In the past, I’ve generally tried to write about topics that are a little more “deep” than bargain shopping, but I will probably try to add a little variety once in a while.

Anyone that knows me very well knows that I love a great bargain and am frugal to a fault. I haven’t done much “extreme couponing” since my local store stopped doing double coupons a few years ago. But I did get some great deals this morning.

The Macey’s here in Utah has a weekly special on Kellogg’s and Keebler products: mix and match any ten of selected products and get $10 off. In addition, I had coupons for $5 off of 5 boxes of cereal, $1 off of three boxes of Poptarts, and $1 off of 2 boxes of Nutrigrain bars.

So this morning, after coupons, I paid the following for 10 items:

$0.29 for 1 box of Cocoa Krispies
$0.29 for 1 box of Frosted Flakes
$0.49 for 1 box of Frosted Mini Wheats (Bite Size)
$0.49ea for 2 boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats, Little Bites (Chocolate)
$0.99ea for 2 boxes of Nutrigrain Bars (Blueberry)
$1.16ea for 3 boxes of Poptarts, 12 ct. (Blueberry)

I was quite pleased to get so much for so little. The coupons alone deducted $17 from the bill. I realize that this is “child’s play” compared to some real bargain hunters out there that spend hours planning, hours more at the store shopping and checking out with their three overflowing shopping carts, and then end up with a bill of something like $14.22 for thousands of dollars worth of stuff. But, this was good enough for me.

What about you? What are your best bargains? Do you have any tips for finding great deals?

I just can’t avoid an attempt at some deeper tie-in to this topic. To me, the most important things in life are knowledge, character, and relationships. I believe these are things that endure and really matter when all is said and done. I may be too hard on myself, but I think that I often expect to make some kind of bargain in these areas too- that my mostly “token” efforts will somehow produce magnificent results. But I believe that “real” life is not like bargain shopping but is more like the law of the harvest- you reap what you sow. I hope to improve in several areas of my life, and the key for me is to start now with specific goals, to periodically evaluate progress, and to keep trying.