Guest Author - Jeff Valentine

It might seem pretty obvious to many Military Families that the commissary is the only way to go when shopping for food. Personally, I've resisted that idea for a long, long time. To the detriment of my wallet, I might add.

You see, it all comes down to MEAT. Yes, I know it's hard to fathom, but MEAT it is. Now, before I explain myself, I must set a basis for the conversation.

I've never particularly liked the commissary. When I was active duty, sans kids, I absolutely did not want to spend any of my free time on base. Therefore I never shopped on base unless I absolutely had to.

Once I was out and still a DINK (D.ual I.ncome N.o K.ids - for the uninitiated) playing the "kept-man-spouse" role, you could hardly get me on any base, without plying me with liquor and an air show or paradrop or something. Liquor or beer being the key ingredient.

Then came the kids. More mouths to feed, plus diapers, diapers, and more diapers and we all know the total adds up quick. So quick it will make your head spin and force you to buy less beer. (The sacrifices we make for our youngin's, ya know?)

A few years back I conducted an experiment where one week I went to the commissary and bought the standard fare. That very same day I took my commissary receipt to the local off base grocery store and compared prices.

Much to my amazement, nearly all of the prices were within a few cents of each other. All except for one item type. You guessed it, it was matzo ball soup. I'm kidding, it was meat; and in some cases it was dollars a pound more expensive than at the commissary.

I was stunned and amazed in the extreme. I started being a regular grocery-shopping master at the commissary on base again.

Fast-forward a few PCS's later and my Frau opts to leave the service of our country. We continue to enjoy base access but live nowhere near as close as we have in the past. With gas prices the way they are, the commissary has been off limits. Plus we LOVE the local grocery store. They make it quite an experience these days; the music, the coffee, the samples and the ambiance. It's really close to heaven.

Ahh, but these kids, they grow and they eat more and they continue to strain the budget. So we opted to re-run the commissary vs. local bodega experiment.

This time EVERYTHING was cheaper at the commissary. $242 spent on base was akin to nearly $500 at the off base grocery store. Robbery I tell you. So, for $20 spent on gas, we save over $200 at the
commissary.

As they say, the math is simple folks. They also say, "It's the economy stupid!" and stupid refers directly to me. I had been lulled into false hope at the local bodega by samples of wine and bad cheese.
They obviously do that on purpose.

Long story short, be wise and shop at the commissary if you can.

P.S. Never buy beer at the local bodega; I recently saw a six-pack of decent Mexican beer for 9 dollars. Serious Robbery. Class Six on base all the way.

Jeff Valentine is the editor for Bellaonline’sVeterans Site.