My Silly Little Purchase Paid Off

I finally figured out a way to save a little extra money. My idea has paid off...three times over now...and I just giggle thinking about how I am fooling my kids...well actually, since they are older, I'm not really fooling them, but the novelty of this is so great, they are just happily going along with it.

After checking and watching prices for those cereal dispensers..you know the ones you sometimes see in hotels in their breakfast area...I finally found one on sale and with free shipping. I paid about $20 total for it. I eagerly waited for it in the mail. I was just hoping it wasn't a piece of junk, like most things you see in a catalog...I did wish it was made out of glass, but even though it was plastic, it was a tough plastic and I figured it would be acceptable. It came, and I was right (thank God).

Of course, the kids wanted to set it up right away. They even wanted to go to the store right away and get the cereal. I told them, no more premium boxed cereals. I steered them towards the big bins of the cereal in plastic bags...you know, the Malt-O-Meals and the like. I had never looked there. I would not admit to looking there. In fact, I had always turned up my nose at such stuff. Well, now I had an excuse to fill a "cool dispenser", so it was okay to pick a few bags out. The kids of course love Cocoa Puffs and wouldn't you know, there was something similar called "CocoRoos"...and to top it off, it was on sale. The CocoRoos ended up being 9.5 cents per ounce, compared to the Cocoa Puffs which were 33.8 cents per ounce. Quite a big difference!

We ended up loading our cart with all the CocoRoos they had. I threw in a few bags of something that look suspiciously like Cap'n Crunch. I don't know what the lady thought at checkout, but I also loaded up my cart with plenty of fruits and veggies. I didn't want her to think I fed my children solely cold cereal! Yes, we have it for dinner sometimes, but that's beside the point!

We raced home and put one of each cereal in each dispenser. It actually came with two dispensers. It even matches my countertops and looks a little stylish there in the corner by the coffemaker. I stepped back, turned around and both my boys were standing there with bowls and spoons in hand. We hadn't even finished putting away the groceries yet, we were that distracted with this new gadget!

Well, I let them at it. They proceeded to turn the handle. It came out okay...although a few pieces were a bit crunched, for a lack of a better word....but they didn't care. They loved it! The novelty of the device cancelled out any disappointment that it has a tendency to chop up larger sized cereal pieces AND that they were eating a no-name brand cereal here.

We've had it for a few months now. They still use it..almost every morning. Even our exchange student, husband and myself use the thing. Money well spent. The thing is still in one piece...a rarity around here...we are still buying the no-name cereal, although we realized we should continue to purchase small bite size cereal...no Shredded Mini Wheat clones for this dispenser..it would give a new meaning to shredded. Keep that in mind if you decide to get one. Plus, it has paid itself off....about three times over, if my calculations are correct, and I am no longer a slave to Kellog's, General Mills or any big box name!

There you have it. Have you made any purchases lately that have saved you money? Let's hear about it!
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