Originally posted on http://digitaldiatribes.wordpress.com on February 1, 2007
I am known to be a bit ridiculous about certain things. I know that is difficult to believe, but it is nevertheless true. I revel in my idiosyncracies.
Over the last year or so, I have become determined to be the “sales watchdog” for various items. I have a keen eye for a great deal on soda, candy bars, and chips. If you’ll notice, my list consists of many of the necessities of life. My mother-in-law, should she ever read this, will be shaking her head knowingly and thinking “How am I ever going to turn this buffoon around?”
My real skill, however, is cereal hunting. I love boxed cereal. Our kids love boxed cereal. My wife is too much like her mother, and prone to occasional outbursts of injecting nutritional advice on the matter. Something about how boxed cereals aren’t as healthy as blah blah blah… I don’t care what she says. There is nothing like a good bowl of cocoa puffs to start the day off right.
Anyway, the “Wall of Cereal” is my lovely wife’s – um, affectionate – name for the stockpile of cereal I have accumulated through the last few months. But there is a method to my madness. And this is where I start to look a bit goofy, I do admit.
You see, on a weekly basis there are deals at the cereal aisle. Some good, some not so good. But I have this down to a science, my friends. First, the price of a box is meaningless without the corresponding weight. I target 12 cents per oz or better as a potential buy. And you never know when these great deals will end, and I wouldn’t want to be without this critical food item, so I have, oh, 50-60 boxes of cereal in the basement. Awesome, eh?
But I must share the most deft cost-savings in my short hsitory of this endeavor. Last evening I was charged with picking up milk. (See www.thebluehouse.wordpress.com for details) I had two coupons for free gallons of milk. Then, I had a $2 savings coupon when buying any 6 boxes of General Mills Cereal. The grocery store had $10 off when buying 6 boxes of General Mills cereal. In my genius, I purchased 6 boxes of Count Chocula (gotta love those marshmallow bits!) at $2.19 per box. 6 boxes was $13.14. Take $10 off, and it’s $3.14. Take the $2 off, and it’s $1.14! I bought 6 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk for a total of $1.14! Do I rock, or what? (I fully realize that my excitement on this issue is insane. Just go with it, please.) But it doesn’t end there… as part of the promotion, I also received 2 coupons for free gallons of milk because I purchased 6 boxes of General Mills cereal! Based on my calculations, they paid me!
These are the kinds of things I get excited about. Don’t even get me started on the Drawer of Candy.
