Military Coupon Clipping
March 11th, 2008 by Karen
I just came across a really wonderful article about Seniors helping overseas military families by clipping coupons. What a phenominal idea! I’ve known for a few years that military families were able to use expired coupons overseas, but never knew there was an organized effort. Also, I was never really certain where to send them.
Here’s the low down: military families overseas can use expired coupons at their base PX and Commissary for up to SIX MONTHS past the expiration date. This helps the families of our brave servicemen and women make ends meet. There’s even a non-profit organization called the Overseas Coupon Program that encourages you to “adopt” a military base to send your expired coupons. If you figure that the average Sunday newspaper contains $125 worth of coupons, even if you take out $25 for your own family use, that adds up to $5,200 of unused coupons every year! That’s just from the Sunday paper too, not the rest of the week or the ones that come in the mail.
Here’s the steps to get involved:
- Clip the coupons - send only manufacturer coupons that are expired by 2 months or less and clipping them will save on postage.
- Sort the coupons - sort into two piles; one for food coupons that can be used at the commissary and one for everything else for the PX. Food coupons should only be for “people” food. Pet food coupons belong in the PX pile. Place each pile in Ziploc baggies as other bundling methods aren’t reliable.
- Total the coupons - if you want to participate in OCP’s tallys, add up the value of your coupons and email the amount to OCP. This helps them determine which bases may need additional assistance and they keep a running total of the coupon value people have contributed.
- Mail the coupons - follow the simple directions available on the OCP website for mailing the coupons to a base in need. Be sure to follow all the directions to ensure they get received at the base you select.
That’s it! Pretty simple! While our family no longer receives the paper, we do have family members that do and we also get coupons every week in the insert in the regular mail. I’ve always hated tossing good coupons for products we don’t personally need or use, but now I know where to send them!
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