Life After an Expired Coupon

What do you do with all your manufacturer coupons that have expired and you never had the chance to use? Many people throw them away. Once a coupon expires, it's worthless - right? WRONG!

Many people don't realize that there is still life after the expiration date of a coupon. What could you possibly do with an expired coupon, you may ask. Well, did you know that military families overseas are able to use manufacturer coupons at their commissary for up to 6 months past the expiration date? This is a huge advantage because being overseas gives military families little opportunities for saving money. By sending them your expired coupons really helps them to stretch their budget and is very appreciated.

If this is something you are interested in and would like to participate, the process is simple. Overseas Coupon Program (OCP for short) is a non-profit organization that specializes in helping military families overseas save money. They do this by maintaining an overseas base addresses and helping others so they too, can send coupons. They also keep a tally of how many coupons, in dollars, have been sent.

Before sending anything, make sure you read over the 'How To Participate' page to make sure you follow any guidelines they might have.

Here are just a few things to keep in mind:

If you are going to send coupons to the military families overseas, keep in mind that you are mailing something over seas so it could take a couple weeks to get there. In addition, the mail has to be distributed and coupons sorted though etc. Even though they can use coupons up to, 6 months expired - the process takes time. I suggest sending coupons as soon as they expire or even before they expire so they have plenty of time to use them.

They also ask that you clip the coupons from the inserts and separate them into food and non-food items. The reason for this is because they have two commissary stores - one for food and one for non-food items. The coupons are sent straight to the commissary - not to the people so by separating them helps to distribute them faster.

One last thing, it is not a requirement to adopt a military family it does make the act a little more personal. What better way to get to know the men and women who server our country?