I don’t eat a lot of cereal, but I used to. Like many American kids, I wolfed down a bowl each morning while reading the puzzles and games on the back of the box and hoping for a great prize inside.
Last week, I decided I needed to eat some healthy grains for a change and strolled down the cereal aisle.
Holy Corn Flakes! Have you priced a box of cereal recently?
A small box of Cap’n Crunch is $3.99. Likewise, Lucky Charms and Honey Bunches of Oats. Wow! I’m glad I no longer have hungry teenagers to feed.
But there is one way to save big on cereal. The Inflation Fighter says to buy the store brands, especially the Great Value brands offered by Wal-Mart.
Some store brands are inferior, but not Great Value. If Wal-Mart puts their name on the box, you can count on it being good. Aisle by aisle, product by product, the Great Value label compares equally with the brand names.
I picked up a box of their Honey Nut O’s and could not tell the difference in that and a box of the real thing, Honey Nut Cheerios. There was a difference in price, however. The store brand was $1.34 a box, less than half of the brand name.
Not every cereal come is the generic brand, but favorites like Raisin Bran, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, Shredded Wheat, Cinnamon Crunch, Bran Flakes, Rice Chex, and several others are available. They are all good and they are definitely money savers in the face of ever-increasing prices.