I Braved the Commissary

(originally posted on my blog)

How funny is that?! We have been a part of the Army family since 2003 and I'm just now making my way into the commissary! It's not exactly the first time though. I went with a friend not too long after we first moved here. It was on payday. Now those of you who have been to the commissary on pay day will understand this well.

The place was packed. And I don't mean just a little crowded. It was like a 5am sale on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). I could not believe the amount of people. The aisles are narrow so we were constantly bumping into people or in someone's way. And then the line to check out? Um, wow. Unbelievable! So after leaving there with her that day, I vowed never to go back and promised my loyalty to the Kroger within walking distance of my house!

But on Tuesday, I decided to give it another shot. It was April 3. So quite a few days after pay day and I went around 1 in the afternoon. What a difference. It was still fairly busy but nowhere near what it was like on my first (and last) trip. I didn't have to wait at all to checkout and some of the deals were great!

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not one to pay that much attention to prices. There's a few items that I intentionally paid attention to price on the last time I was in Kroger so I could compare.

I got both Special K and Frosted Mini Wheats cereals (my breakfast of choice!) for $1.50 a box. They are both usually close to $4/box at Kroger. And SeaPak shrimp scampi is $7.99 at Kroger. I love it so I grudgingly buy it and pay the price. Well, at the commissary, imagine my delight to find it was $4.49 and that was regular price! DiGiorno frozen pizzas were also quite a bit cheaper.

Overall, I was a happy camper! While its not worth it (to me) to drive all the way to post just to get a few items, for the bigger trips, it is well worth the drive. Just check the calendar before you go so you don't get lost in the mass of people with freshly deposited paychecks.