"I just bought 672 boxes of cereal"

[noamnety]

From http://www.pennyexperiment.com/i-just-bought-672-boxes-of-cereal/

I still find it hard to believe that I did this. Lucky Supermarket was having a cereal promotion this week (still good until Tues) where if you buy 4 boxes of Kellogg’s Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Fruit Loops and Corn Flakes, each box is $1.39 or $5.56 for all four. I had a lot of left over Blinkie coupons for $0.70 off 1 box of Kellogg’s Apple Jacks, Corn Pops or Fruit Loops. I also had a ton of $1.00 off 2 Kellogg’s Corn Flakes coupons (one reader asked how she could help and I said I could always use cereal coupons and she sent me loads).

I did the first transaction as 4 Fruit Loops using four $0.70 off of 1 coupons. This brought the price down from $5.56 to $2.76. I paid this out of pocket, but received a $3.00 catalina coupon (the ones that come out of the register) for my next purchase.

(snip)

I didn’t have a chance to take photos of everything because I had to house sit tonight and was running late, but here are some of the boxes in the dining room and my room (there are more in other rooms):


I will spend next week driving these to the local food banks in my area (It took 5 carloads to get it all home) and these boxes of cereal will be added to the Penny Experiment food purchased master list.

Someone pointed me to the penny experiment last month. Jeffrey Strain began with one penny in Nov, 2009 that he picked up on a sidewalk, and is working to turn that into a million dollars in food donations to food banks. Right now he's at $17,379.21.

I got inspired by that post and decided to give it a try. In the last three weeks, I've been able to collect/donate $248.06 of food. It cost me $16.81.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Wow! :^D

[noamnety]

4. Yeah, I am in awe of that guy! (nt)

[kentuck]

2. That is impressive....

You did good!

[noamnety]

6. "did" sounds very past tense

I'm still building momentum, working on getting people at my work place to join me. Instead of me doing 5 transactions in a week, I'd like to see 50 people add one or two items to their weekly shopping and funnel it into the local food bank. I might still do multiple transactions, but if I can show them how to get 5 items for free in a given week, I might be able to convince them to donate one and keep the other 4 for themselves.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Good work!

[noamnety]

7. I am shocked at how easy it is.

Depending on the route I drive home, I can hit a couple big grocery stores without even going out of my way.

[one_voice]

5. Wow! Good work!

:yourock:

[pinboy3niner]

8. The title made me think: "Damn! They must have a REALLY GOOD prize!"

:rofl:

[noamnety]

9. LOL

hilarious :D

[pinboy3niner]

15. Your post actually caused lost memory recovery...

...from my long-ago, little-boy days, reaching my grubby hands into EVERY new cereal box, fishing for the prize. :)

ALSO memories of my family's wheat-patterned dinner china--with every plate pulled out of a box of Duz laundry detergent...

Those were the days, my friend, when brand-logo apparel also was given away free, so you never had to pay for the privilege of wearing a T-shirt advertising for some corporation.

Congratulations on your coupon coup--though for some reason I'm reminded of when I worked in a doughnut shop when I was in HS, and how quickly I discovered I'd lost all appetite for doughnuts... :)

[rustydog]

18. Oh-My-GAWD! My mom got some drinking glasses

with Duz I believe! It was some laundry soap. Wow major flashback!

[pinboy3niner]

20. Want another flashback?

I remember gas stations giving away dinnerware or tableware with every fill-up.

It's not much of an exaggeration to say that most of the stuff in our kitchen came gratis from gas stations, detergent mfrs., jelly-makers and probably a few other, similar sources. The company my dad worked for even gave us drinking glasses printed with vintage ads from the Sears Roebuck catalogue (including that company's own SR catalogue ads). I still have some of those glasses today.

[Wheezy]

10. You are made of awesome! n/t

[Alameda]

11. Nice idea....but that isn't healthy food.

[Lyric]

14. The corn flakes are pretty healthy

As for the rest--this is for a food bank. I've used food banks often enough to know that when things are dire enough that you can't even afford to buy food, then worrying about the health of your food is pretty low on the priority list.

[rucognizant]

37. LYRIC.........smug,

SHAME ON YOU! PLEASE RETHINK!
"then worrying about the health of your food is pretty low on the priority list."
I didn't get to be 71 years OLD EATING CORN FLAKES...........................Now because of the stupidity of the cat food commission..my SS is only 5.14 per hr, food prices go up despite THEIR insistance THAT WE HAVE NO INFLATION. Butter jumped .50 lb last week. ( margerine is unhealthy for you & not that much cheaper!)

I just REMOVED MYSELF from the GOVT COMMODITIES LIST - 30 free lbs of food a month, because the canned peas & corn ( I never ate corn) were high in sodium, & I accumulated 4.5lb of corn flakes I COULDN'T EAT! They give me a stomach ache!!!
ANY FOOD THAT HURTS CAN'T BE GOOD! It's Ralston not Kellog, but same dif. I suspect.
INGREDIENTS; milled corn,SUGAR, SALT,CORNSYRUP, ( HFCS) & Malt Syrup. I suspect it is also GM corn they use, as 90% of the corn crop is now infected!
OATMEAL!!!! Remember that commercial with the old guys raving over how oatmeal REDUCES CHOLESTEROL? YOU CAN"T GET THAT AT THE FOOD PANTRY OR FROM THE GOVT.
I talked with the Director of the "local" faith based, food bank, about this rejection & she AGREED WITH ME 100%. SHe said,"It's not about food insufficiency but healthy food, come on in we have plenty of PRODUCE this week!"
We are going to collaborate, on some healthy recipes, to give out to the recipients of the pantry ie: I grow parsley & basil in a window box year round,. Parsley is higher in Vitamin C than citrus fruit,easy to incorporate in anything you cook.
( In the dim distant past when America WAS, invitations to my dinner parties were prized.........I know gourmet cooking & nutrition!)

Presently I am still functioning as a busy CEO, NOT sitting around knitting, IT IS REQUIRING 10 HOURS A DAY OF INTENSIVE WORK ( NOT FUELED BY CORN FLAKES! PROBLEM BEING NO ONE CAN AFFORD TO BUY ARTWORK, & IN COMMERCIAL TERMS THE VALUE SYSTEM OF THE CEO'S HAS CHANGED THEY WANT FREE ARTWORK INSTEAD OF SUPPORTING A GROUP OF SKILLED WORKERS, DOING WHAT THEY ARE GOOD AT. THE ABILITY TO "SEE" ARTWORK IS GONE TOO; FALSE PEOPLE ( 1% WITH THE $ CAN'T SEE OR APPRECIATE. THEY BUY DEAD ARTISTS FOR INVESTMENT!

