Saturday, January 17, 2009

Buying Cereal on Sale


I never pay full price for cereal - NEVER! I mean really, $4.69 for a box of cereal that will feed my family 5 servings? Six servings if we are really lucky.

Nope. Never.

My personal rule is I won't spend more than $2.oo a box for cereal. And it has to contain more than 12 oz. I saw a box on sale the other day for $1.98 and thought I'd get some. Until I realized that there was 9 oz in the box! Seriously, nine ounces? Who are we feeding, anorexic supermodels?

When I can get cereal for $1.50 or $1.25, I'll buy a bunch. Last fall both Albertson's and Safeway had cereal for $1 a box! I bought almost 80 boxes. But we are almost out of our one dollar cereal (ok, we have about 10 boxes left, but whatever) and I've been looking for a good sale.

This week Albertson's has several Quaker cereals (as well as Breakfast Cookies, Chewy Granola Bars, Instant Oatmeal, and Quaker oats) on sale for $1.50 a box when you buy four boxes in a single transaction. I bought 36. My family LOVES Life cereal (and cinnamon Life) so I bought lots of boxes of those. I also bought some Breakfast Cookies - my teenagers don't always take time for breakfast and these are great for eating on the way to school, or after school before track practice or play rehearsal. I bought a one box of instant oatmeal because it had a $1.00 off sticker on it so I got it for 50 cents. I usually do "homemade instant" oatmeal (I'm posting the recipe and directions next week).

Also at Albertson's is a sale of Kelloggs cereals. Four different kinds (Rice Krispies, Raisin Bran, Froot Loops, and I think Frosted Flakes) are on sale for $1.25 a box when you buy four. Hubby loves Raisin Bran so I bought a bunch of boxes of those.

The other thing on sale is Campbell's soups. Most varieties are $1 a can. Chicken Noodle and Tomato are 50 cents a can. I bought bunches. I can usually get lunch for two or three of us out of one can of soup so $1 is a good price. I bought bunches. We use the tomato soup for Toasted Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato soup, so having them for 50 cents makes a cheap dinner.

QUESTION!!! My daughter was having a discussion with her friends the other day over the proper way to label a cheese sandwich that is hot. We have always said "Toasted Cheese" but her friends say it is "Grilled Cheese." While I agree that "Grilled Cheese" is, of course, correct, we have always said toasted cheese -her friends insisted that "Toasted Cheese" was an "Oregon thing."

So which do you say? Toasted Cheese or Grilled cheese. The debate is on!

Jill

8 comments:

Lynn said...

Yep, I think toasted cheese is an OR thing. I grew up in OR and we always called it grilled cheese but I knew a lot of people that called it toasted cheese. Here in OK, I never hear toasted cheese.

alisha said...

Well when i lived in Texas toasted cheese sandwiches were the ones where you put the cheese on the bread open face style and then put it under the broiler. Then you take two of those and slap them together and eat them. Grilled cheese is the kind where you butter the bread and cook it up in a pan. Here in Oregon, both seem to refer to the second type.

Anonymous said...

We say grilled cheese in Illinois! Either way, they're delicious!
Kathy in Illinois

momstheword said...

We only say grilled cheese. So did you buy all 80 boxes at once? I know that some stores reserve the right to limit items that you buy. The most cereal boxes I bought at once time was 30. So did they say anything when you got 80?

Anonymous said...

I have the same rules about creal. I won't pay $2 a box or more, thats crazy!

Nancy said...

We call it grilled cheese. I have a co-worker who is originally from TX and her husband is from England and they call it cheese toast?? Is that southern or English?

Jill said...

So, maybe it is an Oregon thing!

Nancy, I think cheese toast is an England thing, but I've never lived in Texas so maybe not!

Momstheword, no, I didn't buy all 80 boxes all at once. I bought them in three or four trips. I have, however, bought about 50 or so at once at Albertson's before. I always worry what they will think since I'm usually only buying that. But I figure, if they put them on sale, then they can't be mad that I'm buying them! And I've never had anyone "limit" my quantity!

Jill

Rea said...

In Ohio, it's grilled cheese.

I do the same thing with cereal! I was going to take advantage of some great sales going on here, but then looked in my pantry and saw that we still have 22 boxes left! My crew doesn't eat much cold cereal when it is cold out. They are loving eggs now that our chickens are FINALLY laying!

Thanks for the great blog! And thanks for commenting on mine...you were actually the inspiration that got me to do the month of nothing! (And you are one of my "Virtual friends" that had no idea I existed-haha! My family says all my friends are virtual or imaginary (or both!))