Homemade Trail Mix
I’ve been making my own homemade trail mix for a few years now, mostly because I like it better than the store bought choices. I sat down this weekend to make up a new batch, and thought I should analyze the details a little bit closer.
Walmart sells a bag of trail mix similar to mine for $4.98, yielding a cost per serving of about $0.20. It’s mostly raisins, peanuts, and M&Ms, with a smattering of other nuts.
My ingredients:
- Peanut M&Ms - $6.98
- Pretzel M&Ms - $6.98
- Unsalted Dry Roasted Peanuts - $4.56
- California Raisins - $4.96
- Smoked Almonds - $8.96
- Total - 32.44
It takes me about 30 minutes to fully mix everything and bag each serving individually in snack baggies.
Aside: Putting the trail mix into individual bags is a HUGE benefit for me. If I leave the mix unseparated, I tend to eat significantly larger portion sizes, and go through it in a few days to a week. By splitting them into bags, I eat no more than 3 bags a day, making the mix last almost 3 months.
I ended up with 96 servings - yielding a cost of $0.34 per serving. If I include approximate labor costs, it jumps to almost $0.44 per serving - double that of the store bought. (Of course, the labor can easily be done while watching TV, and I’d also have to bag the store-bought, so I usually don’t count it)
Given that my mix isn’t any more healthy (and probably less so), there isn’t a compelling reason to keep making my own, other than the fact that I like it better. I’ll admit I was hoping I was making some substantial savings. I may have to look into more bulk-food options - I may be able to shave my costs a little.