Every Sunday, I look through all the grocery store circulars, clip coupons, and strategize how I can get the most for the least amount of money. If I find a really good sale on a non-perishable item I use regularly, I buy several because then if the item isn’t on sale later, I will have enough stockpiled in my pantry to hopefully last until there is another sale.
Now, I’m not advocating hoarding food by any means, but I am advocating that you stock up on sale items you use frequently (especially if you have extra money to spare and space to store everything). By stocking up on items now when they are priced low, you may be able to protect yourself from food inflation later on -- at least until your stockpile runs out!
For example, last week, I found a great deal on General Mills cereal – ten boxes for $25 -- so I bought ten 14 oz. boxes of Cheerios. Other brands like Lucky Charms and Chex were also included in the sale, but I only eat Cheerios (and for the record, no, I do not get tired of eating the same thing every morning).
Anyway, there was an in-store coupon for $10 off if you bought ten General Mills products so each box of Cheerios only ended up costing $1.50 each.
But, wait, there's MORE! I also had five manufacturer’s coupons – one $1.00/2 boxes and four $.75/2 boxes – so I only ended up paying $1.10 per box. Considering that cereal prices are expected to rise by more than 8% in the next year, I think my $11 was well spent! In fact, if I had more storage space in my house, I probably would have bought twenty boxes!
FREEBIE ALERT:
In last Sunday’s paper, there was a mail-in offer for a free box of Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. All you have to do is complete the original mail-in offer and send in five original coupons* from any cereal brands other than Honey Bunches of Oats in order to receive a coupon good for one box.
*Coupons must have an expiration date of later than April 1, 2008.
