Super-Couponing: What to Do With Those Expired Coupons

The upside to couponing? Saving money, of course. The downside? Those piles of unused coupons. Whether you clip each coupon or keep the weekly inserts, there are most likely some coupons you didn't use before they expired. One obvious solution to help tame the mountain of savings-that-could-have-been is to simply toss whatever didn't make the cut at the store. However, before you give the round file a workout, why not consider collecting those expired coupons for a good cause?

Turns out our country's military families can use those coupons, even if expired, at overseas bases through the Overseas Coupon Program (OCP). While a dollar off coupon that expired three weeks ago doesn't do us much good here, it can help someone serving our country overseas stretch their household dollars.

How To Participate

It's fairly easy to get started participating in the OCP. There are a few simple rules the program asks those interested in participating to follow:

• General Rules: Clip each coupon individually. The OCP is looking for manufacturer's coupons; as long as this phrase is on the coupon, it can be used by military families. What the OCP is not looking for are restaurant coupons, food stamps, vouchers and any coupon that is specific to a store. Also, try not to send any coupons too out of date: a good rule of thumb is to make sure the expiration date isn't over two months ago. This allows the coupons to travel to the base, be sorted and passed along to the families within the timeframe for use allowed (generally four to six months after the coupon's expiration date).
• Group It: Group the coupons into food and non-food piles, then place those piles in an envelope or baggie marked "food" and "non-food."
• Total It: Total the amount of coupons you're sending and indicate this amount somewhere on the baggie or envelope.
• Choose It: Choose a participating base and send off those savings.

That's it. Pretty simple way to be patriotic, huh? To get some more detailed info on the OCP and to see the list of bases around the world who participate in the program, head on over to their website: http://ocpnet.org.

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