Commissary Shopping

For those of you who do not know what a commissary is, it's a military grocery store. Since we don't live super close to one I go about every 4 to 6 weeks & stock up. In between trips I will go to the local grocery stores nearby. I know what I can get cheaper at each place I go to & also study the weekly grocery ads along with my stack of coupons.

The commissary claims to save consumers about 30%. I've always wondered how true that is. For example I know I can get beef A LOT cheaper at the commissary than any sale out in town. But what about other items? I decided to do some comparing. This blog is just based off of my latest commissary trip. I plan on getting extra nerdy on you all & start a spread sheet tracking all items. Eventually being able to fill in price for each store. That will be an on going project. One note, the commissary doesn't charge sales tax BUT they do charge a surcharge. At times this surcharge can be comparable to tax. In California not all food is taxed. I bought a mix of food, cleaning supplies & other necessities. Too much work to figure out what my tax would have been if bought out in town.

On to my comparison...

I spent $224.24 before coupons were taken off (-$20.10)& the surcharge was added (+$11.64).

I compared my purchases to a local grocery store here, Albertsons. Albertsons tends to be a smidge pricier than other local grocery stores nearby. Also, these prices were based off their online shopping. I'm sure they up the prices a bit, just not sure by how much. If I bought my items there my bill before tax & coupons would have been $381.22. That's a $148.52 savings - 39%. So I did in fact save about 30%. If I couldn't find the same exact item I went to the store brand which was always still more expensive than the (name) brand I bought at the commissary. The commissary does not have a store brand. In between trips I will buy fresh fruits & veggies, milk & eggs out in town. A gallon of milk at the commissary is probably $2-something. I don't know the exact price because I have not bought milk there in a while. I can get it often for $1.99 from one of the local stores.

I have lost my train of thought, but I just wanted to share the comparison.

CVS 8/10/09

1) (before savings) $17.16
(CVS savings) -$ 2.70
(Coupons) -$ 5.99
(Tax) +$ 1.13=
(Total OOP) $9.60, total savings: $8.69, ECB earned: $7.48

2) (Before savings) $22.70
(CVS savings) -$12.84
(Coupons) -$ 2.35
(ECB's) -$ 7.45
(Tax) +$ 0.06
(Total OOP) $ 0.06, total savings $22.64

**TOTAL OOP: $9.66, TOTAL SAVED: $31.33 (76% savings)

I've been bad at this blogging stuff

I really want to get back into the groove of blocking. Lately I've either had nothing to blog about & time to blog or something to blog about & no time to do so. The kids are keeping me pretty busy... so do the dogs & the house. My goal is to chip out some time that I can take to blog & catch up on my scrap booking that I am VERY behind on.

I can't believe the newest addition is only a few days sigh of 2 months! He's a pretty good baby. He has 2 six hour sleeps mixed in with several shorter naps. One stretch is in the middle of the day & the other is at night. I've been pretty lucky getting him to eat around 11:30pm. Then he sleeps to about 5:30am. Mr I & Princess love their new little brother to pieces.

Speaking of those 2... I signed them up for preschool. That starts at the end of the month. Three days a week for 3 hours to clean & grocery shop with out having to chase mobile children around. It'll be good for them, too. They are partners in crime.

We're gearing up for Mr's 3rd deployment to the sandbox. My philosophy is to hurry up & get it started so it's over sooner. This deployment could end in 3 different ways - they come back early, come back as schedule, or they get extended. I do not like that part being up in the air. Ugh...

We've been working on the house some more. It's never ending. I have a blog to write on that & pictures to post.

My goal this week was to get to bed earlier. Well I've been in bed earlier but have yet been to sleep any earlier. I'm some what of a walking zombie on auto-pilot these days. Must go get some beauty sleep...

CVS Trip(s) 07/13/09

I did some kidless shopping today. 4 CVS trips. I think I did pretty well. :P

1)
2 - 5 subject Caliber notebooks, 3 - Papermate grip 8 count pens, Gallon milk, 2 - 1 subject Caliber notebooks, 2 - 5" Caliber scissors, 2 - 12" wood rulers, & 2 - Caliber clear glue. Used 1 - $5 off $25 CVS coupon.

Total out of pocket: $20.16 + $1.60 (tax) = $21.76
Total saved: $12.80
ECB earned: $21.89

2)
5 - Gatorades, Olay face lotion, Olay body wash, Olay 4 pack soap bars, & Mentos gum. Used $3.55 in manufacture coupons, $5 off $25, & $16.94 in ECB's.

total out of pocket: $1.67 + .35 = $2.02
total saved: $33.14
ECB's earned: $10.00

3)
2 - Kotex Lightdays 64ct, Fusion razor, Huggies 64ct wipes. Used $6.25 in man. coupons, $2 off Huggies wipes CVS coupon & $10 ECB.

Total out of pocket: 0.23 + 0.57 = 0.80
Total saved: $21.63
ECB's earned: $6

4)
Pampers Cruisers 27ct. Used $2 man. coupon & $8.97 in ECB's.

Total out of pocket: $1.02 + 0.44 = $1.46
Total saved: $10.97


***SUMMARY***
Total out of pocket: $26.04
Total saved: $78.54