Each week for 52 weeks, I’m sharing a different way you can save $100 this year. If you do all of these things, you’ll be able to save over $5,000 this year alone! Many of these things will likely be things you’re already doing, but hopefully all of you will pick up at least a few new ideas or some inspiration from this series.
One way to save a lot of money is to make your own snacks. Not only are they often much more delicious than pre-packaged snacks, but they are usually much healthier for you!
8 Quick & Easy Homemade Snack Ideas
- Hard-Boiled Eggs
- Veggies
- Fruit
- Homemade Yogurt in the Crockpot
- Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets
- Popcorn
- Homemade Crockpot Pear or Applesauce Sauce
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies
8 Freezer-Friendly Snack Ideas
When you have a free day or a laid-back weekend, use some of that time to make meals and parts of meals to stick in your freezer. Things like homemade popsicles, homemade gogurts, homemade cookie dough, homemade muffins, and homemade smoothie kits are great to have on hand.
- Freezer-Friendly Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
- Freezer-Friendly Banana Bread
- Easy Morning Glory Muffins
- Homemade Energy Bites
- Brown Bag Burritos
- Homemade Pizza Pockets
- Southwest Roll-ups
- Best Ever Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
Check out my list of 5 Freezer-Friendly Snacks + a Printable Grocery List
Bag Your Own Snacks
Tip submitted by Heather from Creative Family Moments
Food goes fast at my house, especially handy to-go snacks. A bag of chips? Forget about it. It’ll be gone before I can sneak a handful.
A baked pan of brownies? The smell lingers but I think I only got a taste test.
Pistachios? The bag is left for me, full of shells.
Part of the problem is that we decided long ago that we wanted our house to be a welcoming place for the kids’ friends. We made that decision when they were preschoolers. It was a no-brainer then.
Now that they are teen, tween, and elementary, these kids and their friends can eat! Afternoons, weekends, and summer means I see many pairs of hopeful eyes looking up at me before they ask, “Is there something I can have for a snack?”
Want to reduce your plastic bag usage? Lucy from Fly Away Home shows you how to make a fabric snack bag.
It was worth it though, for the relationships. Yet, packing cold lunches was my breaking point. Sending three kiddos and one husband off to school and work with a cold lunch meant I needed some handy to-go foods that would actually stick around long enough to make it into the thermal bags!
Snack bags came to the rescue! On sale (and/or with coupon!) I can get a pack of 100 snack bags for under two dollars. So when I bake brownies, I instantly cut them up, set aside a few for dessert, and store them in snack bags (Hide them immediately for later use!).
Find pistachios on sale? Sweet! I split up the serving portions and store them. Any special treat that goes on sale with a handy coupon (like the free Skittles I got awhile ago), I’ve learned to split up immediately so they’ll last.
I have happy kids, and a happy husband, because they have treats and good snacks that are already in serving size bags and inhibit mindless eating. It helps food last much longer and thereby saves me money and sanity!
Create a Snack Bin
If you have a snack time every day, take a little time on the weekends to put together a snack bin. This will save you having to even think about what to serve for snack. In fact, you can just tell your kids to go pick out something from the snack bin!
Best Ever Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
Looking for more snack ideas? Check out this post on Quick & Inexpensive Snack Ideas.
What are some of your family’s favorite homemade snacks?
Finish reading 
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it 
