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- Son: Age 6
- Daughters: Ages 3 & 3
- Stay at home
- Group Co-Leader
- Saving Big on Cereal
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One of the questions I get the most is "How do you buy cereal for .50?" I didn't even realize that the price of cereal had hit $4.00-5.00 at the stores in my area, because I've been spending so little on it for years. No wonder so many people avoid buying it! Whether you're currently purchasing cereal without looking at the price or choosing the store brand over name brand, you can learn to save BIG on cold cereal. Here's how to do it:
1) Keep an eye out for high-value cereal coupons. When your store doubles coupons (they do in my part of the country), it's great to find .50-.75 off coupons, like this .75 off Multi-Grain Cheerios coupon at Disney Family:
http://family.go.com/tagsearch-coupon/groceries/
That's $1.50 off a box! Back on June 7, the Sunday paper inserts had several $1.00 off Kellogg's Cereal coupons. Hold onto these until your store offers a sale or promo to maximize your savings. Any coupon that saves $1.00 or more off a box of cereal is considered high-value to me. If you need multiples of a coupon, consider buying an extra copy of the newspaper, ask your neighbors for their extras, or trade with a friend (I trade pet food coupons for baby/diaper coupons).
2) Combine store sales with coupons. For example--this week, both Safeway and its partner stores (Vons, Tom Thumb, Dominicks, etc.) and K-Mart have General Mills Cereals on sale for $2.00. I can use the .55 off Cheerios coupon from Disney Family:
http://family.go.com/tagsearch-coupon/groceries/
or this .75 off Whole Grain Total coupon from Eat Better America:
http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/coupons/
By combining the sale with the coupon, you can get a box of Cheerios for just .90 or box of Total for .50 (the coupon will double at Safeway in many parts of the country). If you have multiple coupons, you can buy a few boxes at that price and "stockpile" them, instead of purchasing another box later at the regular price.
3) Combine store promos with coupons. This is more complicated, but sometimes stores offer promos such as "Buy 10 items, get an instant $5.00 off." One of the stores in my area had this promo last week, with Cheerios at $2.00/box. I bought as many boxes as I had coupons for, purchased enough participating items to get the $$ off, and ended up with 8 boxes of Cheerios at .45/box. With two toddlers in the house, I know these Cheerios will be eaten, so it's worth some storage space to stockpile the boxes at that low price.
4) Stockpile cereal at low prices. When I'm able to buy cereal for .50-.75 per box, I buy as many as I can and stockpile them. I find room wherever I can, often under the guest bed. That way, instead of purchasing it later for $3.00-4.00 a box, I can just grab another .50 box. If you don't have a pantry or basement for major stockpiling, it's still worth your while to buy 2-3 extra boxes or as many as you can fit. It will save you major dollars each time.
For more beginner tips on couponing, read 5 First Steps to Coupon Savings:
http://family.go.com/community/groups/coupon-clippers-grp/5-first-steps-to-coupon-savings-6447/
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Join me in the Coupon Clippers group to learn how to save big!
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- Daughters: Ages 34 & 32
- Grandsons: Ages 2, 2 & 16 months
- Work at home
- Group Leader
- FamilyHost_Annabelle - July 02, 2009
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Great info, Gina! Thank you. :)
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Go Green! Eat Lean! Live Clean! - Belle
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- kathand29 - July 02, 2009
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I agree with all of the above! I won't pay more than $1 a box for cereal, usually 75¢ or less and we don't have double coupons in my area.
For this week, if you have Safeway, you can combine #'s 2 and 3 above. I checked their ad and their is no mention of it so it may vary in different areas. When I was shopping on Tuesday, I received a Catalina advertising "get up to 2 Free Gallons of milk when you buy Big G Cereal" It is valid 7/1-7/9 - although on another part of the catalina, it states expires 7/7. Buy 3-5 boxes, get one coupon for $4.50 off milk. buy 6-8 boxes, get 2 coupons for $4.50 off milk...to be used on your next shopping order.
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- Son: Age 6
- Daughters: Ages 3 & 3
- Stay at home
- Group Co-Leader
- CouponsCoach - July 02, 2009
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I agree with all of the above! I won't pay more than $1 a box for cereal, usually 75¢ or less and we don't have double coupons in my area. For this week, if you have Safeway, you can combine #'s 2 and 3 above. I checked their ad and their is no mention of it so it may vary in different areas. When I was shopping on Tuesday, I received a Catalina advertising "get up to 2 Free Gallons of milk when you buy Big G Cereal" It is valid 7/1-7/9 - although on another part of the catalina, it states expires 7/7. Buy 3-5 boxes, get one coupon for $4.50 off milk. buy 6-8 boxes, get 2 coupons for $4.50 off milk...to be used on your next shopping order.
- By kathand29
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I tried it today and it worked! I bought three of the boxes of Total and used a .75 off coupon for each, which doubled. I paid .50/box for the cereal and then got the Catalina coupon for $4.50 off milk. I put two gallons at the end of my order, separated by the bar, so they'd ring up separately. I used the coupon right there and paid less than a dollar for my milk!
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Join me in the Coupon Clippers group to learn how to save big!
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- Daughters: Ages 34 & 32
- Grandsons: Ages 2, 2 & 16 months
- Work at home
- Group Leader
- FamilyHost_Annabelle - July 03, 2009
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I tried it today and it worked! I bought three of the boxes of Total and used a .75 off coupon for each, which doubled. I paid .50/box for the cereal and then got the Catalina coupon for $4.50 off milk. I put two gallons at the end of my order, separated by the bar, so they'd ring up separately. I used the coupon right there and paid less than a dollar for my milk!
- By CouponsCoach
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That's terrific, Gina! Thanks for sharing your success story with us. :)
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Go Green! Eat Lean! Live Clean! - Belle
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- Son: Age 32
- Oklahoma
- Work full-time outside home
- BroncosDad - July 06, 2009
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Thanks...I checked the local grocer website and used some coupons at the store Saturday, saved about $5. Thanks for the info.
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"Denver Bronco's Fan since 1982"
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- Daughters: Ages 34 & 32
- Grandsons: Ages 2, 2 & 16 months
- Work at home
- Group Leader
- FamilyHost_Annabelle - July 07, 2009
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Thanks...I checked the local grocer website and used some coupons at the store Saturday, saved about $5. Thanks for the info.
- By BroncosDad
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That's great, BroncosDad! $5 here and $5 there adds up!
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Go Green! Eat Lean! Live Clean! - Belle
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- Daughters: Ages 19 & 15
- Forest Hill, MD
- Work part-time outside home
- Helen-NotofTroy - July 07, 2009
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This, along with many items regarding saving with coupons, is to think and plan ahead. It can take some effort but it's good to put forth the worth.
And I completely agree with the buying in bulk. My youngest loves Cocoa Puffs - I think she'd eat it three meals a day if I'd let her. So when I can stock up on it, you can be sure I will.
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