Snacks are such a tricky thing in our house, as I bet they are in most houses. When we do our big shopping trip at the beginning of the month, I always feel like we’ve purchased so many snack items and that they’ll definitely carry over into the next month.
And then we get to this point in the month, about 12 days after that big trip. I realize that ALL those snacks we bought are almost gone. It’s unbelievable to me how quickly this happens, especially since we have some pretty heavily enforced snacking rules.
Here is what the snacking timetable looks like on an average day:
- The oldest two take snacks to school. We try to switch things up and keep a good variety each month. This month, their snack choices are granola bars, dried fruit, frozen go-gurts, snack-sized cans of fruit or pretzels. They each choose one a day to take for their mid-morning snack. Twice a month we let them get a “treat” and buy their snack at school, which is either a bagel, cereal with milk or yogurt.
- The two girls at home each get a mid-morning snack also. Our 4 year old is very slow to wake up and get moving in the morning and she usually does not want to eat at all until around 10. So that’s when they have their snack. They’ve been opting for cinnamon-sugar or peanut butter toast a lot lately. I typically give them three choices and let them choose which to go with.
- The afternoon is when it really gets out of hand though! The kids walk in from school starving, which is typical. Four days a week we also have an extra kid since our oldest’s best friend stays with us until her mom gets home around 5:30. And those two girls can go through the snacks. Honestly, I had no idea 10 year old girls could eat so much! A few months ago we had to implement some ground rules or they would have been eating non-stop. So now each of the 5 kids gets 3 items for their after-school snack and they can eat them all at once or spread them out. They also can not have more than 1 of any item. Today, most of them had a bag of chips, an apple and a cheese stick.
And speaking of those bags of chips… We bought a package of 50 small bags from Sam’s Club. The last was eaten today. Buying those for the first time was hard for me. It seemed like such a waste. But it was necessary for the portion control, especially with those two 10 year olds!
Snacks definitely account for a large chunk of our budget, which was definitely not the case until this school year started. It’s been an interesting adjustment. On some levels, I feel like I’m still adjusting.
I have learned a few important lessons though. We do not keep all the snacks in the open. A portion are left in plain sight and the rest are hidden until needed. I supplement the at-home snacks with homemade snacks at least twice a week. And perhaps most importantly – my husband and I do NOT touch the snacks we specifically buy for the kids, except for the produce. It’s just too dangerous and they go even quicker that way.
I’m looking forward to summer when we can have loads of fresh produce on hand all the time. I have a feeling that will drastically reduce our snack expenses. Oh, and it might just be a bit healthier too.
Am I the only one that struggles with snacks? I feel guilty sometimes over the snack foods that we now buy. Anyone else? How do you keep your snack spending under control?
Don’t forget to pay a visit to other 3 Moms’ kitchens at The Happy Housewife and Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.
I usually shop twice a month. I buy what is on sale and I have coupons for. This definately cuts down on cost. Plus they don’t eat the snacks I buy for lunches after school. I try to limit that to healthy things(yogurt, fruit, veggies, crackers) but we also eat dinner earlier than most – trying for 4:30 each day. You can also buy big bags of potato chips but separate them into baggies in the sizes you want for the kids.
We have the same snack issues! I also bought the 50-bag box of chips; the kids (2 of them) can have ONE bag per day. Without this rule they would eat them like crazy. The little bags offer portion control. Over the course of the day hey can have 1 granola bar, 1 bag chips, 1 cheese stick, 1 “other snack” item (small bags graham crackers, goldfish, etc.), and as much fruit/veggies as they wish. We ALWAYS have apples and bananas on the counter, within easy view and reach. There’s generally other fruit and cut-up veggies in the fridge. I also often have home-baked items, such as muffins and cookies, around, and these are distributed as appropriate.
Snacks aren’t too hard on us yet. Our oldest kids (5 and 2) are happy with apples, oranges, string cheese, yogurt, animal crackers, etc. I buy in bulk from Sams Club and portion everything out myself. I do keep bags of Chex Mix or Handi Snacks for my 5yo’s cold lunches on the days he doesn’t like what they’re having for hot lunch but again, it doesn’t really cost me that much. Yet. I will have 3 teenage boys someday and I’m terrified for my grocery budget.
I think you’re handling it pretty well – it IS a struggle.
Rather than limit how many snacks they can have I do better by limiting WHAT they can have . . .
My kids get one ‘treat’ a day after dinner – sometimes they opt of a piece of chocolate from the never ending, after holiday clearance bought supply of little candies, sometimes a couple of cookies, sometimes a bag of chips or a baked treat from here.
They aren’t allowed to have most things at any other time – I do allow the in school snacks to be among the less damaging of these sometimes.
However here’s my advantages, especially with my big eating tween who comes home starving at 4 when she had lunch FINISHED at 11am!