ANYONE WANT FREE CORNFLAKES? SEND ME $3.00 for shipping & I'll mail you a box!
JUST LIKE THE AUTO WORKERS OR ANY OTHER JOB DESCRIPTION, MY JOB HAS DISAPPEARED!

[Lyric]

44. Right then. You head down to your local food pantry

and tell the poor women with their hungry little children that you'd really LIKE to give them food, but there's nothing there that meets your "health standards", unfortunately, so they're just going to have to do without. After all--better to starve than to consume something "unhealthy". :eyes:

Your problem is that you seem to think that there's a mountain of free "healthy" food out there, and poor people just aren't choosing to eat it. Sure, there are SOME cheap/free healthy foods...but they are things (rice, beans, lentils) that usually require a lot more time/utensils to prepare (things poor people often don't have) and they are not consistently available. Here--take the time to look at the nutritional info for corn flakes. They're fat-free, cholesterol free, low in sugar, and pack a nice vitamin load per serving. Yes indeed, corn flakes are HEALTHY food for children. If they gave you a stomachache, that sounds like an individual digestive problem to me. Maybe you should see a doctor.

http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/kelloggs/corn-flakes/

Also, congratulations on growing your own parsley and basil. I live in an urban area, and I grow parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano, spearmint, chives, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, cabbage, bell peppers, African fish peppers, pumpkins, and strawberries--ALL of which are grown either in porch containers, 5-gallon buckets, or small raised veggie beds that we built by reclaiming the parking area we don't use because we don't have a car. However, I am not naive enough to believe that what *I* do is possible for *everyone*. Gardening supplies cost money. Not everyone HAS extra space that gets plenty of sunlight. Our garden kept us fed this summer, and the produce was certainly healthy, but this was the first year we'd been able to afford the supplies to do it.

As for your "it's not about food insufficiency" friend--WTF? Anybody who claims that hunger in the USA is "not about food insufficiency" is either ignorant, misinformed, or pushing an agenda. I don't know your "friend", so I won't speculate on which of those categories she falls into, but it certainly makes me worried for the poor people who live in your community. The people who run the food banks HERE (both "faith based and secular) will tell you flat-out that their biggest problem is getting FOOD, period. People aren't donating as much. The government isn't giving out as much. They don't have the luxury of being selective about what kinds of food they give out. They're killing themselves just trying to bring in enough food to meet basic, survival-calorie needs for the people who use food banks the most--usually homeless men and women, disabled adults, the elderly, and single Moms who are trying to stretch their food stamp dollars out by supplementing from the food bank.

And honestly--if people want cornflakes, they can buy a box down at their own local store for less than the $3 you want for shipping.

:shrug:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

83. The lack of carbs ate your brain away. Go get treatment.

:crazy:

[Jamastiene]

129. Another one for the ol' ignore list. n/t

[pipoman]

139. You do realize that typing in all caps is yelling, no?

People who aren't your spouse, children, or grandchildren don't usually respond well to other people screaming nearly unintelligible thoughts in their direction. Try calming down and responding in a manner you would wish to be addressed, people react better that way.

[Sweet Charming Dem]

142. Why should I send you $3 for a box of corn flakes when I can buy then for $1.19 at Aldis?

But honestly, this post reads like a bottle of Dr. Bronner's soap.

[Cal Carpenter]

48. Not to mention

that a lot of people (who may or may not use food banks) actually *like* this type of cereal and *want* this type of cereal, and if given a choice will select corn flakes or froot loops or whatever over Kashi twigs and sticks or steel-cut oats or something much healthier. Cereal is expensive and ALWAYS in demand at food banks - this is greatly appreciated by the food banks and clients, I assure you.

Yes it is important that food banks try to procure healthier food and many of them are doing a great job at doing so (long with nutrition and coking classes for clients, etc), but people want what they want and it sounds horribly condescending to me when people imply that those choices should be made by someone other than the client.

I live in a community with a great food rescue program, and they have this ongoing dilemma with bread - there are tons of good bakeries in town, plus 'gourmet' types of grocery stores who bake their own bread, and so everyday they get large quantities of this great, crusty, unsliced bread. Well, most of the clients want soft pre-sliced bread, white or wheat, but the food rescue can't give those awesome whole, healthy crusty loaves away, very few people want them.

Fortunately they now have a 'processing room' with a bread slicer, so they can slice the crusty stuff and re-bag it, and they've starting using volunteers to tear some of it into little bits and dry them for bread crumbs to distribute.

Anyway, the point is that the food has to be culturally relevant and, like everyone else, food bank clients should be able to eat what makes them happy - health is more than nutrition/diet. It's about the client, not the donor.

[noamnety]

49. Thanks for making that point.

If someone goes to the food bank and there is a sweetened cereal that someone donated for free, nobody is forcing the client to take that product from the food bank. If they opt not to take it, they are no better or worse off than if that item had never been donated at all. In a regular store, clearly there is a demand for it; I'm not sure why someone thinks that there wouldn't be an equal demand for it in a food bank.

I used to be on WIC coupons and some of what we got there was more sweetened or processed than we would have liked, given infinite options. But we didn't have infinite options. We grew what we could on a 10x10 plot I rented for the summer for ten bucks, and we supplemented with the WIC products.

Now I can afford to buy groceries without assistance. Most of what I eat is pretty healthy. But sometimes I have dessert. Sometimes I have a snack bar that has sugar AND salt in it. Nobody lectures me on how that shouldn't even be made available to me as a choice. But when we start talking about poor people, we suddenly think that because they are poor, they should not even have the option of eating something with sugar, ever. Sugar's available for the well off, it shouldn't be available to those under the poverty level I guess.

This goes hand in hand with welfare queen mythology, with the feeling of superiority and paternalism that if the person ahead of us is using food stamps we should have a little bit of a right to decide for them how they should eat (but they don't have the reciprocal right to decide what we should buy), or jumping online to post that the person ahead of us used food stamps and was wearing a pair of designer jeans. They should know to put on clothes-of-shame before heading out to buy groceries.

[maryf]

74. "health is more than nutrition/diet"... amen

"It's about the client, not the donor." amen again... I recommend this whole post...

[noamnety]

16. If you consider why that is, it makes sense.

My own donations have been a range, the biggest lot was last week, 20 pounds of cheese (34 cents a pound). The next biggest purchase was soups, progresso high fiber and low sodium soups, select harvest soups, and some basic campbells stuff.

Many of the food banks are running very low though, and I'm not gonna fault anyone for giving a box of cereal to someone who may have skipped the last meal or two. If I had $82 like he spent that day and my choices came down to donating 672 boxes of cereal with it or 40 bunches of broccoli, I'd go for feeding 672 people.

