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Military Families
How much do you tip at the commisary? And more
Do you have a system like $ per bag or same amount all the time? More at the holidays? Do you have any favorite grocery items that you can only find at the commisary? If you live on base/post, do you get your mail carrier a holiday present? What about a gift or sweets for the non military security guards (at the entrance of base) if you see them ALL the time?
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Re: How much do you tip at the commisary? And more
I very rarely go to the commissary. I know everyone swears that it's cheaper, but between Walmart and Sam's I can get almost everything off post for cheaper than at the commissary. If I do go, it's only because it's a couple miles away and I don't feel like driving all the way off post for a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread or something. In that case I go through self checkout and carry my own bags to the car. In the rare rare case that someone carries my bags for me, I tip a couple bucks.
No I don't get the mail carrier a gift, I only see her once in a blue moon when she has to drop a package at my door because the package boxes are full or it's too big. I also don't get the security guards a gift. If I got every single person on base that I see every now and then a gift we'd be broke as hell. Between the mail carrier, security guards, maintenance workers, housing staff, postal workers behind the counter, pharmacy staff, daycare workers that we see once a week, etc... no freaking way dude, that's a lot of people.
I rarely go to the commissary because I find that the surcharge and tip cancel out any savings and it's not worth the hassle. When I do go, I typically tip at least 10%, and more around the holidays. I also tip more if they take the initiative and load big items like dog food and bottled water from my cart onto the belt and less if they try for a sympathy tip by giving me some sob story about saving for college, an engagement ring, wedding, etc. while we walk to the car.
Before my husband and I were married, we wouldn't go to the commisary very often, mostly because the hours were not convenient for our schedules. I always found that the produce was TERRIBLE, but the meat had pretty good prices. Plus, it was always easier just to drive the 20 minutes to Wal Mart to buy groceries and other items that the commisary and BX didn't have.
We never tipped, and I sort of feel bad about it after reading that a lot of you did
I didn't feel like they did a good job bagging (were slow, put breakable items in with large/hard items, etc) and they weren't very friendly at our base.
We don't go to the commissary, There are 4 grocery stores within about 3 miles of our house so much more convenient for us. I have never in my life tipped someone for bagging my groceries or helping to load my car so I would never have thought to do it if we did shop on base.
As for the security guards would they be permitted to accept gifts? I used to work in foster care and we were not allowed to accept gifts from our foster parents because it could be seen as bribe to get special treatment. I would think that would apply even more so to people in charge of security. Not at all implying that was your intent OP but having sat through hours of training on this it's all about how it looks on the outside.
usually there are 2 baggers, i give each about 3 bucks and before i was pregnant id take the groceries out to my car myself.
now with my husband home and being pregnant, we get help out to the car and we tip whichever bagger helps us to the car 6 bucks and the other one 3.
if its a small trip like just a couple things ill do self check out or not tip.
the reason you tip them is because they dont have an hourly wage. but if i didnt feel like tipping there was a self check out with a belt so i could do all my own groceries and bag them too so i didnt feel like a d-bag for not tipping
Commissary baggers work for tips only, they get no salary. We tip $3-4 for $100-150 worth of groceries. I figure a bagger ought to be able to average 5-8 customers per hour, so @ $3 each that would be $15-$24 in tips.
If you use coupons smartly you can easily save more than the surcharge. We usually save 5-8% by just using coupons from our Sunday paper or the ones you see next to products.
It also pays to know prices at civilian stores. We buy at Costco, loss leaders at local stores, and stock up at the commissary about once a month.
The only time I use the baggers is when I have more than 3 bags and the baby. So I will tip the person 2-3 dollars, depending on if I have more than 4 bags.
I live overseas, so other than milk, meats and veggies I buy 80% of the boxed/canned groceries at the commissary. Not for the brands perse, but for the cost.
I never give my mail carriers cash gifts. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they do and all. But they are PAID very good salaries for their CHOSEN profession. A first year carrier makes $15 to $19 dollars an hour. Thats more than I was making.
I did/do give our security guards home-made treats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I also bring a container of hot chocolate.
At the commisary, I tip about $2, but I take everything out to my car. All they do is put the groceries in the bag.
My mom is a mail carrier, so if I had a mail carrier who I knew did more than just deliver my mail, I would give them about $15 (usually in gift card form). If all the mail carrier does is put mail in my box then I don't gift them anything. But if they have delivered a ton of packages over the year or gone out of their way to make sure my mail was on hold properly, etc then I would gift them a gift card to Starbucks or something.
Last year I ordered all new furniture for our house through UPS. It was the equivelant of about 30 HUGE boxes that my UPS man brought into the house for me. I gave him a gift card that year as well.
I would never ever even think to tip the security guards. That just seems weird to me for some reason...
I usually give the commissary baggers around $5, more if I got a lot of groceries or if they were unusually helpful. Like PP said, if it's someone who's whining about the cost of college, etc, usually less because I'm a student too! When I do go to the commissary, it's to stock up on dried goods since we're overseas and foods that we miss from home that we can't find off base.
We don't live on base, but we don't tip the mail carrier. She's really unreliable (and was before we didn't tip her during the holiday season).
We don't do anything for the security guards whether they're military or not. No one goes to the backshop and tips my husband for being a good mechanic, YKWIM?
I don't shop at the commissary either. I save more at the store down the street from my house. The only thing we ever really buy on post would be meat or alcohol.
I don't gift my mail carrier. She's doing her job and gets paid pretty well for it. I have never seen the point in it.
As an MP, I would think it was nice but kind of weird if someone came by and left food. Of course, I'm one of those people who don't eat food from random people. Even if I see them all the time. I wouldn't recommend it.
I HATE the Commissary. HATE HATE HATE IT!!!! It is full of retired people who think the world owes them EVERYTHING. Idiots who leave their cart in the middle of the isle, and people who have no idea what "flow of traffic" means and completely feels the need to barrel in at you at full speed and expect you to get out of the way.
One time I was in line, and a very older man (late 70's) was to the side of me just past some shelving and I couldn't see him, and you could tell he was confused about the line he got in, so I offered him to go in front of me (he only had a case of water) and he turned me down... The guy behind me starts to chew MY @ss out because I was going to hold him up and how I don't have any consideration for anyone behind me. I explained that I didn't know who was there first and since he only had a case of water, it was the polite thing to do and turn around, then he starts talking loudly to himself how dependants come here thinking they run the place and if it wasn't for my husbands hard work I wouldn't even be there.
I turned around and politely showed him my WHITE ID card (I usally never have it out and ready but today I did) and said Sir, I am a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and MY 14 years of hard work has earned me the right to be here, and in case you haven't heard women ARE allowed to vote as well as serve their country.
He suddenly "forgot" something and had to leave the line...
Our commissary was told to take down the signs that say "We work on tips only." I was told they do get paid.
It realllly depends. On the weather. The service. The chit-chat...
Usually $2-$5. I tipped the little old man who worked there $5 once (on like $80), because he was so sweet and we walked from the commissary parking lot to the AAFES one.
?Michelle?
Military Wives Saving & I Heart Kmart
"Extreme Couponing & Fab Savings From a Military Wife Living the Military Life."
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You're only supposed to tip the taking bagger, not the bagger that stays behind. That bagger gets tipped by the next person. So you're paying nearly $10 a trip?! That's $40 a month in tips, at least half of which you really don't need to pay.
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Oh my word! 10% of your bill, someone else said $10? That's a ton. Way too big of tip in my opinion. I exclusively give $2 and take th bags out to the car myself. Even if I forget to tell them and they bring them out they still get $2. And I don't feel like I am being cheap - they bag a lot of groceries.