Expired Coupons - Give Grocery Coupons New Life

[jeffrey]

NOTE: You can also now help for free at Coupon Quiz

There is nothing worse than finding a great coupon only to realize that it has already expired. While the automatic reaction is to toss it into the trash, before your do consider giving it new life by sending it to military families overseas.

Military commissaries overseas accept manufacturer cents-off coupons for up to six months past their printed expiration dates. That means that coupons that are useless to you can still save oversea military families some money. By simply sending any expired coupons you have to select bases overseas that want and need the coupons, you can help out military families save money on everyday groceries.

You can contribute coupons as an individual or organize a group to help out in sending coupons. Either way, it doesn't take much effort to make a difference and help the military families save some money. Coupon inserts from a typical Sunday paper have over $100 worth of coupons so simply collecting these can be a great help.

Before sending the coupons, you will want to contact the base to see if they have any specific preferences in the way the coupons are sent. Most military bases receiving the coupons ask that you neatly clip the coupons (which you will want to do anyway to save on postal charges) and sort them into "food" and "non-food" categories. The "food" category should contain coupons for anything that humans would eat while the "non-food" category would be everything else (pet food coupons would be considered an "non food" item)

Once separated, add up the value of all the coupons in each category. Place the coupons from each category into a zip lock plastic bag and write the category and the dollar value of all the coupons on the outside of the bag in permanent ink.




There are a number of ways to send the coupons to the bases. The cheapest is by "Parcel Post". If you chose to send the coupons this way, make sure that the coupons have not been expired for more than two months since Parcel Post takes quite a long time to travel to its destination.

For more complete information on the Overseas Coupon Program, you can visit their website at ocpnet.org. The site also provides the following list of military bases that accept the expired grocery coupons:

Alconbury, U.K. - U.S. Air Force

RAF Alconbury
423 ABS/DPF
APO AE 09470

Ansbach, Germany - U.S. Army

CAFAP
ACS - 235th BSB
Unit 28614
APO AE 09177

Atsugi, Japan - U.S. Navy

U.S. Naval Air Facility
Navy FSC
PSC 477 Box 32
FPO AP 96306

Bad Aibling, Germany - U.S. Army

CAFAP - ACS
CMR 407
APO AE 09098

Bamburg, Germany - U.S. Army

ACS - 279th BSB
Unit 27535
APO AE 09139

Brussels, Belgium - U.S. Army

CAFAP - ACS
Unit 21420, Box 6675
APO AE 09705
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Darmstadt, Germany - U.S. Army

CAFAP
ACS - 233rd BSB
CMR 441
APO AE 09175

Gaeta, Italy - U.S.Navy

Volunteer Coordinator
Navy FSC
PSC 811
FPO AE 09609

Giessen, Germany - U.S. Army

Outreach Program Coordinator
ACS - 284th BSB
Unit 20911, Box 132
APO AE 09169
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Grafenwoehr, Germany - U.S. Army

ACS - 409th BSB
ATTN: AETTG-SB-CFA-ACS
APO AE 09114

Hanau, Germany - U.S. Army

CAFAP
ACS - 414th BSB
APO AE 09165

Ikego, Japan - U.S. Navy

COMFLEACT DET.
FSC
PSC 474, Box 700
FPO AP 96351-0007
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Illesheim, Germany - U.S. Army

Coupon Program Chairperson
ACS - Illesheim AST
CMR 416, Box I
APO AE 09140-0015
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Incirlik, Turkey - U.S. Air Force

39 MSS/MSF
ATTN: Family Services
Unit 8790, Box 175
APO AE 09824

Iwakuni, Japan - U.S. Marine Corps

USMC Community Services
ATTN: 5PSVC
PSC 561, Box 1867
FPO AP 96310-1867

Kitzigen, Germany - U.S. Army

417th BSB ACS
ATTN: Coupon Exchange
CMR 449
APO AE 09031

Lakenheath, U.K. - U.S. Air Force

48 MSS/DPF
ATTN: Coupon Connection Program
Unit 5200, Box 105
APO AE 09464-0105

Naples, Italy - U.S. Navy

Director, Navy FSC
PSC 810, Box 53
FPO AE 09619

Okinawa, Japan - U.S. Army

Volunteer/Outreach Coordinator
ACS - 10th ASG
Unit 35115
APO AP 96376-5115

Okinawa, Japan - U.S. Air Force

Family Services Program
18 MSS/DPF
Unit 5134, Box 80
APO AP 96368-5134

Osan, Korea - U.S. Air Force

Family Support Center
51st MSS PACAF
Unit 2097
APO AP 96278-2097

Rota, Spain - U.S. Navy

Navy_Marine Corps Relief Society
Rota Office, Spain
PO BOX 2002 UNIT 50085
Fleet Post Office AE 09645

