Strategic Shopping Sunday - The Cost of Convenience
This week I want to talk about the cost of convenience. Manufacturers make it very easy to pick up packages of products that are perfectly proportioned at 100 calories or snack size. When I was working at my old job I used to pick up at least 1 box of these a week because they were super easy to throw in my purse.
Now that I am a strategic shopper I would rather buy a regular box and take the few minutes to divide out the packages.
I decided to figure out just how much the cost of convenience was for 100 Calorie Cheez-It Snack Mix packages.
I purchased a box of 100 Calorie Right Bites Cheez-It Snack Mix and 1 box of Cheez-It Snack mix at Safeway on 6/19. I used my club card but did not use any coupons.
Price Comparison
100 Calorie Right Bites Cheez-It Snack Mix - $2.99
Cheez-It Snack Mix regular box - $3.49
Just glancing at the price tags it looks like the 100 Calorie box is the cheaper option.
Price per ounce
100 Calorie Right Bites Cheez-It Snack Mix - $.67 an ounce
Cheez-It Snack Mix regular box - $.33 an ounce
The regular box of Cheez-its is over half the price of the prepackaged box.
From this point I knew that the regular box was a much better value but I still wanted to see just how many more packages I could get from the regular box
Total number of 100 calorie bags in each box/ price per bag
100 Calorie Right Bites Cheez-It Snack Mix - 6 bags in the box = .50 a package
Cheez-It Snack Mix Regular Box - 14 bags in the box - $.25 a package
Cost over 1 year using 1 bag a day
100 Calorie Right Bites Cheez-It Snack mix - $181.89
Cheez-It Snack Mix Box - $90.99
A difference of $90.90
This is based on only eating 1 bag a day. I have to say that most of the time I would eat at least 2 bags during the day.
One way to cut your grocery bill and stretch your dollar farther is to look at the cost of convenience food. Are you using items that are pre-packaged that you could buy in normal size containers and package yourself.
Examples
Pre-packaged lettuce shreds versus buying a head of lettuce
Pre-packaged fruits and veggies versus cutting your own
pre-made snack trays versus making up your own
There are so many more exampled I can think of. Let me know what you come up with when you look around your pantry or kitchen.
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4 Comments:
Oh yes, I knew those 100 cal packs were a rip off! But it does help with the portion control if you are trying to loose weight! :)
Great info!
Thanks for the post, I personally like this one alot because I do buy the 100 calorie packages...now I know what I will be buying instead:)
Even before I couponed, I worked full-time & had a long commute. I would cook during the weekends for this reason. Make a couple snacks, & also a crock pot meal or something to get us through at least a few work days.
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