FFSC volunteers Matt Faxon and Midori Simpkins place bags of coupons in a bin outside the check-in/check-out desk on the 4th floor of the Community Readiness Center Aug. 12. FFSC receives the coupons from volunteer organizations in the United States.

Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) receives thousands of grocery coupons every week thanks to the thoughtfulness and diligence of volunteer organizations and individuals all over the United States. The coupons are sorted and made available to residents enabling them to save hundreds of dollars on grocery bills every month.

“It’s a good deal, it really is,” said FFSC Work and Family Life Supervisor Scott Keehn. “We bag them up and put them out and anybody who is stationed here can have them. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Since the economy took a turn for the worse in 2008, coupon clipping has become popular again. According to www.consumeraffairs.com, 3.3 billion consumer packaged goods coupons were redeemed. This was thanks to an increase in distribution which put the number of coupons issued over 360 billion. The average face value of the coupons was $1.44.

“If you spend just an hour a week going through coupons, cutting them out from the paper, you can save a substantial amount of money,” said Keehn. “At the very least, customers should use the coupons they have on the racks right in the commissary.”

The beauty of the FFSC coupon program is all of the cutting is done for you by the volunteers back in the United States. There really is no reason why anyone on the base shouldn’t stop by the Community Readiness Center (CRC) to pick up a bag of coupons before heading over to the commissary. The coupons are located in bins on the first and fourth floors of the CRC.

In addition to the FFSC coupon program, the Work and Family Life Office also offers a myriad of personal financial management help through counseling, workshops and classes in subjects as diverse as credit management, home and car buying, planning for retirement and much, much more. The goal of all their classes is to help individuals learn, understand and manage their financial matters.

For more information on the ways the Work and Family Life Office can help you, visit the website www.cnic.navy.mil/Yokosuka/CommunitySupport/FFSC/PersonalFinanceManagement, contact them by e-mail to ffscinfo@fe.navy.mil or call 243-9910.