"Healthy is more expensive" doesn't hold up once you actually cost it per serving instead of per packet.
The packet-price trap
A 45g chocolate bar at roughly RM3 looks cheap next to a "healthy" snack box at RM8. But the chocolate bar is one serving. A 1kg bag of dates bought wholesale runs somewhere around RM20–35 depending on grade, and gives 25–30 servings of 3–4 dates each — under RM1.20 a serving, often less. Chips at RM2.50 for a 60g bag are two servings; the per-serving gap to a handful of nuts is smaller than the shelf price suggests, and shrinks further once you buy the nuts in a larger bag instead of single-serve pouches.
Where the real saving is: buying size, not the food category
Small packaging is what makes convenience food and healthy food both look overpriced compared to buying in bulk. A single-serve dried fruit pouch is priced for convenience. The same fruit in a 500g or 1kg bag is cheaper per gram, sometimes by half. If cost is the objection to swapping out junk food, the fix is buying size, not giving up on the swap.
What actually adds up to the grocery bill
Daily chocolate bar or packet of chips, five days a week, is roughly RM60–75 a month on snacks alone before anything else in the trolley. The same budget in bulk-bought dates, nuts and dried fruit covers a household for a similar period with servings left over, because none of it is priced for single-use convenience.
Buying by grade, not just by brand
Grade affects price more than most shoppers realise — a Jumbo or premium grade date costs noticeably more per kilogram than a standard grade, for a difference in size and appearance rather than taste that matters for daily snacking. Save the premium grade for gifting; buy standard grade for the pantry, and the swap costs less than what it's replacing.
Buying for a household, not a snack
Once dates and nuts are bought at wholesale volume instead of retail single packs, they stop being a "diet food" line item and become a normal pantry stock — which is also when the price finally beats the junk food it replaced.