“I’m Making Chocolate, Of Course.” – Willy Wonka
Chocolate. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
No matter how I’m feeling, chocolate always lifts my mood and brightens my day.
I think no one has expressed their love for candy and chocolate better than children’s author Roald Dahl. He was a British author, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot who became a prominent writer for both adults and children in the 1940s.
I would have to say the gold standard or golden ticket standard would have to be the literary work he wrote called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964.
Dahl loved chocolate because of his childhood memories and his time as a chocolate taster for Cadbury while at boarding school. As chocolate was a rare treat and luxury during his childhood in the 1920’s.
Dahl also kept a lifelong passion for sweets, famously eating a Kit Kat every day and studying candy bars like a scientist.
Like him, I too am a sweets afficionado as well as one in personal finance. Hint, hint this website.
His love of chocolate runs deep. He even wrote a book called The Witches in 1983 devoted to children’s love of candy.
I enjoyed the 1990 movie so much, that I wrote a blog post on it. See it below by clicking on the link.
Money and Chocolate: Life Lessons from the film The Witches
I am guessing if they were able to go through with their plans for candy stores in the movie, it would look something like this below. This window dressing of candy is almost too good to pass up. I mean how can little children possibly resist.
However, I am here to talk about another side of chocolate besides just the love of it.
The expensive side.
Personally, I feel that candy bars are becoming prohibitively expensive.
There was a time you could buy a Snickers for 50 cents. Last time I was in the supermarket, it was going for $2.
Before, you bust my chops on the price of a Snickers being only $2, let me give you some background here on this particular candy bar.
The Snickers candy bar is the best-selling candy bar in the world, pulling in roughly $2 billion to $3.5 billion in global annual sales.
Snickers: Introduced by Mars in 1930, this classic mix of nougat, caramel, peanuts, and milk chocolate is what makes this candy bar so special.
Snickers holds the crown for the #1 top-selling traditional molded candy bar globally and nationally.
Why Snickers Leads the Market
- Global Reach: Made by Mars, Incorporated, Snickers is sold in more than 100 countries.
- Classic Recipe: It combines roasted peanuts, caramel, and nougat inside a milk chocolate coating.
- Strong Marketing: Iconic campaigns like “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” helped keep the brand on top for decades.
A standard full-size (1.86 oz) Snickers bar typically costs between $1.00 and $2.20, depending heavily on where you purchase it.
Average Price by Retailer
Prices vary across major store chains for a single standard bar:
- Dollar General: $1.00 Every Day
- Walmart: $1.57
- Target: $1.69
- Walgreens: $2.19
Alternative Sizes and Bulk Pricing
If you buy in bulk or choose different sizes, the unit pricing changes:
- Share Size (3.29 oz): Usually costs around $2.50 to $3.00 at stores like Target or Walgreens.
- 6-Pack Bags: Retails for around $6.48 to $8.39, dropping the individual bar price closer to $1.08 to $1.40 per bar.
- 48-Count Bulk Box: Usually priced between $45.00 and $53.00 at wholesale clubs like Sam’s Club, bringing the price down to about $1.09 per bar.
Now that you know what it costs to buy a Snickers, let’s talk about what else that money can buy.
A standard New York City subway or local bus ride costs $3.00, and you do not need to buy a traditional physical pass. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) relies on the OMNY contactless payment system, which features automatic weekly fare-capping.
The regular bas fare on WMATA in the Washington DC metro area is $2.25.
Therefore, $2-$3 can literally get you across the city.
Shuttling you to work, doctor appointments, museums, and school.
This could also buy you a half a tank of gas.
A half gallon of milk.
A case of water.
You get my point.
When did nougat, peanuts and chocolate get so expensive?
Did the chocolate overlords decide that sweets are a luxury and you have to pony up for the experience?
That money could be used for so many other things.
I know. I am starting to sound like Mr. Money Mustache on his tirade that pizza delivery is for millionaires.
However, before judging me too harshly, I want you know keep this in mind.
I started investing with $5 dollars. Had I bought a candy bar instead, I may not have started this blog and grew my retirement account to over $600,000 USD.
The point I am making here is that all things come with a price tag. There is an opportunity cost with every dollar we spend.
Millionaires can easily afford this cost. However, when you are still trying to grow your wealth, you must stop and take pause on what you are buying. No matter how big or small.
Case in point, I figure at this rate, my retirement accounts would hit $1 million within 1,000 days.
Therefore, I ask you, much like the Automatic Millionaire asks if drinking coffee is worth losing out on $1 million, is a candy bar?
About the author
Miriam started Greenbacks Magnet in 2016 to keep a scorecard of her goal of $1M in investable assets. Armed with a Master in Management (MiM) and a calculator, she teaches readers how to achieve financial independence while also helping them learn how to smell the roses along the way. The palpable response she got from sharing her personal finance goal in a public speaking course at Georgetown University encouraged her to share her story and teach finance on her website. She invests in AI companies as artificial intelligence is the new iPhone of the moment as she likes to invest in companies that are disruptive.
