“Providing a significant savings benefit for our patrons, the commissary can help you make the most of every dollar of your planned food budget,” said Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo. “Not only that, we can help you afford healthier eating, because fresh and nutritious alternatives are both plentiful and economical making the commissary your partner both financially and nutritionally.”
Military Saves, a participant in the Department of Defense’s Financial Readiness Network, seeks to motivate, support and encourage the military community to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth.
Start on your journey to financial improvement by taking the pledge on MilitarySave.org and choosing your savings goal to help formulate your simple savings plan. Then Military Saves will help keep you on track by sending short reminders, resources and tips on saving and living well while spending less. Small changes can go a long way to set you up for financial success.
Not surprisingly, much of the monthly budget is spent on groceries. Your commissary benefit can help you stick to a food budget and keep more money in your pocket, while also delivering healthy and fresh food in the process.
On DeCA’s “We’re Stronger Together” webpage, you’ll see the following ways to maximize the use of your commissary benefit, in store and online:
- Your Everyday Savings! (YES!): The commissary reduces prices daily on hundreds of the most frequently purchased popular brands. Look for the orange YES! shelf labels in your commissary aisles.
- Commissary rewards card: Download digital coupons right to your card and save at the register. If you don’t have a card, ask a cashier for one, then visit the DeCA website to register your card.
- Print coupons: Before your commissary trip, visit the Savings Center on DeCA’s website to find resources with lots of printable coupons. If you’re at the store, check out the wide variety of coupons displayed throughout the commissary.
- Commissaries.com sales flyer: Before visiting the store, view the sales flyer on the website while making your shopping list to ensure maximum savings. You can also sign up to have the flyer sent to your email.
- Commissary store brands: The commissary offers high-quality, low-cost private label choices on food and non-food items, healthy, organic products, and baby and child care solutions to provide even greater savings.
- Meal planning: Not only will meal planning help you save money on take out, it will help you use all the food you purchase at the commissary, reducing waste and impulse purchases. To take the work out of meal planning, DeCA has created two dietitian-approved dinner menu plans including weekly shopping lists, each for an entire month of family meals.
“It’s important for service members and their families to know that it’s never too late to start saving for the future,” said Angela Caban, director of Military Saves. “Small steps in building a savings habit can make a big difference over time and the secret to saving is simple. People with a plan are twice as likely to save successfully, whether you are saving for an emergency, retirement, or another goal,” she added.
Month of the Military Child contest open
Children of authorized commissary shoppers can help save the environment and enter to win a chance at a $25 gift card in the Defense Commissary Agency’s Month of the Military Child contest through April 30.
“Our military youth experience many sacrifices associated with living in military families – moving from place to place and in many instances watching a parent deploy,” said Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo, senior enlisted adviser to the DeCA director. “During April, the Month of the Military Child, we celebrate our military families and applaud their children for the adversity they’ve overcome.”
This year, DeCA is using an Earth Day theme with the tagline, “One world. One chance. Make it great for them.” to engage children of eligible commissary shoppers from kindergarten through 12th grade along with their parents, caregivers or teachers.
More information and full rules of the contest can be found on https://shop.commissaries.com/militarychild.
“I cannot wait to see some of their contest passports,” Saucedo said. “This contest is a wonderful way to honor our military children and encourage their responsibility for taking care of the environment.”
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