Commissary Shopping

My friend Billie Myrick shared some great information about commissary shopping today. Our family is not in the military and, therefore, I do not have the privilege of shopping at the commissary. (I do remember fondly, however, of shopping with my mom out at Tyndall AFB commissary when I was young since my father was retired military.) Billie found that many prices are comparable to sale prices at Publix, Winn Dixie ect. and, used with a manufacturer's coupon, can yield fantastic results.

For those ladies who have the privilege of shopping on base, make sure you price compare...you can check coupon matching sites for the commissary and/or actually go to the commissary website to print out prices. Then, even if you don't have the coupon matching website, you can use one of the many coupon databases (Coupondivas.com or Southernsavers.com, for instance) and look for coupons for the items you have found. One strategy might be to check Southernsavers.com for the great sale items from whichever non military grocery store you normally shop, then compare to commissary prices with coupons and see which is better. This is why it is really important to know what a good price is for the items you normally purchase... you want to know your "stock up" price. Just because a store says its on sale doesn't mean its the best deal.
Also, looking at the meat prices at her local commissary, it seems like their regular prices are good deals. I think you can find better ones for some of the items at their lowest sales prices, but none of the prices were above my personal price ceiling for meat. The commissary is a  great tool in your savings tool belt if you have access to it.

Normally, the "acorns" on Southernsavers.com are the best deals for those items, but, as my friend pointed out, there might be a better deal someplace else. If you want the VERY LOWEST PRICES on EVERYTHING you buy, keep a price book. However, please realize that if you use a coupon matching website and shop with coupons when things are on sale at JUST ONE store,  your overall grocery bill will be much lower than if you simply make a grocery list each week and  buy groceries  on a weekly basis, regardless of whether they are on sale. You must balance your time with your potential savings. I don't want to run you off from couponing by saying that you must keep a price book and shop at four or five stores on a regular basis to be a "real" coupon shopper. Just do what works for you and your life in whatever "season" you're in.