Cereal Stockpiling

Here’s a look at the shelves above my washer and dryer in my small laundry room.

Over 25 boxes of free or cheap cereal (thanks to couponing) on my shelf!

Organized? Somewhat, but really somewhat not. Aesthetically pleasing? Nope. But there’s storage space for my overflow of cereal boxes!

I aspire to one day have a laundry room that looks as awesome as Sarah’s from Thrifty Decor Chick (be sure to scroll all the way down her page to see the whole gorgeous room), but right now, I know I’m not there.

But the point of my post today is not to bash my laundry room or my disorganizational skills, but rather tell you that my cereal stockpile runneth over!  I have gotten so many free or cheap ($0.50 or less) boxes of cereal over the past 10 months. I have a goal to never pay full price on cereal again (if I can help it)!

Here are my tips for creating a stockpile (that overflows from your food pantry to your linen closet, laundry room, or where ever else you have room!):

1. Keep any and all cereal coupons you come across!  I have found many printable coupons from sources like Coupons.com and RedPlum.com. Also keep all your coupon inserts, look for coupons in “strange” places like on your current cereal boxes, in the store (on product displays), in random magazines, on other grocery products, etc.
2. Save your coupons for a really good cereal sale, to maximize your savings. I stocked up on a lot of cereal during this Shoppers Trip and similar trips during their $1 Double Manufacturer Coupons promo which was paired with a great cereal sale and a Store In-Ad Coupon.  Also Giant has had some free or cheap cereal deals lately, due to some great sales paired with $0.55 coupons (which automatically double anytime at Giant).
3. It really is that simple!  Just keep your eyes open for coupons and sales.  You can check out other frugal blogs in the Northern VA/DC Metro area that cover grocery store weekly coupon match-ups and deals here. They’ll mention in their weekly posts if there are any noteworthy sales with coupon match-ups.

When starting my cereal stockpile I didn’t mind eating generic cereal while I waited to redeem my coupons during great sales. You can start small like this and gradually build up a stockpile to last you a long time!

I’m not a pro at this, so if you have any other stockpiling tips, please leave a comment and let me know!  Does anyone else use their laundry room or linen closet for stashing their overflowing stockpile of food?  Please say it isn’t just me 😉