Is it Cheaper to make or buy Trail Mix?
Trail Mix is the super easy and yummy snack that is often associated with hiking and outdoor activities. Thankfully it also tastes great in lunch boxes and afternoon snacks too.
Trail Mix is so easy to make and doesn’t require any heating, so it makes me wonder if it is cheaper to just make it myself than to buy it at the store. Let’s breakdown the costs and find out which way is cheaper!
How much does homemade trail mix cost?
The most basic of trail mix is a sweet and salty combination of raisins, peanuts, chocolate candies, and sunflower kernels. So, this is the combination that we are going to price out for our homemade version.
| Trail Mix Ingredients | Cost |
| 2 cups raisins | $1.90 |
| 2 cups peanuts | $0.99 |
| 2 cups chocolate coated candies (M&Ms) | $3.78 |
| 1 cup sunflower seeds | $0.93 |
| Total Cost: $7.60 (28 servings of 1/4 cup) | Cost per Serving: 27.1 cents |
One of the highest costs was actually the M&M chocolate candies, so if we substituted basic chocolate chips from the baking section, we would actually get a lower cost.
The chocolate chip substitution would lower our total cost to $5.43 and our cost per serving would only be 19.3 cents per 1/4 cup.
How much does trail mix cost?
Next, let’s take a look at some store-bought trail mix that is similar and figure out how much each serving cost so we can compare it to the homemade version.
| Trail Mix & Number of Servings | Store & Price | Cost per Serving |
| Southern Grove Mountain Trail mix, 26 oz=25 servings | Aldi $5.95 | 23.8 cents |
| Kirkland Signature Mix, 64oz= 60 servings | Costco $16.78 | 27.9 cents |
| Hy-Vee Mountain Mix, 26 oz= 27 servings | Hy-Vee $7.37 | 27.2 cents |
| That’s Smart Trail Mix, 16oz= 16 servings | Hy-Vee $4.19 | 26.1 cents |
| Island Choice Mountain Trail Mix 5oz= 5 serving | Dollar Tree $1.25 | 25 cents |
| CVS Classic Blend Trail Mix, 28oz= 28 servings | CVS $7.99 | 28.5 cents |
| Best Choice Trail Mix, 18oz = 18 servings | Price Chopper $5.99 | 33.2 cents |
| Nice! Magic Trail Mix, 10oz = 10 servings | Walgreens $7.49 | 74.9 cents |
| Kroger Simple Classic Mix, 36oz= 34 servings | Dillion’s $7.99 | 23.5 cents |
| Member’s Mark Mountain Trek Mix, 64oz= 60 servings | Sam’s Club $14.91 | 24.8 cents |
| Eatz Nuts & Chocolate Mix, 10oz = 10 servings | Family Dollar $2.89 | 28.9 cents |
| Nutsome Mountain Trail Mix, 26oz = 22 servings | Save A Lot $6.59 | 29.9 cents |
| Planter’s Nut & Chocolate Mix, 6oz = 5 servings | 7-Eleven $3.59 | 71.8 cents |
| Kar’s Sweet and Salty Mix, 34oz= 34 servings | Harp’s $8.89 | 26.1 cents |
| Fresh Finds Sweet Monster Mix, 14oz= 13 servings | Big Lots $4.99 | 38.3 cents |
| Average Cost per Serving: | 33.9 cents |
We looked at 15 different brands at grocery stores, drug stores, and a convenience store. Then we priced out the cost per serving and got an average of 33.9 cents per serving.
Making your own trail mix is significantly cheaper than buy it with a cost per servings of 27.1 cents. Only about 5 brands came out cheaper than that.
If we substitute chocolate chips for the candy, then our homemade cost per serving of 19.3 cents blew all the store-bought trail mixes out of the water!!!
It is worth noting that buying individual packs of trail mix was much more expensive than buying a large bag. If you like to pack trail mix for lunches, skip the small bags and just bag your own to save a lot of money!
Is homemade trail mix worth it?
Have you ever bought a bag of trail mix and thought I wish it had more of this or less of that? With homemade trail mix you can adjust the blend to your personal perfences!
I also like to make what I call “Kitchen Cabinet Trail Mix” and I will pull all the odds and ends from my baking supplies like dried fruit, nuts, marshmallows, baking chips, and any other dry ingredients.
Then I mix them up for a one of kind trail mix that is not only tasty but used up ingredients I already had on hand, so no additional out of pocket cost!
This DIY project of making your own trail mix is a definite must have. If you find some of the ingredients like nuts, candy, or dried fruits on super sale you can significantly lower the cost to make it.
For more money saving snack projects, check out “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Granola?” and “Is it cheaper to make or buy Rice Crispy Treats?“
