Save Big on Cereal

In my household, cereal is like candy, only better. It tends to be the preferred breakfast, although, really, we don’t just eat it in the morning. Cereal also makes a a great snack, since it generally has more nutrition than many traditional snack foods. Cereal is also wonderful travel food. A little bit of cereal along for the car ride can settle the hungry tummies.

One other thing about cereal is that per ounce, it can be a pretty expensive food. Because of my family’s cereal habits, I’ve been forced to learn some ways to save big on cereal.

Cereal for free

The best price for cereal is when it is free. Believe it or not, it isn’t hard to find some cereal for free. Here is the secret. Save all of those coupons for your cereal, and then apply them to the individual sized products. Many cereals also come in cereal cups that you can buy individually. These cups usually sell for $1, but can be free with your regular coupon. Target is usually a great source for this type of deal.

Cereal for less

What if you want a full-sized box of cereal? You can still get it for less in a couple of ways. Combine the sales, coupons and offers to clean up. For example, my store generally does a promotion every few weeks in which I can get $6 off when I buy four General Mills cereal boxes. I check to see which General Mills cereals are on sale, and then I use coupons for them. Often I can get my cereal for $1.50 or less a box. Check the Sunday inserts for coupons and online for printable coupons.

Another way to get cereal for less is to check the supermarket discount or clearance rack. I’ve found holiday cereal, special promotion cereal, such as a limited time flavor, or cereal with a slightly crushed box for $1 to $1.25 a box.