The Commissary sale cycles run differently than regular grocery stores. We can’t just get a sales flyer in the mail each week and easily pick out the sales. Because of this couponers at the Commissary need to always pay close attention to available sales lists, sites, and flyers in order to best predict pricing changes. Here is a breakdown of the main Commissary sale types:
1. Commissaries.com Saving Aisle
This is sale that runs for two or three weeks and runs from a Thursday to a Wednesday (for example Thursday May 12th to Wednesday June 1st). The sale items and their prices can be found on commissaries.com under the “What’s on Sale” tab. You must provide your SSN to see the prices, but the discount percentage can be seen without logging in. This is a long and extensive list and will follow the listed dates for the discount. *Note it is against Commissary policy to copy/paste this list with prices to the internet. Go here: http://www.commissaries.com/log_in/h…ings_aisle.cfm , log in with yourname, SSN, and Birthday. Then pick your Commissary at it will list all the sales items, UPC code, percentage off, and sale price.
2. Manufacturer Initiated Sales
Large Manufacturer’s will set up sales for their products at the Commissary on a regular basis. These sales generally last 15, 30, or 45 days. The items on sale can typically be seen on their military website or in the Maxi Saver or Coupon Connection (found at the link below or in the flyer area of your Commissary).
3. 1st and 16th
Prices for some items will change on the 1st and the 16th, and most of these changes cannot be seen in writing (though some will coincide with #2). The price changes will be consistent for all Commissaries and a few (but not all) can be seen in the Maxi Saver. Generally if you see an item change price on these dates you can assume they will remain on sale until the next payday.
4. Random
There are some random and inconsistent price changes in the commissaries that cannot be predicted and may not be consistent in all Commissaries. These can consist of Manager’s Specials, clearance, close-outs, Wacky Wednesdays, and other seemingly random price drops/hikes. These can be the most frustrating for couponers because they cannot be predicted, and we cannot assume a sale price at one Commissary will translate to the same sale price at another Commissary.
Now armed with an understanding of the Commissary sale types we can then working on finding these lists and flyers. Here are links to places that commonly list sale items:
Commissaries.com
Saving Aisle Savings Aisle – Commissaries.com
Military Sales Flyers
Military shoppers Military Commissary DeCA Specials
Maxi Saver and Military Saver MAXI SAVER Group, Inc.HOME Page
Manufacturer Military Websites
Conagra ConAgra Foods Military Commissary Site – ConAgra Foods
Kraft http://www.kraftbrands.com/kraftmilitary/
Kellogg’s Kellogg’s Military Foodservice
Quaker Your Commissary Insider
Coleson Foods Coleson Foods, Inc. – Commissary Gateway
[...] Guide to Commissary Sales [...]