What Can I Do With Expired Coupons?
We can’t use all our coupons before they expire. So, what can you do with your expired coupons? You don’t have to just throw them into your recycle bin. Instead consider donating them.
Military Commissaries overseas take expired coupons for up to six months past their expiration date. What a great way to help those stationed overseas.
Here are 3 sites that can assist you in sending out expired coupons:
Tips for sending your expired coupons:
Clip Coupons: Your coupons will need to be cut. Due to the bulk of coupons received, whole inserts will most likely be thrown into be recycled. So be sure to clip then before you mail them.
Divide the Coupons: Separate the coupons into 2 plastic bags and label them. They should be labeled:
- Food
- Non-Food (including dog food)
What Not to Send:
- Do not send internet coupons (if sending to Coupons to Troops above)
- Do not send milk coupons
- Vitamins, Hair Colors and cosmetics coupons are not in high demand
- Do not send store specific coupons
- Do not send coupons that are ripped or have the expiration date cut off
- Do not send coupons that are more then 30 days past their due date due. This allows enough time for shipping and processing before the coupon reaches the 6 month point.
Cindy Livesey is the force behind Living Rich With Coupons which provides its readers with all the resources they need to shop smart so they can get life’s luxuries for a lot less. Her family of 5 has saved over $11,000 a year in groceries. And you can too.
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Why not send internet coupons? The group I send them to takes them as long as they’re not store specific. For just about every purpose, internet coupons should be treated the same as clipped newspaper coupons.
I actually should have been more specific on that. Coupons for the Troops does not take internet coupons. I updated the post to be more specific.
Will you please send me the link to whom you send your coupons to so I can send them my Internet coupons? Thanks. I wish you had included the group in your post, then I would not have to bother you now:)!
Chris
Thankks very much for this info; I had been meaning to look into this. I have a lot of coupons left over because so many people have been giving me their inserts now.
Holy mother of someone or another, I shame myself for not having known about this before. I cringe to think of what I’ve tossed in the past few months. I never really would have thought to look into it; great post for the others in my boat.
Thanks again.
It’s commissaries, not commissionaries…
As someone who was previously stationed overseas and LOVED my expired coupon shipments since it was the only way I ever got them, this really is a great way to help out servicemembers ad their families.
I will also say that perhaps vitamin coupons are not in high demand, but commissaries do sell them (albeit limited brands). On the other hand, commissaries do not sell hair color or cosmetics products so these expired coupons are not usable at all. Military exchange stores (BX, PX, NEX) do sell these items, but they do not accept expired coupons.
Anything else we should know from your experience? All info is good info I’m sure, I know I’ll be sending some volume. I’d certainly like to get it completely right the first time.
Are there any issues in using expired FREE item or BOGO coupons?
Ah, silly spell check. Thanks, I fixed that
the Ramstein Bx in Germany will take the expired coupons too. They started that about a year ago.
I tried there twice and was told no both times, but I honestly can’t recall if it was longer than a year ago or not so perhaps it was before they changed their policy (?)… (or I just got an employee who didn’t know).
I actually know about this from my husband (active duty Air Force). He and I are going to be stationed in Spain for 4 years, starting this Spring. We’re going to be asking family and friends to save and mail expired/unused coupons directly to us.
If you are still needing coupons, let me know I have an entire bag full of them and there isn’t a place anywhere around here that will take them… so if you have a family member I can send them to and then they can send whatever that have all together? contact me mommy03120510@aol.com
This is amazing! I wish I knew this earlier, thank you for this post!!
being an army wife, i can tell you that this will help our troops a lot, especially considering the small amount that the enlisted members are paid!!!
I never had any issues using BOGO coupons, but I can’t say that I ever saw a single coupon for a free item that came our way so I can’t speak to that – I don’t think that many people allow those to expire before using them! LOL
Overseas commissaries take a very long time to get any products that are new to the market, as you can imagine with the shipping and marketing lag. Even though we can use coupons up to 6 months after their printed expiration date, many times I would have amazing high-value coupons for items like a new candy bar or new cracker flavor that, even that far out past the coupon’s circulation date, had still not been introduced to the commissary market overseas and expired “again” before we could use them for that reason.
