"Proctologically Violated©®" wrote:

-snip-
2. Next, I was shocked to discover the following.
That it winds up being more than 2x as expensive to mix yer own
cement/gravel/sand as it is to just mix typical ready mix! I calc'd
$6.66/cu ft using ready mix, vs. about $14+ mixing the ingredients yerself.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow.....
You can approx'ly check the calcs: $10 for 94 lbs cement, which yields 4.5
cu ft concrete, and which requires 250-300# sand (at $4 for 60 lbs) plus 300
lbs of gravel (at $4/60 lbs). Some of the data posted conflicts, but this
is more or less correct. HD prices.

As others have pointed out-- don't get bagged sand and gravel. If
you've got a little trailer that's the best deal-- but even if you
need it delivered,. . . I get 3 tons at a time- about $16 a ton,
and $65 for delivery. [that works out to $3.40/60 lbs- delivered!]

How much you need to mix and your specific job make all the difference
in the world-- but there is a guy near me that has a little truck that
does just a yard at a time. He can get it into just about anywhere.
It costs nearly the same as my buying all that Portland / sand
/gravel-- but it also spits out a yard of concrete in a short time.

For 2 yards I might still use him. Over that and I call the big
trucks. Check on exactly what they get for a 'short load'. I
called for 4 yards last summer and got a price. The day before
the pour I decided to do another job at the same time and added a yard
to my order. The pricing was set up so 5 yards was within pennies of
the 4 yard price.

For cement mixers-- watch the wantads. I have an ancient cast iron 3
bagger that I picked up [with a new motor] for $30 a few years ago.
It is heavy as all getout, has iron tires, and looks like crap. But
it sits out behind the garage, motor inside, greased up, and is ready
to go whenever I need it.

Jim