1. Smoothies – very filling – and a 10yo can make them herself with some training – I bag up frozen bananas and some sort of berry and freeze in individual portions. My 7yo likes bananas, strawberries, milk, and nothing else or else a ‘sophie special’ which is my tween’s preference – blueberries, bananas, protein powder [her dad's necessity so it's always on hand for her] peanut butter and milk. These are not only giving them a couple of fruit servings [which they're not keen on otherwise] but also truly make them pretty full.
2. lunch again . . . I find that often they will eat a mini meal after school instead of something less worthwhile – turkey sandwich, apple and pb, tomato soup with some cheese, leftovers even. It’s not a frugal snack but when I consider how much they can pack away I feel better about them eating it and I’ve noticed that they eat less for dinner – which makes it an even swap financially and totals up to less junk [my middle school tween doesn't get to take 'snack' - the little ones are less willing to take 'healthy snacks' so that's where the rest of our 'snacks' - granola bars, popcorn, pretzels etc - wind up]
3.Not having it all out in the open as you’ve said is huge – also they have a list of ‘anytime’ foods – like fruit or tomato soup or something – that they will turn to in between normal meal/snack times that make it easier on ME because they are not always asking [and having it all tucked away - they know where - but don't SEE it all the time kwim?]
I have a “snack basket” for my 5 year old son, and keep it stocked with snacks he can have pretty much anytime. I never buy the small bags of things if I can help it; I buy the big sizes of goldfish, peanuts, raisins and cheeze its and put a measured serving into snack size ziplocs. He also has granola bars, fruit snacks and peanut butter crackers to choose from. In the fridge, I turned one of the crisper drawers into a snack drawer for him as well. It has string cheese, yogurts, portioned carrots/broccoli and ranch, portioned grapes and strawberries. I use the rubbermaid produce savers for veggies and fruits – the smallest size are great!!! We also always have apples and bananas on hand.
I’m getting ready to teach him how to make his own sandwiches this summer while he’s home, too.
We only have two rules: he has to ask before getting a snack, and he can only have one package of fruit snacks a day. The only time I say no is in the one-hour window before lunch or dinner.
I’ve pretty much stopped fighting the food battle with him. As long as everything he eats is healthy, I don’t particularly care if it’s snack-ish or a full meal. He’s growing, and I want him to learn to eat when he’s hungry and stop when he’s full… instead of making him wait until he’s starving and then eating too much.
For me, this battle was over when I finally figured out that it was my stupid pride about him not eating a meal I had cooked that got in the way. Now, I give him pretty small portions at dinner (five or six bites of each thing), and he has to at least taste everything. If he doesn’t like whatever we’re eating, he can choose a snack, but I make sure he gets a protein, a fruit/veggie, and a complex carb.
Since I started doing this, he eats a LOT more of the meals I cook!
Oh, another quick thing I did is bought one of the Brita fridge water dispensers (not the pitcher, but the one with the flip nozzle thing), and put his cups in the lower cupboard by the fridge. Now he can get his own water as he needs it, too!
Snacks are SO hard at our house! We homeschool our children, and having seven, it really is hard to keep good snacks in the house, and keep up with all their eating! But I do have a chip suggestion. We used to buy the individual chip things as well, but I always cringed at the price. And they seemed to to just as fast as the regular bags of chips! We now buy the big bags of off brand chips, then come home and portion them out ourselves. The kids still just grab a bag, but it didn’t cost near as much as the prepackaged ones!
wow…interesting to see the diversity here. I let my youngest (4 yo) have 1 mid morning snack…usually fruit or a trail mix he makes himself while I run errands. Then everyone gets a snack at after school time.
The 2 middle schoolers will eat leftovers or a sandwich or something pretty substantial. They are home first of all the school kids, have an early lunch and don’t eat much then either. The 2 younger kids get a snack sometime after that or when the 2 elementary kids get home. I like to have something that I’ve baked for them…even if it’s leftover pancakes from the morning. They might choose yogurt and fruit or cottage cheese.
We don’t do individual packs of chips at all…ever. And I don’t create little mini bags for them. They put a serving in a bowl and that’s that. The size of the bowl depends on the size of the kid. And by opening a regular sized bag, and 6 kids getting a serving, the bag is then emptied. And they all know they can’t open a bag (or box of crackers) without permission.
I try to get them to limit the amount of food they get from the pantry each day. That’s how I try to get them to balance between fresh foods and processed foods. I just don’t like them eating processed foods very much, and that includes crackers and chips and even cereal.
For school snacks, the 3 that are in school in the morning will take a piece of fruit mostly or a home made muffin or piece of banana bread. Maybe some applesauce or yogurt too, but those are both homemade and mean taking a container that must come home…that deters the 5th grader from ever taking that! lol
I found that when I gave my kids convenience items, my kids (and myself) were starving all the time. In the past few years I’ve made a few changes.
