After-hours Commissary teaches shopping hacks

A fresh take on Fort Jackson's quarterly Coupon Craze workshop was held Jan. 14. The Commissary hosted the class, and a behind-the-scenes tour was included for participants.

Fort Jackson community members who joined in learned how to use coupons to save money. They also got special access to the store while it was closed for the day.

Normally, couponers go to the Army Community Service building to learn the craft. This time the Directorate of Family, Morale, Recreation and Welfare decided to go "out of the box," said Shawn Smith, a personal financial readiness specialist at Fort Jackson.

A tour of the Commissary meant couponers could learn more about store policy and get a better feel for its layout.

"Sometimes you just don't know (how to coupon at a specific location) until you walk through the store," said Cassandra Mcneal-Harris, the teacher of the couponing class.

Mcneal-Harris has been an active couponer for the last decade. She also knows a lot about the site; her husband is a Commissary employee.

When her husband retired from the Navy years ago, she set out to find a way to save money. Couponing was her answer.

Smith, who works with finances every day, says couponing is a "valuable asset" for a tight budget that is often overlooked.

Mcneal-Harris has been teaching members of the Fort Jackson community -- normally between 15 and 20 per class -- the tricks of the trade for the last few years

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Participants have asked her some tough questions, Smith said, but Mcneal-Harris has been able to answer every single one of them.

Smith calls her a "Subject Matter Expert."

Some classmates are novices. Others are more advanced and are looking for new techniques and apps to tune their skills, Smith said.

All are eager to learn, Mcneal-Harris added, and most take notes.

Spc. Briante McBryde, a supply clerk at Fort Jackson, was one of the workshop's attendants Jan. 14. She came to the Commissary on her lunch break.

"I just wanted to learn how to get more bang for my buck" while shopping for a Family of four, McBryde said.

"Coupons take time, patience and organization," Mcneal-Harris told the students. A lot of cashiers "don't want to deal with coupons," but being willing to wait is good for the wallet.

Her shopping sprees, even as a veteran couponer, tend to take roughly four hours, she said. Checkouts often last 45 minutes.

Mcneal-Harris only has to shop every two or three months, though, and she often buys a surplus.

Smith said that Mcneal-Harris is too humble to admit it, but she buys extra to donate to the community.

"She's a very giving lady," Smith said.

To make the goodwill and savings possible, her trick is to go down every aisle, check out her coupons, and only buy when there are good deals.

"It takes time, and you have to start small," Mcneal-Harris advised. "Once you get comfortable, it's a whole lot easier."

It's best to start couponing with the things you need, like toothpaste and paper towels, she added. Stocking a year's supply of each item can be a longer-term goal.

There are many apps and websites that can help advance the process.

Most of them are new within the last decade. When Mcneal-Harris started, she said she was "basically winging it."

At one point, she even asked her mail carrier for extra coupons.

Nowaday, coupons can still be found in the Sunday paper, but they're also available online, Mcneal-Harris said.

She goes over the specific apps and websites that can help couponers, describes concepts like "coupon stacking," and answers participant questions during her regularly-held workshops.