The biggest issue that I had in sorting coupons was that I think people often just see dotted lines in an insert or paper and automatically clip without first looking at what the coupon is for – we constantly got store-specific coupons for both retail stores and restaurants that of course don’t have overseas location – same goes for store-brand or generic brand items; commissaries only sell name-brand items and generally only the larger manufacturers at that.
Oh, and commissaries won’t take expired formula checks since they’re not “coupons” but rather entered as cashiers’ checks.
Great info, thanks for sharing.
I always send to Coups for Troops
Coups For Troops
PO Box 147
Winnabow NC 28479
They require cutting, but not sorting and will take all coupons except restaurant (they do accept internet/vitamin/beauty/catalina manuf).
To make this easy on me, when I get my inserts I cut them up and sort them by expiration date. Then, I can just skim off the top quickly to get them off to Coups at the end of the month.
I also send un-expired coupns for things I know I will never use/buy.
http://www.coupsfortroops.com/p/faq_07.html
missdona-
I too send all my coupons to this group. At the end of every month I send out a batch using the USPS “if it fits, it ships box”. Friends at work and family members give me all of their expired coupons, soon I’m going to need to upgrade to a larger box. Lol… When I clean out expireds I automatically sort them into envelopes so that at the end of the month I just put them into the box and mail it off. My box is by the door for the morning shipment! We are a retired mitlitary family and this is one way that we can continue to support our troops.
Thanks Cindy..I was just asking for this info a while ago..
Thanks! I was just wondering about this the other day as I was purging coupons. I will be sure to send them on now!!
Thanks a bunch for doing this and passing on the info to your readers. Prices at the overseas commissaries tend to be a bit higher, and in most cases the families are single income.
We adopted a base in Japan and I feel proud to be able to help those that are serving our country.
Thanks to all of you guys mailing your expired coupons. We just got back last month from Germany. You will not have to sort the coupons if you are mailing them directly to the commissary. They will just put them in a big bin at the entrance. I used to go to the service desk like 2x a month and they would just hand me a box and I would pass it on to my friends when I was done with it. The Bx overseas does also take expired coupons.
Cindy, could you make another link on your page with this information on it? I think if people could see a link, they would remember to send the coupons. I didn’t even know about this before, but if it gets lost in previous posts, I’ll never find it again.
Thanks for mentioning CouponsToTroops in your post!!
If anyone is interested in sending your coupons directly to an overseas military family, we can put you in touch with one. You can either check out our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CouponsToTroops or send us an email at admin@couponstotroops.com
I adopted an AF base in Germany (where my hubby was stationed for 5 years) and was able to send close to $4000 in coupons in the first shipment. My friends and neighbors are constantly handing me coupons and it’s so nice to know that they can benefit someone else. Anyone in MD that has expired coupons I will gladly include them in my shipment if you do not want to adopt a base. I know some people do not like to just because all of the coupons have to be clipped and totalled. Please email me at jacakes@verizon.net if interested! Thank you to all those serving in the military and their families!!!!
Are there any kinds of coupons that are especially desirable to the troops?
@JMe
How did you adopt a base????
@Kristina
I went to http://www.ocpnet.org
Is there an organization that collects them in north or central NJ?
Thank you so much for these addresses. I have emailed the USO a few times about this and have yet to receive any information as to where to send coupons. A BIG THANK YOU!
Recently a friend told me about a group called CouponsToTroops. They are found on facebook. This particular group links you directly with a military family. So there’s no sending your coupons to someone else who then sorts and resends the coupons. It’s a direct link to the people you help. Also, the military participants end up passing the coupons all around to each other, so everything will get used up. Apparently there’s no sorting or anything like that. You just send what you can, and that’s it. I just joined up, and I am looking forward to being paired with a family!
Everyone is talking about expired coupons. But I also get a lot of still good coupons that I cannot use or don’t like the brand or whatever. Surely they can also use these? My daughter and I are very interested in finding something to do with them.
Yes Susan, they can absolutely use coupons that have not yet expired.
I also thank you for these direct links, which I have been frustrated in finding. I also support you putting this information up front on your site on the home page where everyone who does not know about this possibility yet can see it up front and real. Thank you so much for the ways to directly donate to military families or bases – that’s that way I want to do it instead of through processing centers! Cudos! Cudos! Cudos!