If we had infinite money, of course the most nutritious and appealing food would be donated. One of the issues involved in this is that the way people can afford to make it work is by matching a manufacturer's coupon with a store coupon with a current sale with a catalina offer. We just don't get manufacturer coupons for produce very often. In three weeks I've seen more soup and cereal coupons than I can count. I've seen one coupon for a cantaloupe and one for a watermelon. That's it. And of course that's not the stuff that's subsidized by our government, so the costs are way higher.

[sandnsea]

19. No but it fills the tummy

And oatmeal does get old after a while, especially for a little kid.

[pinboy3niner]

22. Cereals are fortified, so they actually do provide good nutrition

The drawback is in the sweetened cereals that give you WAAAY more sugar than is good for you.

Still, as an alternative to breakfasts that include bacon, sausage, buttered toast, gravy, etc., cereal is usually a much better choice, even if you eat the sweetened ones.

[Dappleganger]

29. Oh no!

Let's trash it and take over the empty boxes instead.

[pinboy3niner]

33. They're too small. A refrigerator box makes a better house.

Something we all may need to keep in mind... :(

[Abq_Sarah]

34. No, it's not... BUT

People who don't know where their next meal is coming from generally aren't that picky about how they fulfill their energy requirements. If a couple of boxes of cereal or some mac and cheese can keep someone going until they're back on their feet, it's not a bad thing.

[rucognizant]

38. Back on their feet?

How do you propose that elders on SS can GET BACK ON THEIR FEET? I've been trying to do that for the last 20 years, other friends my age have as well. We are working against a Tsunami of DISASTER CAPITALISM!
FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY PEER GROUP, REOGANIZING THE MARKET PLACE, AGISM IN HIRING, ( I KNOW YOU GIDDY STOCK MARKET INVESTORS OF THE 90'S DIDN'T MEAN ANY HARM.............BUT MY CUSTOMERS BEGAN INVESTING INSTEAD OF KEEPING THE CAPITAL IN THE MARKET PLACE.......)
THE 90's IS WHEN 80% OF MY FOOD OF CHOICE & HABIT, DISAPPEARED FROM THE MARKETS DEMIGRAPHICS YOU KNOW; DON'T SELL ENOUGH?; TAKE IT OFF THE ORDER LIST.) & THEN OF COURSE MADOFF & OTHERS MADE CHUMPS OUT OF ALL!
SMITH BARNEY TERMINATED MY MONEY MARKET FUND RAISING THE ENTRY TO PARTICIPATE TO $5,000. SAVINGS ACCOUNT INTEREST RATE WAS ONLY 1%!

I AM INTELLIGENT, CREATIVE, RESOURCEFUL, ENERGETIC, TALENTED, DOESN'T MATTER STILL CLAWING AT THAT GLASS WALL..........

WAKE UP! YOU'RE NEXT!

[Regret My New Name]

46. Your posts are impossible to take seriously...

[TexasObserver]

54. Isn't that the truth?

Hard to take seriously is dead on.

"Unbelievable" is another word that applies.

[Name removed]

86. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Missy Vixen]

122. I enjoy that forum

The people that populate it are some of the kinder and most thoughtful that remain here.

In the meantime, what's your point?

[donco]

78. WHAT...WHAT AFTER

ALL THE CAPS I PUT UP?

[SmileyRose]

35. Starvation isn't that healthy either

we do what we can..................

[Swede]

59. Let them eat cake.

:shrug:

[customerserviceguy]

87. Ok, then you find a coupon deal on tofu

My hat's off to the OP, who was at least able to provide some basic nutrition to hungry folks, all off a major corporation's marketing budget.

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. K&R

[blue sky at night]

13. you peeked my interest!

I am checking out the whole thing right now...thanks!

[noamnety]

17. If you want to try it yourself, let me know.

I now have an extensive list of resources, none of which require clipping hundreds of coupons from newspapers because I don't think I could stay organized enough to pull that off. :)

[blue sky at night]

84. please...send me what you have if you don't mind....

my church is very much interested in feeding the hungry, we may be able to get a bunch of folks interested.

[noamnety]

88. Your profile says Ohio.

A good Ohio based resource is http://dealseekingmom.com/

That should cover the major stores in your area. In the blue navigation bar on that site, store deals is the one you'd want. It's broken into drug stores and groceries. If your local food bank doesn't collect toiletries the drug stores won't help much. (Mine just does food.)

Partway down on the right side on that site, you'll see three links to printable coupons. The first time you use one of those, you will need to install the magic coupon printer. The purpose of it is for the manufacturers to prevent coupon fraud. You'll see it lets you print two copies of a particular coupon from a computer, no more. And each that it prints will have a unique scan number on it. You can't set your printer to multiple copies or print to a pdf to bypass the system, and please don't photocopy the coupons, use the original unique ones. The reason is the store won't get reimbursed for photocopies so that's not any different than flat out shoplifting. Where stores had to deal with that sort of abuse, they stopped taking them altogether. It's better to stay within the system and be able to take advantage of it long term than get away with one or two deals through theft. Make sure you share that with your church people, some may not realize that photocopies screw up the system.

If you don't run a food pantry at your church and want to donate to an existing one, here's a link to search for the closest ones: http://pantrynet.org/ZipCalc.asp I used that to find the one I'm donating to.

[blue sky at night]

98. hey thanks....

I will start organizing the info so we can look it over!

[HCE SuiGeneris]

25. I have to do it

For future reference, it's piqued, not peeked. :hide:

[blue sky at night]

85. hey thanks...

i was excited from checking into the links....that's the problem with English, right sound; wrong word.

[sandnsea]

21. I've tried this for myself and I just don't get it

Did the person make them ring up each purchase separately so they could get the catalina and then use it right there? I always seem to find something cheaper when I take a coupon in. Kellogs Corn Flakes is 50 cents off, but you look at the store brand and it's a dollar off. If I tried the penny experiment, I'd be at the food bank.

What am I doing wrong?

[noamnety]

24. Yep, you're missing something.

What you described is exactly why I didn't use coupons until this summer. The brand name with a coupon is more expensive than the store brand without.

The key is to wait til the sale aligns with the coupons.

My cheese deal went like this:

1/2 pound of Kraft cheese = $2.74
10 blocks of it = $27.40
My store had a sale last week, they were 3 for $5, just for the one week, making 10 blocks = $16.67
Kraft has a promotion right now where you get a $5 catalina if you spend $15 on their cheese/dairy products. That took it down to $11.67.
And they have a deal where you can print two coupons for $5 off 5 cheeses. I used two, which took me down to $1.67 (for 5 pounds of cheese).

This week I was able to print more cheese coupons but I'm not spending them now because the sale is over. I'm waiting to see if any other stores mark it down again before the coupons expire.

