Off Brand Cereal… Aargh!
For the past few weeks, TheDad and I have been looking for ways to cut back our spending. We have cut back on eating out, trips to the mall, and expensive entertainment (that’s right…no tickets to see the EAGLES this fall.) But I think I took the cutbacks too far yesterday. Yesterday I did something I vowed I would never do. I stooped to an all time low at the grocery store. I purchased OFF BRAND CEREAL (O.B.C.)!!!! Have times gotten that tough? I have been so proud of myself… each week I would come home from the grocery store and I would announce to TheDad, I saved $30.. or I saved $40 this week. So I guess this week I wanted to increase my savings over previous weeks.
As I walked down the cereal aisle looking for the brands that were on sale, this week I could not ignore the O.B.C., it was calllllllling me. Saying look at meeeee… you can get a lot more for waaay less. And then I spotted it. There was this huge bag of OFF Brand Cocoa Puffs for like $2.79. Meanwhile, the small box of Cocoa Puffs was over $4.00. You could actually get almost 3 times as much for almost half the price. Buying OFF Brand items is a big risk because you get these off brand items home…and then the family tastes them and immediately invokes the gag reflex. And it’s not just the kids, TheDad and I are guilty of this behavior too. One time I purchased OFF BRAND fruit cups and TheDad said “don’t buy that again” as if he was laying down the law.
So I decided to mitigate my risk with this O.B.C. Since I normally purchase 2 boxes of cereal, I compromised and I purchased a box of Honey Nut Cheerios and then I purchased this Big GIGANTIC BAG of Cocoa Crunchies for $2.79. This morning when our six year old and I came down for breakfast, I asked her did she want French Toast Sticks or Cocoa Puffs for breakfast. She quickly said Cocoa Puffs…because she loves them. Then she opened the pantry door and pulls out that GIGANTIC Bag of Cocoa Crunchies…..and she immediately starts to ragging on the bag. She is like what is this big ole bag. This is not Cocoa Puffs. I said it tastes the same. She talked about the packaging for at least 5 minutes. Eventually we opened this bag and I immediately tasted one. In my mind, I was like oh no… they don’t taste the same. But I put on a smile and I said . Ummmm they are good. My daughter tasted one and she did not say anything. So I am thinking…that’s a good sign. I pour her a bowl of the O.B.C and pour milk over them. She eats a big scoop and says ….these taste gross with milk. I was like give it a chance…let the milk soften them up a bit. I knew deep down inside that the Cocoa Crunchies did not pass the test. When she left for the bus stop there was bowl of Cocoa Crunchies soaking in milk on the table.
And now I have this Big Gigantic Bag of O.B.C. And this bag is huge…..it filled-up the large Tupperware Cereal Storage container and there was still some left in the bag. It’s going to take us like 4 weeks to eat that cereal. It will eventually get eaten. Once all of the waffles, oatmeal, French toast sticks and other breakfast items get eaten up..and there is nothing left in the pantry but those Cocoa Crunchies… the kids and TheDad and I will eat them. Actually, TheDad and I shared a bowl of Cocoa Crunchies last night after the kids went to bed. They were not bad.
BMWK Family – Help me out here. If you are buying some OFF Brand items that you feel are a good buy ( as far as price, quantity, quality and taste) please share them with the rest of us. I think in 4 weeks when those Cocoa Crunchies are finally all gone, we will try another bag of O.B.C 
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