After school my kids (10 & 13) are absolutely starving. In addition to a snack, I make my kids drink a small cup of milk. A lot of times they have a piece of cheese and fruit or apples dipped in peanut butter.
“Experts” say that the more carbs we eat, the more food we feel we need to eat. I know I found that to be true in our home. Eating more protein seems to work better for our family.
We dont do snacks as such. When the kids are hungry they can eat and it very rarely affects their appetites for dinner. My kids are also very skinny (wish I coauld say the same for me Lol) I never have chips in the house and they dont ask for them. Home popped corn in a pan, whole grain rolls, crackers etc are the usual filler uppers. They can eat up to 3/4 pieces of fruit a day. All the raw veggies they want. My kids are 10, 8 and 5.
I also never buy the small individual packets, always bigger that are portioned either in bowls or small bags.
Snacks can drive me crazy and eat up a budget quickly. When the kids are starving, I have them drink some water first and then snack. I often wonder if that hunger is really masked thirst.
I have a 4 year old girl who pretty much wants to snack all day and has a pretzel problem and a 1 year old boy who just never stops eating!
We eat a lot of popcorn for snacks. I make it in the air popper and add just a touch of salt and they are happy. It’s great for fiber!
I also put out a “crudite” tray for them with a dip (either homemade veggie dip, ranch dressing or peanut butter) and cut up carrots, celery, grapes/apples. They have figured out it’s all they are getting so usually the entire tray gets eaten! I am happy to re-fill it as much as needed so my hubby and I help ourselves, too!
I hear ya on this one. I have a just turned 5 year old at home and a 10 year old. The one in school has never had snack time at school except for kindergarten. It seems the schools only want pre-packaged stuff and that gets expensive.
My kids have inherited my carb addiction for sure and chips are hard for me to resist so they are something I rarely buy.
For snacks I mostly keep cheese sticks, home popped popcorn, mini sweet peppers (they are a bargain at Sam’s and eveyone but the five year old loves them with a string cheese)carrots and mini banana muffins I keep in the freezer. Sometimes I mix craisins and raw almonds in baggies and get both way cheaper at Sam’s.
The other area that I have to regulate are drinks. I buy Capri-suns for school lunches. I don’t particulary like it but milk at school is 50 cents and my daughter barely has enough time to eat her lunch as it is. Standing in line for milk results in her not eating enough lunch. I have been going thru these drinks like crazy because they beg for them at home too all the time.
I try to keep snacking in check, my kids are really bad about not eating much of their dinner and then low and behold at 8 pm they are hungry.
I feel like I spend my life in the kitchen regulating food intake and cleaning up after meals and snacks and I ONLY have two kids! I guess everyone is different and so are the kids, I like to see how others handle this area of their budgets … nice post!
We used to have a huge problem with this, but financial issues (medical) came up that forced us to deal with it. It takes a lot more work on my part, but we now have a policy of $0.10 per snack. I no longer buy any snack food that costs more than ten cents per serving. Coupons really help with that. I try to make sure there’s some protein or fiber in each snack so that it “sticks.” Celery with peanut butter or cream cheese, cheese I slice myself (the sticks are too expensive), popcorn, crackers, baby carrots etc. Portion control could be done through bagging snacks yourself. My children are 10 and up, and I do know how much they can eat!
We have four kids ages 12, 9, 8, and 6 1/2. 3 boys! They have to ask before getting a snack…but I never say no to a fruit. We always have apples, bananas and oranges. I do not buy the individual bags of chips/cookies, etc. If they are allowed some I put them on a napkin at the table. I usually take it as a good judge of hunger if they are offered a snack of fruit and turn it down…guess you weren’t very hungry then! Mine get home from school at 3:45 and can have a snack then. We usually eat dinner at 6:00 and if you want a snack after dinner you probably didn’t eat enough dinner and are welcome to some more. On rare occasions we will have ice cream or something after dinner. Usually fruit though.
Make your own life more easy take the loan and everything you need.
Snacks are hard for most people, including us. But 3 snacks an afternoon? That seems excessive – especially on the wallet. I have an 11 year old and he comes home starving at 3 (they eat lunch at 10) and he doesn’t eat 3 snacks. But we eat dinner early, so if you eat late, that makes more sense.
I have just found the prepackaged stuff isn’t going to fill them up. I do buy it sometimes, but an individual package isn’t going to cut it. Snacks that are filling and cheaper for us are homemade muffins, popcorn, homemade trail mix with dried fruit and nuts, a bowl of cereal with milk, whole wheat bread with honey, etc. I also got some small reusable tupperware like containers and make my own fruit cups for them to take to school. It is usually cheaper. Good luck! The snack area is something that always frustrates me too.