Instead of squandering the cheese coupons this week, I bought select harvest soup. Normally it's $2.09, but this week it was on sale for 99 cents. I had a few manufacturer coupons for a dollar off a can, I had them last week but I didn't want to spend a dollar on a can of soup so I just sat on them. This week, they weren't just on sale - the store had a store coupon you could print online to get a 5th can free if you bought 4. So I "bought" four cans for free with the manufacturer coupon, and used the store one to get the 5th free. I did that at two stores, swiped two cans for my own pantry, and the other 8 cans are going to the food bank.

As for using the catalinas, some can be rolled right onto the next purchase and some have to be spent on something else; if you use a cheese catalina to buy the next set of cheeses, you'll get the immediate discount but a new catalina might not print out. I've just been saving them all from one week figuring I can use them the following week for whatever odd deal is going on then. And if they are about to expire, I buy coffee beans or milk. I'm not working in the quantities that that guy is, though - I'm not sure how he handled it.

[sandnsea]

27. The coupons say you can't use them together

So you go up to the counter with 10 packages of cheese, (or 9?) So you buy them for $15 or more if you bought 10. Then you use the $5 catalina, where'd you get that? Then, you've got two $5 off coupons, on top of that. The checker lets you use those coupons in combination with the catalinas, because the coupons always say one coupon per purchase and you can't conmbine them with other offers.

[noamnety]

30. You can't use two manufacturer coupons on the same item.

You can stack a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon. And if you buy two packages of cheese (even though it's in one transaction) that's two purchases (two items you purchased).

I went to the counter with 10 packages of cheese for $16.67. I used two manufacturer coupons on my ten purchases to get the cost down to 6.67. I didn't use a cheese catalina to pay for it, I put in 6.67 out of pocket, but I got back $5 in change (in the form of the $5 catalina).

I put that 5 dollars away to spend on groceries the following week. (and in reality I'm not spending 6.67 out of pocket because I've got catalinas from the previous week to use up from when I was buying progresso soup). The catalinas that say "$2 off your next purchase" aren't treated like a coupon off a specific item; they are treated more like cash, an amount taken off the total bill.

[sandnsea]

31. Thank You!

That really helped A LOT! I only have two stores, a Safeway and a Fred Meyer, so I don't have as many opportunities to get great deals. But even a few a year help.

[noamnety]

50. Here's a link for you

http://www.becentsable.net/store-deals/
You can search on your state to find people who track the stores in your area.

Nothing too great at safeway last week unless you wanted salad dressing for free. Useful if you regularly go through bottled dressing, I like just making my own.

And I took a peek at fred meyer. If you are a soy milk drinker you could have gotten that for 50 cents instead of $2.50 last week. (Looks like the online coupons are gone now - sometimes they have a limit of how many people can print them, and once that number's hit, they pull it offline.)

[pinboy3niner]

52. noamnety did the homework and figured it out brilliantly

It's not a situation that arises every day. But in this case, there was a decided advantage for a smart shopper.

I have tons of supermarkets near me--Von's/Safeway, Albertsons, Ralph's, Stater Bros., Food4Less, Smart&Final, and Vallarta (a great Mexican supermarket).

But, from my time in OR, I still miss Freddy's. I used to love shopping there, and a special plus was the way they pressure-fried their chicken for a moist--no, juicy--and tasty fried chicken. You may be limited in your supermarket choices, but if you've got Fred Meyer, I have little sympathy for you. :)

[noamnety]

57. I wish I could take credit for brilliantly figuring it out.

I was just following directions from a blog where someone else had done all the mental work.

[pinboy3niner]

60. I prefer to see you as brilliant. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

:)

[defendandprotect]

107. Just more questions if you have time .....

Why don't the food banks do this?

And, needless to say, because of the situations often of people who need food,

it makes it more difficult to get fresh vegetables and fruit to them. Fruit is

unbelievably expensive right now. Most stories, I think, as well -- if they know

that this is for charitable giving -- will also throw in a discount?

Plus, when you buy anything by the case, there should also be a discount for anyone?

Was also wondering if in summer anyone approaches the Farmers' Markets with the idea

of having a customer buy something for those in need -- let's say a consumer buys

5 items or more -- and then one item to donate which might be 10% off?

These donated items could be piled up on a Saturday and probably enough to keep

food banks going for the week? Your cheese of course has to be kept at least cool,

doesn't it?

but Yogurt would be a problem cause has to be refrigerated?

So - celery is fine -- no cooking --

Carrots can be eaten raw -- just washed and sliced --

Oranges are very expensive right now and haven't even seen any from CA lately!!

Only South Africa! Bananas might still be a good buy and not perishable.

Apples, as well, right now might come in in bags of 20 or so -- it's macintosh season.

Unfortunately, things like rice and potatoes and pancake mix and BEANS all need cooking.

Don't even know if the shelters have cooking facilities or whether they just connect

users with a soup kitchen?

When I look at this my feeling grows that we really need to be POUNDING on our Congress/

President to get something done about poverty in America!! Especially that it's increasing

rather than decreasing!

Thanks for your post and your kindness -- good to see!!

[noamnety]

131. Wow that's a lot of questions

and here I am, obviously no expert on anything just three weeks into the project.

I think food banks do leverage their money, often going through government sources to get discounted food. I don't know that they do the couponing thing. Whether that's due to better deals on government surplus or some other reason (staffing shortages?) I couldn't say.

I doubt most stores will give you a discount on a case that's already being bought at an extreme low price - these are loss leaders, remember, so they're more likely to try to limit the amount you can buy than give you a break if you buy too many.

I know some farmers markets donate to forgotten harvest, but how individuals approach such things across the country, gosh I couldn't begin to guess. My best advice - if it seems like a good idea to you and you have the time and resources to follow up in your community, give it a try.

My cheese were kept in my home fridge over the weekend, and I acquired a used minifridge at work for storing donations that come in during the day (and keeping my cheese there until I could deliver it on my way home from work). The blog guy did some large purchases with refrigerated foods and he drove straight from the grocery store to the food bank.

The foodbank I'm working with has no cooking facilities. Some of their food isn't well suited to homeless populations as a result - although there is a segment of homeless people that live under our city and I know some of them have underground grills.

[defendandprotect]

141. Thank you --

will try to do what I can --

[noamnety]

62. As I'm reading more of his blog today

I see that most of his things he seems to be purchasing at safeway!

[CoffeeCat]

92. Hey, you're speaking my language...

I am a couponer, and I just posted in this thread about my 100 boxes of General Mills cereals.

I've been couponing and deal seeking for about eight years and I've managed to get our family's
grocery bill down to $50 per week. Plus, I have a huge stockpile in our basement and I donate
quite a bit. I give a lot to churches and urge people to come to me if someone is in need. I
haven't paid a dime for toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, toothbrushes,
laundry soap, dishwashing detergent, Ziploc containers/bags and loads of other essentials.

