Publix: Is the free milk deal worth it?
Free milk is very enticing! And there are manufacturer's coupons available for the Rice Krispies to make the total even lower. And if your store accepts Target as a competitor, you can use a Target store coupon for Rice Krispies to get the total even smaller. But is this a good deal?
I compared the cost of this deal (buying 6 boxes of Rice Krispies and 2 gallons of milk to maximize the coupon savings) with the cost of buying similar items for full price at ALDI. All prices are based on the stores in my area.
Publix:
6 Rice Krispies (9 oz) @ $3.69 = $22.14
- 3 $1/2 Kellogg's Cereals printable
- 2 $1/3 Kellogg’s Rice or Cocoa Krispies, Corn Flakes, Crispix Cereal Target coupon
= $17.14
2 gallons milk @ $3.95 = $7.90
- 2 FREE Gallon of Milk wyb (3) Kellogg's Rice Krispies or Cocoa Krispies Cereal coupons (Publix Yellow Advantage Flyer )
= FREE
Total out of pocket: $17.14
Total saved: $12.90, or 43%
ALDI:
6 boxes crispy rice cereal (12 oz) @ $1.69 = $10.14
2 gallons milk @ $2.69 = $5.38
Total out of pocket: $15.52
Total saved: 0%
So if you were to buy these items, you'd pay less at ALDI than you would at Publix, even with the coupons.
But wait - the ALDI deal is even better if you compare the cereal amounts. The Rice Krispies are only 9 oz boxes, whereas the ALDI crispy rice cereal boxes are 12 oz. So you really would only need to buy 5 boxes of crispy rice cereal to get the same amount of cereal (actually 4.5 boxes, but you can't buy half a box). So the out of pocket for the ALDI deal is even less - $13.83.
This analysis also assumes that you don't mind buying a store brand. Often name brands can be cheaper than store brands when you combine sales with coupons, but that didn't happen in this instance.
And of course, you would "save" more by buying at Publix. But it's the out of pocket cost that really counts, isn't it?
I hope you found this post to be helpful! If you'd like to learn more about frugal living, couponing, freebies, and deals, please subscribe to the Frugal Follies newsletter, become a fan on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.
5 comments:
loved it!!!
It works on if you can shop at Aldi's. To help the publix shopper you could do the publix deal with your other shopping and use a $5.00/$50.00 and it would come out about the same.
That would be why I stayed way far away from that deal! I didnt do the math specifically but Winn Dixie does this type of thing a lot (buy this, get all that for free) and very seldom is it worth it because I can get the pieces cheaper than the bundle.
@Anonymous 9:22 - I thought of that as well. Yes, if you have a dollars-off coupon and were buying other items anyway, the Publix deal would be better. Or if Publix puts Rice Krispies on a BOGO sale before the milk coupon expires, the Publix deal would also be better.
I have often wondered, but hadn't taken the time to do the math like you have. Thank you for sharing that information.
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