Off Brand Cereal: Bag Cereal vs. Box Cereal

One of the ways you save money with off brand products is with the value oriented packaging. The big name brands spend extra on the fanciest branding and marketing — and then pass that cost right on to you. Today, we look at off brand cereal. Stick with store brands to save money!

In an earlier post, Off Brand Guy looked at the cost savings of going with an alternative to the name brand honey nut cereal. (As it turns out, the savings are significant!) That got me thinking, what about differences between even the same brand of off brand cereals? Perhaps the only difference is how it’s packaged – in a box, or in a bag.

Bulk Cereal Bags – Generic Honey Nut Cheerios Cereal At Safeway

I like Honey Nut Cheerios, but I am simply not willing to pay extra for the name brand. When browsing the cereal aisle at the grocery store you’ll come across all kinds of generic alternatives to your favorite varieties, and almost all of them will save you money over the name-brand versions.

That’s what drew me to the inexpensive Signature Select off brand cheeriosl. However, even among generics there is competition for your dollar: the boxed variety, and the bagged variety.

Big Bags Of Cereal

Often located on opposite sides of the aisle, it can be easy to overlook the bagged cereals when confronted with the wall of brightly colored boxes dominating your view. I would encourage you to tear your gaze away from the temptation of the boxes, as their bagged cousins will almost always save you even more. I myself have made this mistake many times out of habit – after all, cereal is supposed to come in a box, right? If we break down the cost, however, we will see it is a habit worth breaking out of.

Toasted Oats Bag Cereal Lasts Longer and Costs Less

For a 12.25 ounce box of Signature Select Toasted Oats you will generally pay $2.49, which breaks down to 20 cents an ounce. But as we already know from the previous comparison, a 28 ounce bag of the same cereal breaks down to 16 cents an ounce – an additional savings of 4 cents an ounce.

Not only will you be saving money, the bagged variety also comes with the additional benefit of a resealable bag to extend the life of your cereal. And for the eco-conscious, you will also be generating less waste, as the bagged variety doesn’t require the additional packaging of a box.

Off Brand Cereal Bags – Benefits

In summary, you can see that going with a bagged cereal over boxed makes sense for several reasons:

• You get more for your money
• Resealable bag will keep fresh longer
• Less packaging, less waste
• Buy store brand cereal in a bag — don’t spend extra for flashy marketing

Also, see our analysis of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats Vs. Safeway Signature Select Frosted Shredded Wheat.