Nice that you're showing people how to do this! It's great to see someone out of the coupon
world talking about this way of shopping. Usually people out of the coupon realm find this
all mystifying!

Do you belong to any Websites that help you find deals? I find that refundcents is extremely
helpful.

Take care and great post(s)! :)

[noamnety]

105. I'll have to take a look at that site.

I was tracking our groceries before I started doing this because of a discussion on another forum about frugal eating. Making my own yogurt with my own blackberry jam from the $4 cases got that cost from 40 cents a yogurt to about 6 cents and there's no chemicals or HFCS added.
I can make my own mayo for less than a dime. I made my own laundry soap based on a DU thread - $8 for enough to last over a year: http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8837637#8859819

We aren't vegetarians which would lower our costs more. But buying whole tenderloins let me serve dinners with filet mignon that cost about a dollar per serving even with side dishes. Dinners with chicken are closer to 40 cents per person. For two people, I was spending about 20 a week on groceries without the coupons, but our personal care stuff wasn't included in that.

I realized this week that my views on that have changed now too. I was looking at a tube of toothpaste thinking 25 cents??? I can probably hold off and get it free next week. And deodorant I would have paid 4 or 5 bucks for without thinking because it's a necessity, now I'm looking at that stuff thinking hmmm, still over 50 cents, think I'll hold off.

I wish I'd known about this 8 years ago! I really just thought the coupon users were taking 15 or 20 cents off an item, I had no idea what you all were up to.

[tammywammy]

110. I have never heard of being so creative with coupons!

I found a local woman's website that has our local grocery ads.

I'm gonna look into this, it would save me money and allow me to donate more. This is great!

[HCE SuiGeneris]

23. K & R

:yourock:

[Historic NY]

Okay but your still going to need milk...dry cereal sucks.

[noamnety]

28. Yes, but it's easier to afford milk

if you don't have to pay for both the cereal AND the milk, and some of the food banks may have fresh or powdered milk. The one I'm donating to does a big fall fundraiser. If the foodbank already has some of the staples donated, they can target what they raise to some very specific needs.

If you read his blog, you'll see that some weeks he's donating yogurt, some weeks fig newtons, some weeks cheese. It just depends from week to week on what deals he's getting. He writes: "I sometimes get comments that the food that I donate isn’t always the most nutritious food. It is true that when sugary cereals go on sale and I can get them for free / nearly free, I will buy them. After talking with the coordinators of the local food banks, they would rather have the food than nothing at all." And I am guessing that is also the case with their clients, that they would rather have food with sugar than no food at all.

[defendandprotect]

109. Not really ... I'm a Vegan ... I eat banana with Kamut flakes over them in morning....

usually with a nectarine or some other fruit -- oranges in winter -- on the side --

[Historic NY]

26. Okay but your still going to need milk...dry cereal sucks.

[TexasObserver]

32. You're awesome.

[rucognizant]

40. NOT!

rethink!
You are buying into the corporate tricks with the coupons......................
Has anyone volunteered your time to WORK in GARDEN for a food pantry? That is needed more!
During WWII we had rationing; BUT ate plenty of produce! That & the early med advances are why people are living longer now.
Later med advances adding to the problem. not so hot so. creating illness, as food corps created monstrous food!
Younger people are dying younger now because of it!

[Pab Sungenis]

45. Well, here's a suggestion.

Why not open a local SEED BANK?

Get people to purchase and donate seeds for vegetables and fruit, and teach people to grow their own vegetables.

I'm one who is all for growing your own. My grandfather did that out behind our house every year. Grew his own tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and watermelon.

We're starting to do the same. We purchased two tomato plants from a local farm this year for $9.00. We got about $30.00 worth of tomatoes (if we had bought them at the store) out of them. Tomatoes for sandwiches, salads, and home made sauce and ketchup. For next year we're ripping out one of our flower beds (I hate the ugly bushes the developer planted for us anyhow) to put in a vegetable patch.

Why not get together a group of like minded volunteers to collect seeds, start growing plants, then hand them out to the poor while teaching them how to plant, grow, and cultivate them?

[noamnety]

51. You're very angry at people who are donating time and money

and I'm not sure why.

My produce that I grow isn't enough for a food bank but sometimes it works its way into the classroom, where I feed any kid who wants something from me to eat, no charge, doesn't matter what their income is, doesn't matter if their parents make more or less than me - because I don't want to single out the poor kids. You're hungry? You want a PBJ? Go make yourself one, the sandwich table is stocked all year, even for students who aren't in my class, even for kids whose names I don't know. This week I bought 6 pounds of bananas to put in my room. Sometimes I make 3 or 4 crockpots of lentil soup and put it in there.

As for the food bank, last time I was there they had a case of fresh tomatoes and two other cases of fresh veggies a local farmer or farm market had donated. They get that from people who have the resources to provide it.

You can get pissed off that the foodbank distributes other items in addition to that, I guess. But it makes you look silly when you're angry that they aren't solely concentrating on your dietary preferences and medical restrictions instead of creating something that replicates a healthier version of a traditional grocery store.

If I start force feeding you kraft cheese or canned soup against your will, then you can come complain to me about it. Until then you can be indifferent about it. But to be pissed off that an item others want, but you don't, has appeared in a foodbank without your approval is absurd.

[TexasObserver]

53. Your tunnel vision on this topic leaves you blind to the obvious.

Coupons are not a corporate trick. They're a way to save money and extend dollars.

If you want to advocate gardens, start a thread about it.

[noamnety]

69. Coupons are probably intended to be a corporate marketing trick.

But that doesn't mean we're obligated to use them in the way they are intended. We're not morally bound to be their consumer monkeys.

The intent of manufacturer coupons is to entice you into brand loyalty so in the future you'll pay more for their branding.
The intent of store coupons is to lure you in on a loss leader or low profit product, assuming you'll buy other high profit items once you're there.

I tend to shop more in the way that blog owner recommends. Instead of planning meals for a day or a week and shopping based on a menu you came up with, buy the food you can store in a pantry or freezer only when you get a great deal and buy enough to get you through to the next time it's on sale. And my meals are planned around what's in the house, instead of the other way around.

My produce I buy at a small fruit market, and meat I buy from one of two local butchers, so I'm only getting dairy and pantry items at the grocery store. I think my karma's okay on the corporate thing. I've sent a bunch of people to my local butcher, and I stopped in yesterday at the fruit market and spoke with the manager. I asked for (and got) permission to scan their ads and put them on my website, so the local place is getting some online publicity. With that, I can send it out to another local blog that tracks local retailers. It's extra free advertising for them, to help the local farmers stay in business. The manager said he'd see if he could get me the pdf files emailed so I don't even have to scan them.

I'm trying to work both parts of the system - promote local farmers while redistributing corporate wealth to those who have little.

