I can appreciate why you would do these experiments. But, honestly, this is exactly why so many people will not commit to super saving--big waste of time unless one is already spending a lot on any one product. Especially when the differential was less than a dollar for the trail mix. To me, you didn't factor in the time it took to do all this weighing, buying, etc. THAT was time in your life that perhaps, I say perhaps because it is your life to assign your time to, might have been better used elsewhere.

Long ago, someone very wise told me that time was our greatest commodity and that while focusing on prudent use of whatever fiscal resources we had was essential, most of us would fail miserably and squander our "free" time (the equivalent of our disposable income.)--something you literally cannot buy or replace.

From then on, I looked carefully at how I was spending both my time and my money. And I had to make decisions about how much I was really saving. When resources are limited, you have no choice but to cook all the time at home (although NOT necessarily cheaper depending on number of people cooking for, etc.), clean your house and do any/all chores because there simply was no alternative.

But as I moved ahead in my job, with more demanding work and longer hours (and yes, a better salary), I realized that having food delivered, hiring someone to clean and getting groceries delivered, for a few examples, was a better use of my then very limited free time. When it was a choice of cooking or shopping or cleaning, and I could get in a nap or sleep a bit later, or spend more time with friends and family, that's what I did.

I don't mean to criticize but I do think one can overthink expenses.

I remember telling a friend, bragging actually, that I had found much cheaper prices for some snacks that I was enamored of at the time. My friend looked at me and said: Well, imagine how much more you'd save if you didn't eat them. Not to mention how much better it would be for your health. I was gobsmacked. She was so right. It was so obvious that I had to laugh at how I had missed the boat entirely on conscious spending!

FYI: I am not comparing your trail mix to my prepackaged (and no way else to get them) snack favorites.

I had to remind myself of this over the years. Especially when I would see two-fer offers for fresh foods, dairy and poultry and stock up. It took a lot of weeks of ending up tossing stuff (freezer was packed; regular fridge, no big garage size ones in city apt!) out because I never had the time to cook and no space to freeze.

I went through a period of a lot of takeout and delivery. And I tracked that money. Given that I usually got two dinners and one lunch worth of food out of whatever I ordered (and often more, as I did freeze), it saved me both precious time and money.

One afternoon, I started scribbling down what I spent on takeout versus cost of the ingredients. (I did an online comparison of prices.) SPent maybe an hour tops. I, too, found that given this is a one-person household, it was "cheaper" to get takeout, albeit being selective.

This is no longer quite as valid given the escalation in takeout/delivery of restaurant food in our neighborhoods but then again, the increase in grocery ingredients is also way up, up, up. I only work part time now and have somewhat more time. My health is such that I don't have a lot of energy and have had to factor that into things as well.

In the end though, we must consider the time we spend (shopping, planning, prepping, cooking, etc.) and assign a value to that as well. Is it always the better / best use of our times to do cost-cutting experiments? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

But I love your commitment to conscious spending (this is how I think of it and how it motivates me and makes me NOT feel deprived or punished) and your experiments. And I love this blog because it makes me THINK about how I live and what I choose. Always a good thing.

Thanks for the info! This reminds me of some of the articles in the old Tightwad Gazette book....which is now available online as a pdf, and I believe it is free. (Although if you have to print it, the ink and paper aren't so free...)

I've never done an exact cost comparison, although it does sound right up my alley!

I have been making my own trail mix for years, especially after my kids grew up and left home, because neither my husband nor I care for raisins. He'll eat them although he won't be excited about it, but I can't deal with raisins! I'm the will pick the raisins out of a oatmeal raisin cookie rather than accidentally bite a raisin kind of person! By making my own trail mix I never have to deal with a stray raisin sneaking into my mouth!

We don't have Aldi's where I live but, we have WinCo. WinCo has a bulk section where you can purchase just the amount you need from bins. I compared Safeway Trail Mix $9.99 for 30 oz. with WinCo. I'm not nerdy enough to determine the percentage of each ingredient, I averaged the cost of Peanuts, M&Ms, Raisins, and Almonds. It came to 23 cents/ oz. My version saved me $3.09, and I got a higher quality product since the ration of Safeway's mix isn't 25% each. PS I visited SC, NC and TN last year. I saw a Aldi store and pulled over to tour the store, taking pictures of the products and prices that were unbelievably low to me.

Thanks for this. I've wondered about the trailmix cost but not to the point of doing all the work. A sort of hidden benefit I like from buying premixed ones is occassionally raiding the mix for something I want to try in a recipe but don't usually buy, like dried cranberries for a new salad recipe the other day.