Since I’ve signed up for Stolen Moments Menu Planning (plug definitely intended!! : – ) ), I have used a lot of the muffins in the plan for breakfasts as snacks. For easy grab and go snacks, my kids can have a fiber rich cereal, peanut butter toast on high fiber bread, quesadillas, fruit, nuts, cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs, trail mix, and granola mixes.
I have tried to teach them to eat a high fiber snack with a bit of protein and healthy carb all together, because it will give them the biggest bang for my buck, and nutritionally, it’s the smartest way to take care of themselves.
I also follow up with them regularly to drink water and/or milk in the am, after school and at supper time. Dehydration can cause what feels like hunger.
I keep fruit bowls and nuts out in the open for my first preference for them. I have 4 kids, three are teenagers, and they seem to be always hungry. I just reassure them that I’ll feed them a meal again eventually, and they don’t need to be full off a snack, just satisfied. : – )
I forgot, but just remembered since we’re on our way there, I often take the kids to Costco on the way home from school. They eat the samples as their after school snack and I pay .63 for a soda and get 4 cups for water. LOL It’s definitely NOT nutrition, but it’s free and it’s on the way home. : – )
This is a great post! My daughter’s only 10 months old, so I haven’t had to deal with excessive snacking on her part yet, but it’s good to think about what to do. I don’t have a problem with snacking in addition to meals–I think studies have shown that eating smaller, more frequent “meals” is healthier than just eating three big ones. But really, that’s just how I prefer to eat! Regarding snacks, I’ve had a problem with MYSELF since I got pregnant, and especially now that I’m nursing. My body wants food constantly! I’ve found that fruit always helps, as do homemade muffins and breads. Nuts and peanut butter are a great jolt of protein, and smoothies are quite filling as well.
Oh, and granola! How could I forget that?
I have 13 & 10 year old boys (who eat LOTS) and a 7 yr old girl – all of which are very busy in sports & music. Being active, they do need the extra food, but it doesn’t have to be expensive or unhealthy stuff. Sometimes my kids feel hard done by since they don’t get the prepackaged snacks their friends get, but they are also old enough to understand why. The expense of those prepackaged things are extremely high (compare what the costs of snacks are to a complete meal) and frequently they aren’t healthy either.
They each get a snacky type thing in their lunch, an after school snack and a bedtime snack. The lunch items tend to be a home made cookie or muffin, jello pudding, or snack sized containers filled with popcorn or ‘whatever happened to be on sale that week’ this is frequently pretzels, treaty type of cereals (froot loops, etc.), dried fruit with choco chips & cereal.
After school they know their snacks need to be healthy so they help themselves to fruit, cheese & crackers (not prepackaged), toast & jam or cheese, a small bowl of healthy cereal or a muffin (if there are any in the freezer). Once a week, I bake something so they don’t feel too hard done by!
If we are out at an activity after school I pack along fruit, yogurt cups, cheese strings, prepacked cheese & crackers, etc. They know that these ‘portable’ snacks are off limits when we are at home.
Bedtimes snacks can be a piece of toast, leftovers from dinner, a small bowl of cereal, etc. If they’ve been playing sports, they tend to be hungry and need something substantial.
Hope this helps give you some ideas!
Wow! What a great post. First, let me say that my husband and I LOVE your “Cooking During Stolen Moments” blog. We use your recipes regularly. YUM!
Second, snacks. What a dilemma! There are two things that have worked wonders for our family:
1. Are they eating the calories they need for a day, and are they getting an all-around healthy diet?
If so, GREAT! Who cares if it’s pre-packaged, as long as it’s nutrional? String cheese, yogurt cups, granola bars, individually packaged peanuts. All are more expensive than buying in bulk and making up your own servings. If you can afford the luxury, go for it. If you can’t, make adjustments where necessary.
If they aren’t getting proper calories (too much, or too little) make adjustments where necessary. If they aren’t getting an overall healthy diet, make adjustments where necessary.
It’s helped me a lot to simply figure out how many calories they actually NEED in a day – because they would ask for food all day if I let them, and because it teaches them (and myself) self-control as well.
2. Water
We need gobs of it during a day, and thirst makes us feel hungry more than it makes us feel “thirsty”.
Blessings!
That does seem like a lot of snacks. Can you eat earlier so that the kids don’t need three afternoon snacks?
I would never buy the individual packaged servings unless they were super cheap, and occasionally, they are (for example, Lance peanut butter crackers for .50 for eight. Or an eight-count package of GoGurt for .80.) Have you considered buying snacks only with coupons and sales?
This stuff isn’t great for you, so manufacturers offer various promotions and incentives to get you to buy them. If you’re going to buy it anyway, might as well take advantage of this. You can even get organic snacks reasonably this way ($1 for two boxes of Earth’s Best cheese crackers).
I do love the idea of a tray of fresh veggies–if there was a way to keep the ranch cold! Hmmm. Sounds good right now!