[TexasObserver]

70. Yes, the corporations have their purposes issuing coupons.

They promote brand names. They promote product lines. They introduce new products. They help products with lagging sales. They help move excess inventory. Sometimes they're even loss leaders.

As you note, just because a corporation has a business intent that does not change the savings which are available. Money saved is better than money earned.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

36. KUDOS to you!!

Well done. VERY well-done. :applause:

[B Calm]

39. Ever thought about starting a meal-worm farm? Fisherman would be

banging on your door and handing you money all hours of the day.

[noamnety]

58. hahaha

no I don't want to go into the professional worm farming business, and I'm not home all hours of the day - and the hours I am home, I'm not looking to be interrupted at odd hours. :)

[marzipanni]

99. At the front of the independent grocery I go to

a local man keeps a refrigerator stocked with various types of bait. I guess it's sold on consignment.

[indimuse]

41. How Fantastic!

knr! ;)

[rucognizant]

42. LESS IS MORE

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY!
Give MORE healthy food to FEWER people!
WHAT ABOUT NUTS AND DRIED FRUIT. I practically lived on them back when I could afford to eat the food of my choice. I stayed slim and had lots of energy!

Peanuts are PROTEIN!
You are given peanut butter ( not pure ground peanuts usually with sugar & salt added) with Govt. rations & food pantry. BUT you have to put it on bread!

You can make a meal out of a handful of nuts...........very healthy! Better still with an apple or orange.
There is Planters Nut-TRI-rition HEART HEALTHY, mix very good for you.....
South diet mix also!

[noamnety]

55. What you recommended is $11.47 a pound.

I spent $16 and some change.

You must be in a very well off area or the food bank you are using has rich donors if it is so well stocked that their clients would be better served with a donation of:

One jar of nuts that weighs a pound and a half

vs.

40 half pound blocks of cheese and 74 cans of soup.

[awoke_in_2003]

100. you need to seriously consider...

going and fucking yourself. If just 5% of our population put this much effort into helping those around them this would be a much better country.

[noamnety]

103. In fairness, I'm sure they mean well.

Unfortunately they are basing their theory on a perceived notion of hunger in America which doesn't track with the actual system we have.

I know they claimed that some food bank director agreed with them. But I am equally sure they misunderstood what the food bank director was saying.

The proof would be this: Go back to the food bank director who supposedly agrees that feeding less people healthier food is a good solution. Offer to trade them a 1.5 pound jar of nuts for 100 boxes of cereal. See if they take the trade.

That would prove to them what a food bank prefers when working in the actual world we live in.

[awoke_in_2003]

104. I know, it just pisses me off...

growing up, we had to depend more than once on the local food bank. I have gone to bed hungry on more than one occasion. And we were lucky- I am just 2 generations removed from the Appalachian coal mines. I know the level of poverty and hunger in this country, and NO ONE should make light of the good you did.

[Dappleganger]

111. Try this experiment:

Go to to a homeless shelter and put out bowls of peanuts and bowls of Kellogg's Frosted cereal.

Let us know what happens.

[defendandprotect]

112. Government could use a lot of positive change on foods for needy ....

Why couldn't they provide food banks or shelters with the machines to "cream"

JUST peanuts into peanut butter. They'd probably have access to excess peanuts,

as well!

The government has to think in healthier ways -- and maybe Michelle Obama could be

a help there? THEN, consumers can be healthier -- including those who are dependent

upon food banks.

[rasputin1952]

43. Excellent work!

:hug:

[PJPhreak]

47. A Hardy Kick and Recommend!

As a recent food bank user,all I can say is...

You Rock!!

[raouldukelives]

56. Big K&R! Awesome!

[noamnety]

61. Some more background on the 672 cereals guy

The first penny he picked up, he sold for $10 as an initial fundraiser. He cashed that in for pennies.

100 pennies were sent out to artists to turn into art postcards. Eventually that art will be sold and the proceeds used to buy more donations for foodbanks. Here's an example of one of the cards from the gallery (http://www.pennyexperiment.com/penny-art-gallery):



Here's a photo of him getting ready to make a delivery:

[auntAgonist]

65. Awesome! This guy is just AWESOME

in my book!

[formercia]

63. Don't sign up for anything

I fell for one of these scams a while back and am still getting tons of spam mail.

Free Spam is what you get when they sell your name.

[muriel_volestrangler]

72. What 'scam' are you referring to? Or what signing up?

Have you read the blog? Or the OP?

[aikoaiko]

64. Corn Flakes: John Harvey Kellogg's cure for the propensity to masturbate.

True story.

[customerserviceguy]

89. And King C. Gillette

invented something in 1901 to deal with the palms of those who wouldn't take the Kellogg cure.

Doesn't matter, both things are useful to people who don't worry about masturbation.

[fishwax]

66. wow -- that's pretty inspiring

Thanks for sharing that--time to go filter through some links and see what I can do/learn :bounce:

k/r!

:kick:

[noamnety]

67. If anyone here tries it out

even if you just get a small amount to donate, I'd love to have it posted in this thread. And you can submit your donations on his blog as well so he can track how many donations he triggered through his blog.

[defendandprotect]

114. More questions --

are food banks open every day?

do they connect with shelters?

And do you rely simply on websites for your coupons or do you

search newspapers -- presumably store flyers, as well?

I don't even look at the newspaper any longer!

[noamnety]

119. They aren't all open every day.

I like the one I'm donating to because although they cater to veterans, they happen to be the only one that is open late on Fridays in my county. So if someone calls 211 for help on a Friday, United Way will refer them to this bank and they'll of course help them out regardless of their status or nonstatus as a veteran. From the way they described that to me, I got the sense that other banks in our area aren't open on weekends at all. I know mine isn't. I can't speak for all of them in all areas, though.

I don't know how they connect with shelters, maybe someone else does. But if they are in the 211 system, the shelter people would have a way to refer people to those resources, and the 211 operators would direct the call as appropriate.

Me, I'm relying on websites. The websites then tell you what coupons to use.

An example from bargainstobounty.com:
$0.99 Barilla Whole Grain or Piccolini Pasta, 12-16 oz
-$1.00/2 Piccolini coupon (from 8-29 SS) or $1.00/2 Whole Grain coupon (from 8-29 SS or printable)
$0.49 each when you buy 2 with coupon

---------
Decoded, that means the barilla whole grain is on sale this week for 99 cents. If you still have the newspaper inserts from Aug 29, look for the SmartSource insert, you'll find the dollar coupon when you buy two, or you can print one online (on that blog it's a clickable link).

From what I've read most people don't go through the circulars clipping all the coupons when they get them. They just file that weeks inserts in a folder marked Aug 29, then when a website refers to a coupon from it (which could be months later), it's easy to find and clip it just when you're ready to use it. That way you don't have a hundred little scraps of paper that are impossible to organize.

