Email a Friend
Print Article
Frugal Friday: Make Your Own Snack Bags
Welcome to Frugal Friday!
You know how the latest thing in lunch box packing is these 100-calorie (or more) snack bags? Well, I did the math and they are a money waster that's for sure.
One of the best reasons to make your own snack packs is that you can choose the reduced fat or whole grain snack options whenever possible whereas the prepackaged bags tend to come in the "original" versions.
I wanted to calculate the money we would save if we made our own snack bags after bought a big box or bag of the snack and divvied it up into individual snack bags (using the snack bag size baggies).
I used the ever popular, strangely irresistible goldfish snack crackers as my example.
A 6.6-ounce bag of "Goldfish made with whole grain" costs around $2.39.
A box with 5 pouches of goldfish (100 calories each) costs around $3.49.
Here's how to make your own goldfish snack bag:
What Could You Save?
If you made your own snack bags and put them in your children's' lunch bags every day for a week (5 days) and you had two children, you would save 4 dollars a week! And you were able to increase the fiber a little by switching to the "made with whole grain" goldfish.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Frugal Friday, snacks, 100 calorie, healthy diet
You know how the latest thing in lunch box packing is these 100-calorie (or more) snack bags? Well, I did the math and they are a money waster that's for sure.
One of the best reasons to make your own snack packs is that you can choose the reduced fat or whole grain snack options whenever possible whereas the prepackaged bags tend to come in the "original" versions.
I wanted to calculate the money we would save if we made our own snack bags after bought a big box or bag of the snack and divvied it up into individual snack bags (using the snack bag size baggies).
I used the ever popular, strangely irresistible goldfish snack crackers as my example.
A 6.6-ounce bag of "Goldfish made with whole grain" costs around $2.39.
A box with 5 pouches of goldfish (100 calories each) costs around $3.49.
Here's how to make your own goldfish snack bag:
- A slightly heaping 1/3-cup measure is about 41 goldfish and equals about 105 calories.
- The 6.6-ounce bag of goldfish makes 8 servings total - just fill snack bags with slightly heaping 1/3 cup of the goldfish and they are just as easy to add to that lunch bag or box as the store-bought 100-calorie bags.
- $2.39 divided by 8 snack bags = 30 cents each!
- The box with 5 pouches= 70 cents per pouch.
What Could You Save?
If you made your own snack bags and put them in your children's' lunch bags every day for a week (5 days) and you had two children, you would save 4 dollars a week! And you were able to increase the fiber a little by switching to the "made with whole grain" goldfish.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: Frugal Friday, snacks, 100 calorie, healthy diet
10 Comments:
We make snack bags of popcorn. It's so much cheaper and you can make custom flavors. My son likes spice so I sprinkle his with some ground chipotle chili powder. I like seasoning salt on mine. My husband likes it sweet, so he gets a little sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon on his. We get what we want wthiout a lot of butter, already portioned and cheap.
the other upside to making your own snacks is that it is less impact on the enviroment. Instead of using snack bags, use re- usable containers. Most of what you are paying for in the per- portioned items is packaging and we could all use a lot less of it!
I mix gold fish, raisins and cheerios all together. The kids looove it
The bad thing is that kids love the original bag rather than the clear plastic, you tend to put more inside and also there is a cost for the bags and the reusable container needs cleaning wich means time.
i make my own trail mix to keep in my backpack for long days at grad school or those extra long classes. i take out the almonds (which i don't like) and use nuts that are less salty. i buy big packages of each at sam's, mix them together (in just the right proportions for me) and pour it all into a huge pickle jar (which has been thoroughly cleaned). this way it's soooo much cheaper, it stays fresh forever, and i can put in what i want and how much i want!
I bake up 5-6 sweet potatoes/yams. I let them cool in the refrigerator and cut them into 1 inch pieces.
When they are cold they taste wonderful. They are sweet and satisfy my yen for sweets. It is also nutritious. They do not spoil and you can take them with you in a little plastic bag.
I'm with [jessica]: skip the bags and use re-usable containers instead. Otherwise, be sure to factor in the cost of the baggies in your math.
Have you tried the mix that tastes like a "Salted Nut Roll" bar?
Gold Fish (atleast 2 bags- we use the Whole Wheat and the Baby fish,) 1 jar of Dry Roasted Peanuts, 1 bag of Candy Corn and a couple cups of plain M&Ms.
(Really fun at Halloween and Thanksgivng, though they do sell colorful candy corn now for several holidays.)
Not especially healthy thanks to the candy, but really delicious and satisfying! The combination of salty and sweet and the chewiness of the candy corn along with the crispy Goldfish is awesome!!!
I'm all for saving the environment, so pack it up in reusable bowls or rinse out and reuse your baggies!
To Joanna's comment:
I can't believe your kids are so into the packaging that they wouldn't eat the goodies inside. Also, if you package something like popcorn, trail mix, nuts, etc., a quick wipe and refill for the next day is sufficient. Washing it once a week after using it for 5 days would be fine. But even if you washed it everyday, it only takes a maximum of 30 to 45 seconds to clean one very thoroughly. If you are that busy that you don't have 30-45 seconds, you are extremely too busy.
If you're making your own snack mixes, you can reuse the bags. I do it all the time! You can't get much greener than that. All the snack mixes you've mentioned have been "dry" items, with the exception of the sweet potatoes, so they'd fit in the bag. (BTW, how do you take the sweet potatoes to school/work as a snack if they're baked w/o making a mess??) Has anyone had fried sweet potatoes? Fry them as you would regular potatoes. We use low fat grease in the Fry Daddy. Instead of catsup, we use mustard for dipping (no calories on mustard folks, an old Wt. Watchers hint).. they are wonderful!! Happy 4th of July!!
Post a Comment