments a lot and I feel I could save some money by buying the ingredients and going the homemade route. I'm looking for any place in monthly spending where I can cut back and I try to go homemade when I can afford it.

Any recommendations? Ideas? How big of a batch do I make each time and how long do they keep? Recipes (Which I will obviously modify once I get comfortable for my own personal tastes)?

The condiments in particular I'm most interested in:
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
BBQ sauce: Of which I plan on making a couple different versions due to different tastes in my household. I prefer spicy, my ex likes sweet, and our son likes a combination (some of my spicy food is too much for him)
Ranch dressing: Again, two different styles. Spicy and usual ranch that most people are familiar with, and aside from ketchup this is our second most used condiment.

The biggest problem is that it will be cheaper to buy most of these things then make from scratch.
A bottle of bbq sauce costs less than $2. You'll need more than $2 worth of ingredients to make it from scratch.

Next is they might not last as long and you might need to make large batches which you'll end up throwing away.

A plus is they may taste better and may not have any added preservatives and chemicals.

I do agree it is most likely cheaper for most if not all of that. However Mayo is pretty simple to make but I would not keep it more then a week.

Really goggle a recipe for it they are pretty much the same.
Main ingredients are basically the oil and egg yolks with a little acid (usually lemon juice)
For some flavor pinch of cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.

The hard part is if you do it by hand but if you have a mixer it is easy. Just remember to add the oil slowly especially at the start if you add to fast it will break but can be repaired by adding broken mix to some fresh yolks. This is also where you will find out how many yolks to how much oil the rest of it is really just taste. If I recall about 2 yolks to 250 ml or cup of oil. As long as it doesn't break and is thick enough you really can fudge the amount of the batch. Better to make as needed then a whole bunch you don't use for too long to keep it fresh and food safe being raw egg.

Since it uses raw yolks it must be refridgerated at all times and really I would throw it out after a week just to make sure even if kept well. It could be cheap if you can get eggs cheap:) Healthier if use olive oil:)

Vegan mayo (yeah, I know, that's a whole big discussion there) keeps much better than the "original". So if you tolerate soy "milk" that may be worth a try. I cannot eat eggs or dairy, so this has been my go-to replacement -- I use soy milk, mustard, vinegar and lots of olive oil (only recommended if you like the taste of olive oil -- use something more neutral otherwise).

Canned tomato sauce and molasses is a good starting point for BBQ sauce. I put the whole spice rack in that one! 

If you like spicy, I would recommend skhug, a very spicy spread popular in Yemen and Israel. It is fairly easy to make, just be careful to wear gloves (especially if you have contacts). i use serrano peppers (a relatively hot jalapeno will also work), fresh garlic, cilantro. finely chop them or use a food processor and add just enough olive oil so that it is roughly the consistency of pesto. 

Thank you all for the ideas and the recommendations. It does sound like it would be cheaper for me to just buy some or all of it.

Many condiments are free at fast food places or convenience stores.  When I was dirt poor, I always raided as many free condiments as I needed.  Straws, crackers and napkins too.  I never once felt guilty raiding publically held corporations.

For the ketchup and bbq sauces I think you could do it cheaper than the the store.

The big thing would be buying the big cans of tomatoes - I can usually buy them for about 3.50 US and I use them for chili or if i need a bunch of sauce I just run them through the food processor or use the submersion blender.

Get a big bag of brown sugar as well since that adds sweet and molasses to the mix, and also buy bulk spices if you can, the really large containers do not cost much more than the smaller once from the grocery store.


make up your base bbq sauce then split it into parts and tweak each part accordingly.

You can also take out a portion of the tomatoes to make ketchup.

For the mayo and cost I would go with the non name brand eggbeaters  if you look up "Home-made mayonnaise question" there should be a chow link on how to make it with an immersion blender.

And the ranch dressing, if made from scratch, is not too bad except for the cost of the sour cream.

The biggest thing is the time spent making and cleaning up vs the cost of the products in the store.

For me, a lot of it comes down to knowing what is (or isn't) in the food. I don't want a two dollar jar of dextromorthampolybohydrate, I want BBQ Sauce! 

There's a good recipe for BBQ sauce in the "Joy of Cooking."  I've used it as a base and added my own little modifications.  One thing that works well is using beer instead of water in the recipe.  I've also added more sweetener and less lemon juice.

Easy cocktail sauce can be made with a cup of ketchup, a spoonful or so (to your own taste) of grated horseradish and a few squirts of Worcestershire sauce.

Mayo is a lot easier to buy than make at home.  If I want to make mayo I do it with garlic infused olive oil to make aioli sauce.  I usually buy the local store brand light mayo.  Works well, tastes good and keeps way longer than homemade because it's pasteurized.

You can make your own mustard by grinding whole mustard seeds, mixing with a bit of water and then adding some white wine to stop the reaction that causes the hot tasting compounds.  I've read about this but never tried it, give me a big jar of Grey Poupon and I'm happy.  Let them figure out the best ingredients and time.

There are  ton of ketchup recipes online.  Some of them look pretty good although I've never tried one.  Maybe in the future.

I have a homemade sauce that works very well on pasta and chicken (and salad as well, if the salad has meat in it)
I apologize for the non-accurate measurements, I grew up in a European household and spent much of my childhood overseas, we did everything to taste, rather than to numbers.

Here goes:

Mayo to start with. I usually go with 2 big tablespoons of it as a base. More if you are cooking for many people.
Big squirt of spicy mustard.
Squeeze of lemon juice (or from fresh lemons)
Dash of soy sauce (it's easy to overpower with this stuff, I add it for colour and a slight salty taste)
One teaspoon full of horseradish (this adds the kick)
some shredded/minced garlic (easily deleted, but it goes well with the horseradish)

Mix it up well. Add dash of chili pepper and oregano and mix well. When done, taste. The mayo should be present, but not in the forefront. It should finish with a spicy aftertaste but not be overpowering (so go easy on the chili pepper)

The ingredients don't generally spoil, so you can keep them for other projects or for next time around.

I have used it on steak (adds an interesting dynamic to the meat) chicken, salad and pasta with rave results.

Cheers!

I have not tried to make condiments such as sauces.

Have you?