[defendandprotect]

124. Thank you--

This would seem like a terrific idea for any club as a side activity --

I'll see what I can do with it on my own -- but my experience with trying to

deliver to food banks wasn't good. 'Cause I was trying to provide some fresh

foods -- but hard to find, not open -- up a couple of flights. Will try harder.

Thanks, again!

[noamnety]

130. Before I collected anything

I called to ask their hours and what types of donations they would accept. Some have fridges, some might not. Some have freezer chests. Some take shampoos and toothpaste, others are just food.

[defendandprotect]

140. Ok -- so checking in advance is wise -- thanks!

[brewens]

68. You're gonna need a shitload of milk! n/t

[w8liftinglady]

71. personally,I think that was a great action on your part.

i live in a financially depressed area...the large majority of low-income are caucasian with an 8th grade education.The kids traditionally eat cereal and Mountain Dew for breakfast,as the parents are also typically meth users.Our local church food pantry administers "good foods" like rice and beans,but they take time to cook,something these parents simply do not,or can not do.easy to prepare meals for the kids (since the big kids often prepare for the younger kids),like cereal,sandwiches,juice boxes...those seem to be the type of things that survive in my area.
Thank you for the effort to help these folks.It means a lot to the kids...and the parents.

[maryf]

73. K&R

:yourock:

[earcandle]

75. WOW! Here is a song called "Power Source" dedicated to your accomplishments!

this is a song from the Integrity Tone Scale by The Experimental Bunnies. Its all instrumental.

Power Source

The whole album can be heard (for free in its entirety) here.

Integrity Tone Scale

The music was written to score the educational module about the Integrity Tone Scale here:

Integrity Tone Scale Training Module

The original scale was written and offered to entrepreneurs back in 1978 by Vern Black and David Goodstein.

Anybody take this course back then?

My former husband did, and gave me a copy of the scales.
I love it so much I published it on my noodlebrain productions site, with credits to the source.

Enjoy!

[OneGrassRoot]

76. Nice!

Kudos to you and the OP!!!

K&R :)

[earcandle]

77. Thank you for the Wishadoo Link! I will post it to my newsite!

[OneGrassRoot]

79. Oh, thank you very much! :) n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

80. aewsome!

[ooglymoogly]

81. kr nt

[Stockholm]

82. Tip of the hat

Nicely done!

[TheCowsCameHome]

90. Wow, a cereal killer, right here on good old DU.

:thumbsup:

[CoffeeCat]

91. I did this last week with a General Mills cereal promotion...

If you know how to coupon and you follow the Websites that alert you to these promotional deals--anyone
can do it.

In my case--General Mills Cereals were $1.66. There was a $10 off 6 GM cereals coupon in our local grocery-store flyer.
I also had $1/2 coupons off General Mills Cereals (you can combine these manufacturer coupons with store coupons).

So, I got 100 boxes of free cereal.

Even better---for every 6 GM cereals that I purchased, I got a $6 Catalina coupon. These coupons are good for ANYTHING
in the store, on your next order. I had more than $100 in Catalinas and I've used them all this week on groceries for
our family.

I donated 50 boxes of cereal to our local food pantry, I have 50 for our family--and we got $100 in free groceries. I know
I spent less than $5 on this deal.

General Mills and Kellogg's usually have promotions like this 5-7 times a year.

Cheerios anyone?

[noamnety]

93. LOL

My husband would have some words for me if I tried to stash 50 boxes of cereal in the house! He's given me a little grief over the 8 free boxes of ziploc bags I got last week. But I get chicken in bulk at 49 cents a pound normally, and bag and freeze it. When blackberries were 4 dollars a CASE, I bought about 8 cases, made jam and froze the rest. It just made sense to get a year's supply of freezer bags for free while I could, so I understand where you are coming from.

He went through some funny transformations over the last month.

Week one: What the hell are you doing? (followed by stories of mocking me in front of his coworkers.)
Week two: Sheepishly asking me to email him links to some of the sites because his coworkers asked for them.
Week three: "If you'd started this 15 years ago, I could have retired by now."

I had to pick up milk at Krogers today. I was looking at their nonsale prices. The ten cans of soup I got yesterday at a different store completely free would have cost me over 30 dollars. The cheese I was buying for 17 cents was $3.99 each there today. $159 dollars vs. $6.67 that I paid. It blew me away.

[CoffeeCat]

95. My husband does give me grief!

But, we do have a large pantry in the basement--where we store our stockpile.

I love that you were able to find a good deal on the Kraft Cheese! I have those $5 Kraft coupons (4 of them),
and I am just waiting for a great deal. I have not heard that a Kraft Catalina promotion is happening around
here (Iowa, Hy Vee stores or Cub Foods).

Have you seen that Super Target has a $1 off any produce coupon right now? You can get free or very cheap
fresh produce. You can print off 3 coupons per computer. I assume since you are a guerrilla couponer
that you're familiar with Target coupons. Bummer is...I am boycotting them right now, but I still had to
get that free produce. I figured...it was on their dime!

I totally get your responses about your husband. It took him a while to appreciate the bags, and bags and bags
of stuff coming into the house. He does love that our grocery bill went from $600-$700 per month, so about
$50 per week--and we've got a stocked pantry.

Best of luck to you with the couponing and saving! Today's Sunday coupons were fantabulous! Four inserts...yooo hooo! :)

[noamnety]

96. The boycott situation has been funny.

We boycott Walmart. In one of his grumbling moments, my husband said if you're gonna go take things from grocery stores without paying, why don't you at least take them from Walmart.

So I went in, took a bag of bagels and some dish soap, and they ended up owing me 3 cents.

:party:

I saw they might have philly cream cheese for a dollar, making them free with the kraft coupons even without a catalina. I haven't been back in to check whether that price is at the local walmart here or not. I reprinted the kraft ones (you know they reset them, right?), so I'm waiting with them, just like you.

The target coupons are funny here, some days I can pull them up, other days it crashes my computer, but I haven't printed any yet. I'm not exactly boycotting them, but it's not worth going just to get trial sizes, which seems to be what they have for free usually. Plus I have a great produce place near me that I'm fairly loyal to.

[unapatriciated]

120. now that is the best way to shop at wally-world.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[defendandprotect]

113. Is a "catalina coupon" something unique to certain large stores?

And, sometimes you can spend as wish and sometimes spend on anything, I take it?

[noamnety]

117. Yes, they're in chain stores.

I've never seen them in a smaller market. They're a little machine next to the register (or next to the self-checkout machines) that prints out what I always thought was random crap - Change your muffler at Midas! or save a dollar on (some random product you have no interest in). I didn't know til a few weeks ago that you can find out ahead of time which purchases will cause a catalina coupon to print.

