Cash in a Cereal Box??!!

I remember as a child roaming up and down the cereal aisle looking at all of the box fronts searching out the best prizes. It didn't matter whether I liked the cereal or not, I just wanted the prize inside. When I found the very best one, I'd run to my mother with it (who was usually a few isles over) and beg for it..."It's my favorite...I love this one!!" I'd say, knowing full well I wouldn't eat a bite. Sometimes it worked, but mostly not...

Anyway, now that I'm a mother, I'm on to my children. And they do the very same thing. It's not too often that you find a prize inside cereal boxes these days, but recently I scored some cereal for about 50cents, and yes, ablazin' on the front was "Win Cash". It was a cereal the kids consider a "treat", and they were lured by the possible winnings. We got three boxes, and while opening the first box my six year old (who can read) anxiously awaits..."Did we win cash??!!" Uh, no. I say, "maybe next time" knowing we most likely won't win next time either.

Well, the other day we opened the second box. Only this time I completely forgot about the contest and went to cut the top of the bag, as I always do, and out whisks a silver wrapped card. My daughter yells, "We won, we won cash!" Well, we did! We won a $5 gift card (Discover gift card)! We were all so excited you'd think we had won a hundred!

Needless to say, we couldn't possibly wait another week to open the third box in the pantry, so I opened the box, not the bag, so the cereal won't get stale. And, yet again, we found another silver wrapped "prize". Another $5 gift card. Waking up to find $10 in gift cards in your cereal is a great way to start your day!

I must say that cereal box prizes are getting better these days!

Linked to: Finer Things Friday