Every consumer buys at least one item with a price they watch with unnatural intensity. Maybe they collect coupons on it, wait for a sale and hope for a rebate. It's a triple play and it can make the day of any super shopper.

I'm not here to make your day with a triple play, at least not this time. But for families who buy can fill their Honda's backseat with Cheerios boxes and never let even one box pass its freshness date, this is a good week to buy.

Target, CVS and Costco all have the toasted o's on sale. Yes, even Costco has them on sale through June 2. Members who buy 2 twin packs (4 individual boxes, 81.4 ounces total) pay $5.49 each for the 2 twin boxes, minus a $4 instant rebate. At $6.68 for the 81.4 ounces, it's 8.5 cents per ounce for regular flavored Cheerios.That's the lowest price I've ever paid, including on Rainbow's double coupon days, but I don't pay Rainbow $50 annually for a membership.

If you're not a Costco member, Target has a good deal too. If you buy 6 boxes (14 oz. each for $2.75 each), you also get a $5 Target gift card. That's 13.6 cents per ounce with the gift card. Use a couple of $1 manufacturers' coupons and it's 11.3 cents per ounce. Use a Red Card and it's 10.7 cents per ounce.

Or you could take an easier route at CVS where a 14 oz. box is $1.79 with an ExtraCare card (12.7 cents per ounce). But the offer is limited to one box. It's a better deal if you can find a coupon for 50 cents off, which is occasionally available online.

All are good sale prices. Admittedly, the savings don't add up to big bucks. Sometimes a shopper gets more excited saving a few bucks at the grocery store than, say, $500 at an appliance retailer. It's similar to consumers who prefer inflated prices discounted during a sale to an everyday low price.