Sasebo, Japan - U.S. Navy

Navy FSC
ATTN: Coupon Dist.
PSC 476, Box 62
FPO AP 96322-1114
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Schweinurt, Germany - U.S. Army

ACS, 280th BSB
ATTN: AETV-WG-SJD
CMR 457
APO AE 09033
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Sigonella, Sicily - U.S. Navy

Director
Navy FSC
PSC 824, Box 2650
FPO AE 09627-2650

Spangdahlem, Germany - U.S. Air Force

52 MSS/DPF
Unit 3655, Box 65
APO AE 09126

Vicenza, Italy - U.S. Army

CAFAP
ACS
CMR 427, Box 19
APO AE 09630
(this base is actively seeking coupons)

Vilseck, Germany - U.S. Army

Director
ACS - 281st BSB
ATTN: AETV-CFA-ACS
Unit 28038
APO AE 09112

Yokohama, Japan - U.S. Navy

COMFLEACT DET.
FSC
PSC 472 Box 8
FPO AP 96348-1150

Yokosuka, Japan - U.S. Navy

Coupon Distribution
COMFLEACT
Family Service Center
PSC 473, Box 116
FPO AP 96349-0116

Yokota, Japan - U.S. Navy

Navy FSC
374th MSSQ/MSF
APO AP 96328-5000

[lsavino]

Wow- a great service project for our Girl Scout troop.

[BillsGirl]

I send my coupons overseas and I received a thank you letter from the base i sent it to! It was a nice surprise!!

[CJsoccerchic]

Jeff
Although Guam does not get much attention from the media, this island is very much military oriented. I'm surprised to not see Guam on your list as a "adopt a base" program.

[jeffrey]

Originally Posted by CJsoccerchic

Jeff
Although Guam does not get much attention from the media, this island is very much military oriented. I'm surprised to not see Guam on your list as a "adopt a base" program.

Not sure why, but possibly because Guam is a US territory and not a "foreign country" You would have to email the program director ( adoptions@ocpnet.org ) to find out for sure.

[dkeppel]

After working in a commissary state side, I want to repeat this... please send EXPIRED COUPONS OVERSEAS. You can send coupons with a good period of time left on them to US commissaries.

You'd be surprised how many times I had to reject a coupon because it was expired- and the attitude reflected towards me for denying a coupon the customer found up front.

[ILoveCoupons]

We just moved overseas and I can use expired coupons. If anyone has any I would love them!

[fairy74]

Wow, thank you for the link, that is really a great program

[eyotadanes]

Wonderful idea! My brother was happy to get these when he was stationed in Korea.

[CJsoccerchic]

I'm in Guam and if anyone wants to send any to me and the ones that I don't use, i can give to the commissary, I'm more then happy for them! (i'm a total coupon person!) Message me for my addy! Thanks!

[th_tan]

this is my first time ever hearing about this, I hope it gets more attention. I'll send some off on Monday or Tuesday after the paper comes out.

[QuadSquadMom]

Glad to see there is something useful I can contribute to military families at a low cost!!!

[momof1in150]

When we lived in Japan this was great. I am glad to see everyone jumping on board to help those overseas. The cost of living is very expensive even shopping at the commissary so every little bit helps. THANKS.

[topwaystosave]

Nothing bothers me more than when I have a great coupon and I let it expire because I forgot to check the date. Great advice. I'm definitely going to try and take advantage and hope others do to.

[sounderella]

Oh wow...I had no idea!!! I'm glad I'll be able to help out!!

[psaysofavril]

This is such a wonderful suggestion. I love to save coupons and on many occassions, some expire before I can use them. I just hate throwing them out. This is fantastic!

[pedersoc]

Would it be okay to post this article on my web site?--It is a very interesting--I never heard of this before --I will provide a link quoting to this site if it is okay.

Thanks!

Cheryl

[belic3000]

Thanks. Never heard of this program until now. I will be sending my expired coupons. Thanks for the instructions on how to send them.

[JeanneElle]

Thank you so much for this info - I had no idea!! Now my expired coupons will go in the mail instead of in the recycling bin.

[jamiefic]

That's great! Thanks for sharing. Nice to know that there's no reason to throw the coupons out!