Commissary Shopping with My Memphis "Daddy"

written by Mark aka My Memphis Daddy Wife

*This is a post written by the husband of my blogger friend. Shana from My Memphis Mommy.  She has just had her third sweet girl and has been sending her husband out on her usual shopping trips. He has not only agreed to do this, but also to blog about his experience. This is his trip to the Commissary!  

My latest shopping experience landed me at the DECA Commissary.  As an active duty Coastguardsman, we are grateful for the privilege of shopping at this facility.  We live about 30 minutes from the Commissary, so we do not frequent it as often as we did during a previous tour, where we shopped almost exclusively at a Commissary.  Quite often, my wife is able to find as good or better deals with coupons at closer stores (Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, etc).  However, there are still great deals to be found at the Commissary

Note:  In this article, I will not be discussing the prices paid for specific items.  The Commissary leadership has requested that bloggers not discuss their prices and I will be honoring that request.

Since I was going to be at the Navy base, I mentioned to my wife that I could stop by the Commissary.   She immediately dove into her coupon bag, grab a random assortment of coupons and told me to get “good deals.”  No list or price points this time.  She did ask me to call if I was uncertain about whether or not I had found a good deal.

As I navigated the Commissary, I did call her a few times.  In some ways, it was like being on “Deal or No Deal.”

Surprising “No Deals”

1.  Do not be tempted by quantity:  For example, upon entering the Commissary, I was immediately drawn to a wonderful selection of fresh berries in large quantities for a low price.  So, I loaded up my cart.   When I called to ask about another product, I mistakenly mentioned my berry selection, of which I was quite proud.  She shockingly said “NO DEAL.”  Since we did not have any immediate plans to use that quantity of berries, most of them would not have kept… plus for the quantities we use, she is able to get an equivalent or better deal at the local store.  I still kept the blackberries to make a cobbler later…

2.  Watch how you leverage coupons:  When you enter the Commissary, they often have coupons available near the entrance for pick up and they have lots of coupons available throughout the store.  Some coupons are ONLY for use at Military facilities, but often they have manufactures coupons available as well.  On this trip, I found a $.50 coupon for my favorite cereal and the price was near $2.00.  I figured it would be a great time to stock up.  BUT when I asked Shana, I was surprised that there was a better deal available.  She explained that Kroger had the same product for the same price with their Mega Event Buy 5 save, $5.00 sale.  In addition, since I had found a manufacturer’s coupon, Kroger would double it, dropping the price to $1 per box.

Great Deals I found:

Quantity can be a great deal at times:  We eat Jasmine Rice at least twice a week.  I found a small bag at around a dollar per pound, which is normally a good deal. But then I found a massive bag at only $.75 per pound, plus a coupon for $.75 off.  After we discussed this deal, we went ahead and purchased the huge quantity since we use rice so frequently and it does not spoil.

When buying a bulk item ask yourself the following three questions: If you answer yes to ALL THREE  then make the purchase.

1.      Do we have room to store this?

2.      Will we eat it before it will go bad?

3.      Is the larger quantity really saving me that much money?

Items purchased without a coupon:

I did buy a few items without a coupons which always sends my wife in to a tizzy.  I know this and recognize that she doesn’t always buy my argument, but I buy the items anyway.  Since the Commissary always has great low prices on cake mixes, I stocked upon mixes for cake decorating class I am taking next month.  In addition, the Commissary always has a great price on my favorite brand/flavor of microwave popcorn, so I always buy a box.   I also purchased a few staples that we need:  applesauce and peanut butter since the prices were within the range I know Shana is willing to purchase them.  Shana does a great job leveraging coupons, but sometimes you just need to purchase an item, whether for necessity or personal taste, and be willing to accept a slightly higher price.  There are only a few items that I will do this with and Shana has learned to tolerate my love of specific types of microwave popcorn.

Savings Tip: Have a personal price point excel sheet (or keep it in your head if you can do that). Slowly build this data by just walking around the stores you shop at the most and look at the products you buy the most and track when the items go on sale and when coupons are available. Shana plans to share our price point sheet soon.  I’m starting to get a good idea from my shopping adventures and our discussions. 

Here are a few items that we never pay more than $2.00 (final price with or without coupons)

Breakfast Cereal

Apple Sauce

Lunch meat

Packaged Snacks

Chips

Trash bags

Cooking Spray

Bagged Salad

Fancy national brand bread

Shana also has a long list of over 25 items that you should be able to get free if you wait for a sale and there is a longer list of $1.00 deals.

Other deals:

The olive oil (pictured) was coupled with a $1.00 printable coupon was purchased for less than half of what it costs in most stores (wife was thrilled, I didn’t even call on that one).   All other pictured items were purchased for under a dollar.  Not counting the rice, I paid slightly under $10 for all of the pictured items together.

One final commissary thought:  ALWAYS tip the individual who bags your groceries.  At the military commissaries, these individuals work for tips only.  Not only do they bag your groceries, but they will also assist you out to the car with them.  Your bagger may be the child of service member who is deployed overseas, a spouse, or a retired service member.  With the money you save at the Commissary, please remember to reserve at least a dollar to tip them for their help  .

*What do you guys think? Any other helpful tips to share? And look for a Commissary match up to come soon!


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