We have all seen how prices have been rising lately on many of our favorite food products and unfortunately, cereal is no exception. The price of many cereals has reached $4-$6 a box in many stores around the country. Because cereal remains one of the most popular breakfast options, it helps to know how and where to save money as often as possible on this product, by using cereal coupons.

The first way that you may be able to save money on cereal is by contacting the manufacturer. Companies love to hear from consumers so consider contacting cereal companies either by phone, email, or by sending a letter. Let them know how you feel about the product, what you like about it as well as what you may dislike about it.

Basically, any feedback is usually appreciated. If they don’t offer you any coupons, you may simply ask if there are any promotional offers available or if they would be willing to send you some coupons for personal use and some to pass along to your friends as well.

You would be surprised how often product manufacturers are willing to send out coupons to consumers who indicate that they will be purchasing their product and spreading the word about it so that others may purchase it as well. This increases their revenue so they are usually more than happy to do it.

Aside from contacting the company directly, try searching their website to see if there are any cereal coupons available that you may print directly from their website. These offers may be listed as coupons, product offers, or special savings so click around on their site and you may be able to access some coupons.

There are several blogs and websites online dedicated to helping you learn to coupon effectively and save money. Many of them include a search feature where you can search for printable coupons directly from their site.

Some great sites to check out are iheartthemart.com (for Wal-Mart shoppers), totallytarget.com (for Target shoppers), southernsavers.com, hip2save.com, couponmom.com, thekrazycouponlady.com, moneysavingmom.com, and many, many others. Simply by entering “couponing websites” into your browser, you will be inundated with a variety of sites that will help you start saving money.

This can also be done from a regular search engine such as yahoo.com. Just type in “printable cereal coupons” into the search field and you should be redirected to any available printable cereal coupons.

Quite often, you will be able to find coupons for cereal in your Sunday newspaper. Many of the savings blogs and websites mentioned above have a Sunday newspaper insert preview, which is a feature that allows you to see what coupons will be available in upcoming Sunday newspapers.

If you happen to see that a coupon will be available soon for a brand of cereal that your family enjoys, it would be a good idea to either buy more than one newspaper that week or ask your friends, family, and neighbors if they would mind giving you their extra cereal coupons.

Once you have your coupons, whether they are clipped from the Sunday paper or printed from an online site, the best way to save money by using them is to try to match them with a store sale. Watch your store’s weekly flyer, which can usually be accessed online or picked up in-store, to see when that cereal will be on sale.

By using your coupons during a sale, you will score the most savings. Some stores will run “buy one get one” or “BOGO” sales on cereal, meaning that if you purchase one of the item, the other is free. This is an ideal time to use your cereal coupons. Many stores consider each product included in a “buy one get one” purchase to be a separate sale, which allows you to use one coupon on each box of cereal.

This will significantly increase your savings. Some stores also offer their own store coupons which they will allow you to pair with a manufacturer coupon to really maximize the savings.

Larger retailers like Target and Wal-mart allow you to print their store coupons directly from their websites: Target.com, Walmart.com. You will want to familiarize yourself with your store’s coupon policy to make sure that you are adhering to your store’s policy and putting your coupons to their best use.

While you are shopping, always be on the look out for “blinkies”, those little machines that are found near the products that flash and automatically generate product coupons. This is a great way to pick up additional coupons on cereal and other products.

Also, watch out for peel-able coupons on cereal boxes. These have become fewer and farther between on cereal products unfortunately, but cereal manufacturers will offer them from time to time so take advantage of those savings as well.