Commissary vs Civilian Grocery Stores, Commissary vs CVS/Walgreens

[navy_wife_2005]

Hi

I am new to couponing (well sort of new...I have used coupons on and off for awhile but I am now trying to really dive into the "coupon world") and am wondering what are the coupon veterns feelings about the commissary vs civilian grocery stores or commissary vs CVS/Walgreens? Is the commissary the best place for a deal on meat? Is CVS or Walgreens the best place for beauty deals?

I am so confused
Stacy

[purplefdu]

Best thing about shopping at the Commissary: overage that is required by law. Which means you can use this to offset other things such as meat, produce, diapers if they aren't on sale elsewhere.

There is a pricebook somewhere to help you with deciding if the commissary is the best bet on things, but its always a safe bet for using overage to get what you need. Based on other needs/wants CVS or WAGS or RA might be better for new makeup/HBA thats free after ecb/RR/rebate but that could change weekly.

[CoveredinGrace]

I've found them to be cheaper on meats at th commissary. Here's what I *try* to do. Shop the commissary once a month at least, keep up with sales on local stores the rest of the time. It really varies on whether the commissary is a better deal-week to week, coupon to coupon, and even commissary to commissary. Like the above poster, I would suggest pouring over the stuff in the commissary section here at HCW, to get an idea.
I still shop the free and almost free deals at CVS and such, and just make the commissary a less-frequent, but necessary part of my shopping. Don't forget the case lot sales in May and September. Those are GREAT for couponing, b/c they'll give you a reduced price for a whole case of, say, Toilet Paper, but you can use a coupon for each and every item IN that case. So if a case is 12, and you have 12 coupons, you can use them all on that one case!

Another thing to keep in mind on whether it's a good deal or not is that the commissary charges you 5% surcharge at the end of your bill. So if something is the same price at the store that it is at the commissary, it's actually going to be cheaper to buy at the store, b/c once the 5% is added on, that item becomes more expensive. But the coupon policy can't be beat at the commissary, so if you find a moneymaker, go with it...it'll help eat the cost of your meat, produce, and other items you don't have coupons for.

[jeweltea]

If you do the overage, it is probably better for most things at the commissary but I have got tired of fighting everytime so now I don't do much overage. I only go to the commissary once a month for the things that are never on sale or really are a lot cheaper at the commissary. I get almost everything else at CVS and the civilian grocery stores. We have so many stores that do triples here that I get a lot of free food anyway. Plus our sales tax is 2.5% and no tipping the bagger in civilian stores!!

[pilesoflaundry]

Meat and overage is all it's good for. Juice boxes if they are not on sale anywhere else.

Otherwise with double coupons and ecbs/freebies everything is cheaper elsewhere for me. Their prices are about the same as other stores but my other stores double/take competitor coupons etc so that is why it's cheaper. Also food tax is cheaper than the commissary surcharge so I save there too.

[PMFan]

IMO, it also depends on how much time you have to devote to finding the deals.

IME, it's easier to maximize commissary overage.

tho the commissary cannot compete with off base stores offers like loss leaders, catalinas, doubles/triples, rebates, ECBs, etc.

[lilles]

It depends on where you live. In Hawaii the commissary is the only way to go.