Ones I've received include:
$5 off your next order
$3.50 off your next order of 35 dollars or more
$1 off your next produce purchase of $10 dollars or more
save $1.50 off your next purchase of kelloggs corn flakes

They can be product specific, department specific, or the best are generic with no restrictions. The one for $3.50 off your next order of $35 or more I handed to someone with a full cart because I haven't found a way to spend that much in a grocery store since I started this.

If you know what's supposed to print that's helpful. One of my cheese catalinas for $5 didn't print, and I was able to get the self-checkout helper over to fix it. The catalina machine turned out to be jammed and she hand wrote me a rain check to replace the missing 5 dollars. I read somewhere else about what to do if one doesn't print, and it gave me a little confidence in asking them to fix it. Once I started to look at them like actual money, I realized if I handed a cashier ten dollars for a 5 dollar purchase and she didn't give me change back, of course I would stay and get that resolved.

The catalinas can be manufacturer ones or store ones, just like a coupon can be a manufacturer coupon or a store coupon.

[defendandprotect]

118. Never heard that expression used before ....

Here in NJ in some stores you'll get some stuff on your receipt which I usually don't

pay attention to - and sometimes an additional bit of paper that offers things like

money off Kleenex tissues. When we had Drug Fair here, we used to get money off "receipts"

based on how much money was spent over a perio of time. But that's as close as I am to

understanding the "catalina" --

Thanks for taking the time to explain!

[flyarm]

94. wow I am truely impressed! what a wonderful idea, you have inspired me!! eom

[noamnety]

97. I hope so.

Sometimes I read blog posts that are interesting or memorable. But it's not very often at all that I read one that makes me take real action or change a lifelong habit. His cereal post did that for me.

[awoke_in_2003]

101. Great job...

ignore the ass down stream, he does not warrant a response from you. Thanks for letting me know there is still good people out there.

[defendandprotect]

102. Wow -- terrific .....

I usually just try to give money to food banks--

but this is a very interesting idea --

I'm also surprised that even the supermarket had that many boxes of cereal on hand!!

Congratulations!! Great effort!!

[noamnety]

106. Further down in his post

he mentioned that he did a few transactions, then spoke to the store manager. The manager agreed to order the cases specially for him. That way he wasn't leaving their shelves bare.

I've read a few people doing this say that they try to spread out a big purchase across several stores out of consideration for others, and if they are down to the last few hours of a week long sale, then they feel better about doing a huge purchase in one place. Generally people seem pretty considerate of leaving some so others can get in on the deal as well.

[defendandprotect]

115. Thank you -- !!

[demmiblue]

108. ATTENTION: I would love to see some of the great advice on this thread....

posted in other DU forums, such as:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=255

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=353

I have booked marked this great thread, but I think some of the things discussed here could help others that will not see this thread, but visit some other forums.


Thanks, noamnety. You, and Jeffrey, are an inspiration!


:toast:

[noamnety]

121. Please feel free to copy any part of it and repost.

I'm fine with that.

[unapatriciated]

116. great job.

one thing I'd like to know are they all corn flakes?
K&R

[noamnety]

123. Here's the breakout of which kinds he bought on that day:

"9 transactions of two Fruit Loops / two Corn Flakes, 9 transactions of two Apple Jacks / two Corn Flakes, 9 transactions of two Corn Pops / two Corn Flakes and 137 transactions of four Corn Flakes (after I ran out of the other coupons). In the end I purchased $2376.28 worth of food for $81.68, or a 97% savings over regular retail price."

That was just that week though. Another week he donated quaker oatmeal. Another time it was cheese. Another time pineapple. It just depends on week to week what he can get the deal on.

Same with me. Week one was soup. Week 2 was cheese. Week 3, a different brand of soup. Next week, frozen vegetables.

If you go into it with a preconceived notion of what you are determined to buy, your money won't stretch near as far. You'll end up just paying retail. You save 80-100% easily if you time it smarter, buying in lots instead of the way we normally shop week to week.

[unapatriciated]

138. sorry when I posted this I had not read the thread yet.

I had only read the op when I K&R'd and was commenting on the pic with all those cornflakes.
After reading the thread I can see why you took my comment to mean something I didn't intend it too. I think what he did was great and know all to well how fresh fruits and veggies are not always available. I work in a grocery store and we pull our codes a day early, freeze what we can and the local foodbank picks it up daily. I have picked through many bags of oranges and apples to take out the bad ones so we can donate the rest of the bag. Again sorry for not reading the whole thread before posting. I think this is great.

[AsahinaKimi]

125. I think he should send a photo to

Kellogg's, maybe they will toss in some more for free. Just one question though, whats to prevent some of it from getting stale?

[noamnety]

126. He distributes to a number of food banks.

What keeps them from getting stale? The same thing that prevents them from getting stale when I buy cereal for myself, I guess, or from getting stale when they are on a grocery store shelf. Maybe I'm not understanding that question right.

[AsahinaKimi]

128. well maybe the food

will be used right away at the food banks. Seriously though, send the photo to Kellogg's, they might drop more on the door step, they have been known to do that.

[RedCloud]

127. Sounds like somebody should be running the economy for us all!

Splendid work!

[Jamastiene]

132. The food person.

K&R

I love food people. No one should go hungry. I'm going to look into this. Thanks for doing so much. :hug:

[BrklynLiberal]

133. You are truly an amazing human being! I am in awe of you...

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[Vehl]

134. Wow! K&R

Great work!

[CoffeeCat]

135. What do you think...

...of having some kind of DU "savings" group? We could post these Catalina deals and other
great deals that happen around the country at grocery stores, Walgreen's, Target and others.

We could tell people how to do these deals and maybe others would join in. They could get
free/cheap groceries for their families and help to stock food pantries too?

Maybe we could ask for a group to be started, or these kinds of posts might be deemed appropriate
for an existing group?

What do you think?

[noamnety]

136. a couple posts up

demmiblue linked to the frugal forum. That might be the place to do it.

It sounds like a good idea to me. This post could be the seed planter and followups could point people to specifics depending on the week and region. I don't know that I can commit to maintaining it personally. I'm trying to target my efforts in specific ways so I don't get spread too thin. I burnt out 2 years ago teaching full time, finishing my masters, and doing other work with a local volunteer organization here. This year I am trying to stay more focused instead of jumping on everything and meeting all my commitments halfway.

[CoffeeCat]

137. I hear ya...

...about being burnt out.

Maybe posting on frugal forum would be the answer. And when we find a good deal--posting it there
and letting people know how to do it. It would only take ten minutes (at the max) to explain it.
You could post when you have time and when you don't---that's ok too.

If I find a good deal or a Catalina promotion--I'll be sure to post it!