Really cheap really filling snacks

[Waoop]

If you had to provide snacks in a rented home for 4 days for 30 people and wanted them to be really inexpensive what would you choose?

Context: family rental for 4 days in October the cost covered by the invitees.

We have been allocated snacks for 4 days as our contribution and we are trying to disguise that we have a very very small budget. Financially we are really struggling. The exact brief was a 'snack basket for each room'

There are three main meals a day, but from seeing what people are planning for these some are really light. Yogurt and fruits for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. We are in charge of the snacks so expect people maybe hungry.

Looking for really cheap and filling snacks. We have more time than money so we can shop from multiple stores.

What sort of budget should we set aside and what would you recommend?

Do you have an Iceland Food Warehouse close by? Bigger packs of cheese nibbles (the little biscuit things), crisps etc. Get some dips that don’t need fridge space until opened - Lidl do nice ones. Sour cream, salsa etc. Own brand Doritos.

That’s me running there tomorrow.

Do you know anyone with a Costco/warehouse card. Bulk buying from those places can be a cheaper options.

"Filling" snacks.... probably contain fat or protein.
Melt cooking chocolate, add dried fruit and nuts, then break into shards.
Flapjacks with oats, fat and sugar are filling.

Do you have a farmfoods near you? I know its a frozen foods shop but the snacks are really cheap, I actually only go for the snacks and cans of juice. Not the healthiest but when you've got teens and their friends who are forever snacking its good value! You could buy some things and still do a tray bake or two so you have something that's a little more effort.

The "Too Good to Go" app has a small selection of items for home delivery - usually bulk offers on things like Jaffa Cakes, Belvita, Mini Cheddars, Penguins, protein bars etc. Lots of the classic brand names. It might be just right for your situation

Get a huge bag of marshmallows from a bargain shop. Bag them up individually and they should look very generous and pretty in pink and white. They won't go stale.

Shortbread fingers. Cheap and very filling and can be non ultra-processed.

I’d just go apples, bananas, big bag of sharing crisps, packet of cookies / biscuits and then something home made. Flapjacks or rockyroad type stuff. Home made fudge goes down well too but more expensive to make.

Definitely don't do a snack basket for each room as people will only eat the things they like meaning there will be more waste and uneaten food. Far better value to make up a couple of large boxes of snacks, one for the kitchen and one for the lounge, then people can help themselves across the weekend.

If they enjoy unhealthy snacks then that's actually easiest and cheaper. I would buy a couple of big boxes of own brand crisps, packets of traditional biscuits like custard creams, bourbons and digestives are 60-80p, make your own popcorn which you can pop in the evening, cake bars from B&M, bags of sweets. You can throw in a few more expensive items like dupe kit kats and Mars Bars from Aldi. And a few pots of hummus and guacamole and cucumber and carrots sticks in the fridge and a small fruit bowl with apples, bananas and satsumas alongside each snack box.

If there are children going buy a couple of bottles of squeezy sauces like caramel and chocolate and shakers of the sprinkles you put on cakes and call it a toppings station for the popcorn.

If you have time and are crafty you could make the presentation of the above as fancy as you liked. For example ask on your local Freecycle for those big glass coffee jars to fill with sweets and buy 100 cheap colourful paper bags on eBay for a fiver and make a sweet pick and mix sign.

Can you get a company shop membership?

You can sometimes get some absolute bargains..... sometimes things are even free.

You might, for example be able to get a pack of 18 petit filous for 30p , multi packs of crisps, 30p / 50p. You might be able to get a whole bag full of kitkats.... maybe 20, for £2.

They have excess stock / things with wonky labels / for example yogurts that say contains 30g but will have a sticker on top saying 25g / magnums where the m on the chocolate hasnt properly formed.
What there changes daily / even hourly but you could be able to go in and buy stuff for even 1/4 of the the price.

If, for example things are use by May 2026, on 31st May they are likely to be reduced massively, (50p / 10p etc) and if you went in the evening they might even be free.

If people eat unhealthy it’s pretty easy to bulk buy snacks that are cheap. You can buy multipacks of crisps, packs of biscuits (chocolate digestives, hobnobs etc), some bags of sweets (eg: jelly babies) and sharing sized chocolate bars. Maybe put in some fruit but if what people want to eat is junk food then that’s what you should put in, especially as that’s cheap.

Chocolate crispy cakes, Tray bakes as already suggested, cheese straws, Peanut Brittle, Roasted Curry chickpeas, Homemade Granola Bars

Cadbury pouches? Like hot chocolate?

For cheap, super cheap, mass snacks, check out Appeoved Food, or Discount Dragon. Close to BBE but massive reductions from full price!

From what I saw they’re chocolate bites, like crunchie rocks (my favourite).

yeah Costco are good if you know someone with a card.

Costco will be a good place to go

If you want to bring a few things that look posher than what they actually are, I find TKMaxx great for unusual, posh snacks at a reduced price

This.

Cheeky beggers if they are scrimping on proper meals. Snacks in our house are a piece of fruit/cereal bar in the morning and a biscuit/cake in the afternoon. Crisps are part of a sandwich lunch but I'd provide a share bag or multi pack per room as an extra.

If this was my family trip I would hate to think my e.g. brother was going through financial difficulties let alone that I was adding to them by doing this snack basket expectation. Can you be honest with your family. If we were all a little more open about finances life would be easier. Good luck.

The OP said:

"The exact brief was a 'snack basket for each room'

And it's 30 people and 4 days.

I'd hit up Aldi. Couple of tubes or Stackerz. Popcorn. The dupe of Graze snacks. Apples. Bread sticks. Maybe a biscuit barrel of custard creams/bourbons/nice biscuits. If you really want to save buy a bag of popcorn and make your own. Do salted, sweet and caramel.

Sounds like others are skimping on meals which is not your problem to solve!

Apples and bananas are a good idea, if they don’t want to eat them tough! Add in some cheap chocolate, biscuits and popcorn. Done!

Jacket potatoes, big and small, I prefer them hot and with butter, not spread or margarine.