Daily Cheapskate: Annual Round-Up of Purim and Shalach Manos/Mishloach Manot Amazon Deals (Part 1)

This year, Purim falls out on the evening of 2/28/18, which means that, we are now officially just a month out from Purim! Here is the first installment of my annual Purim deal roundup that I post each year, with lots of new deals and fresh items.

Amazon is just swimming in great deals on supplies for Purim and for Mishloach Manot AKA Shalach Manos AKA Purim Packages. (I know some of you can do better at local stores, but we can't all live next to an Amazing Savings, LOL.) Costumes deals will be posted separately.

Please make sure you check the dimensions of the product that you are ordering so that there will be no surprises when it arrives. Pictures can be deceptive; look at measurements. Some of these bags are meant to hold loose candy/food inside of larger shalach manos containers, so those bags will be much smaller.

In my experience, prices tend to go up rather than down on these containers and bags, the closer we get to warmer weather, so do try to shop early.

How much you spend on your Shalach Manos is a very personal matter. Here's what I do: we divvy our Shalach Manos up into two categories: fancyshmancy thank-you ones (these go to people who have done us special favors during the year) and en masse ones (these are the smaller one that we give to our friends and the general community). Passover follows Purim by 4 weeks, and no one wants a ton of junk in their homes on the day after Purim, so we go for quality rather than quantity items in our shmancy ones, and put only 4-5 food items in our en masse ones. We don't do "themes." It's not our style, I'm not a big baker, and I don't have time to be that creative.

That said, I'm not critical of overly-done Shalach Manos (though they do sometimes make me laugh) because if it gets kids more engaged in Purim and the idea of enjoying giving and sharing, well, that is priceless. But if you can do the same Mishloach Manot for less by snagging deals on Amazon, why wouldn't you?

Shalach Manos packages tend to generate a ton of trash and waste, so this year (at readers' requests), I've created separate sectiona for reusable bags and containers. Both reusable and disposable bags have their places in busy lives, and I understand the preferences for using either one. Please keep in mind that reusables will be a little pricier than disposables. Almost all of the disposable items here are recyclable.

I'd love to hear about your Mishloach Manot strategies, so send them on down or even better, post them on the Daily Cheapskate Facebook page.

REUSABLE BAGS:

100-count pink and purple frosted plastic handled gift bags for $24.99 with free Prime shipping (25 cents per bag).

12-count small canvas 8" handled reusable bags for $6.99 with free Prime shipping (58 cents per bag) The 12" bags are only a dollar more, $7.99 with free Prime shipping (67 cents per bag).

24-count polyester handled reusable bags for $11.49 with free Prime shipping (48 cents per bag).

100-piece blue organza drawstring bags for $10.49 with free Prime shipping (10 cents each). These are VERY small (but really pretty!), so they are best used for holding loose candy (like jellybeans and the like) inside of a larger Shalach Manos container.

12-count pack of assorted neon-colored drawstring canvas bags measuring 4.5" x 7" is $8.99 with free Prime shipping (75 cents per canvas bag).

25-count reusable bags that come in 15 different colors for $21.99 with free Prime shipping (88 cents per reusable bag). All the colors are priced the same, except for the grass-green and mint-green which are slightly less expensive at $19.99 with free Prime shipping (80 cents per reusable bag).

12-count Bright Tote Bags for $6.39 with free shipping (53 cents per bag; not Prime so double-check the ship date to make sure it arrives before Purim).

DISPOSABLE BAGS:

24-count assorted color polka-dotted bags for $9.99 with free Prime shipping. (42 cents per bag).

12-count neon gift bags for $7.30 with free Prime shipping. (61 cents per bag). Tissue liner NOT included. Smaller versions of these bags are over here, at 12 for $5.25 with free Prime shipping (44 cents per bag).

50-count pack of assorted color plastic bags for $5.98 with free Prime shipping ($0.12 per plastic bag). Tissue liner NOT included. IMHO, one of the best Amazon deals out ther for Mishloach Manot.

60-count colorful print gift bags for $22.30 with free Prime shipping (37 cents per bag). (Please note that even though they appear in the photo, there are no tags on these bags.)

12-count silver polka dot small bags for $7.35 with free Prime shipping (61 cents per bag).

12-count Frosted Star Gift Bags for $6.49 with free Prime shipping (54 cents per bag).

100-count pack of Wilton 4" x 6" Party Bags for $4.68 with free Prime shipping. (slightly under 5 cents per bag).

24-count white gift bags for $12.99 with free Prime shipping (54 cents per bag).

12-pack of chevron gift bags for $8.33 with free Prime shipping (69 cents per bag). Tissue paper is not included.

12-count pack of black and white striped gift bags for $9.86 with free Prime shipping (82 cents per bag).

BOXES:

24-count red bandanna mini gift boxes for $11.99 with free Prime shipping. (50 cents per box) These are very small.

12-count purse-shaped gift box/bags for $9.99 with free Prime shipping. (83 cents per bag)

24-count of these multi-colored treat boxes for $10.00 with free Prime shipping. (42 cents per box)

24-count white boxes for $8.34 with free Prime shipping (35 cents per box). These don't come with doilies.

12-count white Fun Express boxes for $7.40 with free Prime shipping. (62 cents each).

Mini Treat Boxes (these are small, 3.5", be aware):

24-count Blue Mini Treat Boxes for $7.10 with free Prime shipping (30 cents each)
24-count Yellow Mini Treat Boxes for $10.99 with free Prime shipping (46 cents each)

More colors of mini treat boxes are here.

12-count lime green windowed boxes for $7.98 with free Prime shipping (67 cents per box).

24-count pink & white striped boxes for $6.24 with free Prime shipping (26 cents per box).

THEME BAGS:

12-count Disney Mickey Mouse bags for $10.20 with free Prime shipping (85 cents per bag).

24-count Emoji for $12.99 with free Prime shipping (54 cents per bag).

24-count smiley bags for $9.47 with free Prime shipping (39 cents per bag).

12-count LEGO bags for $7.50 with free Prime shipping (63 cents per bag).

12-count Ninja bags for $11.40 with free Prime shipping (95 cents each).

12-count 10" tie-dye paper bags for $4.59 with free Prime shipping. (38 cents per bag).

8 Frozen loot bags for $4.94 with free Prime shipping (62 cents per bag).

12-count Frozen handled gift bags for $10.25 with free Prime shipping (85 cents each).

8-count Star Wars bags for $4.17 with free Prime shipping (52 cents per bag).

Other 16-count Star Wars bags for $12.90 with free Prime shipping (81 cents per bag).

THEME BOXES:

50-count Travel-themed suitcase boxes for $13.99 with free Prime shipping (28 cents per box).

50-count Travel-themed suitcase boxes for $10.99 with free shipping. (22 cents per box; not Prime so doublecheck ship date to make sure it arrives before Purim).