The Snack-Buying Tip That Can Save You Big Bucks At The Grocery Store

It's time to stock up on your household's groceries for the week. You head to the store, with your list in hand, intent on finishing as quickly and painlessly as possible. You know you have a few lunches to pack this week, so it's time to grab some snacks — maybe some chips, nuts, or crackers and cheese. Then you see the easy solution on the store shelves: one giant box containing 30 individually portioned snack packs of chips. The allure of convenience is strong, so it's tempting to buy it — but should you? Not if you want to save money.

Though you may have saved a small amount of time by buying single-serving packs, that little bit of time will take its toll on your wallet. As with most pre-portioned items, from produce to cheese and grocery store precut meat, the extra labor and packaging involved in making those individual portions more convenient definitely adds to the price you pay.

Not only that, but you're also not doing the environment any favors; after all, one jumbo pack of snacks is packaged in one layer of plastic, while individual snack packs contain much more plastic wrapping. Let's look at how you can save some money on snacks, and take it a bit easier on the planet, by being smart about portions.

We've all heard buying in bulk is cheaper than buying packaged goods, and that's often true. In fact, a study by LendingTree found that consumers who bought in bulk when possible saved 27% overall. It makes sense; bulk items simply don't involve as much time and materials for processing and packaging. To an extent, that same principle is at play with larger-quantity packages of snacks versus individually portioned snacks. In other words, buying one big, undivided box of snacks is often better than the same amount divided into individual portions.

To illustrate this idea, let's look at the example of Pepperidge Farm's Cheddar Goldfish Crackers at Walmart. At the time of this writing, a large, 27.3-ounce carton of these crackers costs $8.98, or 32.9 cents per ounce. However, as soon as you start adding individual bags to the product, the cost per ounce immediately goes up. The 30-pack of 1-ounce servings is $12.86, which breaks down to 42.9 cents per ounce. It's already 10 cents more per ounce, but if you buy fewer snack packs, it's even more expensive. The 20-pack is $10.26, or 51.3 cents per ounce, and the 12-pack is $6.68, or 55.7 cents per ounce.

Similarly, the Kroger corporation, which owns several grocery store chains around the country, sells a 25-ounce bag of Blue Diamond Whole Natural Almonds for $11.99, which equates to about 48 cents per ounce. On the other hand, its 16-pack of individual 1.5-ounce packs (for a total of 24 ounces) costs $30, or $1.25 per ounce. Bottom line? Rather than buying snacks in individually wrapped packages, try our method of using cupcake liners to portion snacks, or simply package them yourself in reusable plastic containers or small Ziploc bags.