Well, we've been in Dhaka for just shy of 10 months now, and we have recently found out that we will likely stay for another 6 months (taking us 4 months past our one year IRT tour) so that B can finish out the school year over here. As I reflect on our lifestyle and start making notes for our next overseas tour (whenever that might be) one thing really stands out. We need to make better use of our consumables allowance. This isn't really something anyone can tell you ahead of time, because it's tough to visualize the sorts of foods you really want to ship (and know what things will be expensive) until after you've lived here for a while. When you live with kids - who have ever-changing tastes - this is also tough. I have three totally unopened large containers of oatmeal because my kids (and my husband) really, REALLY like oatmeal. But strangely, they're not eating it here. Instead, everyone seems to opt for blueberry pop-tarts.
I think the first big adjustment for me was having to buy all name-brand products. I know some people shop this way all the time, but I don't. I buy generic whenever I can and with the exception of Kirkland's macaroni and cheese (which is truly awful), I am generally very pleased by the quality. Please, if you take one thing away from this post, never buy that macaroni and cheese. This is actually one of the main reasons I don't generally shop at the commissary when we're stateside. I just don't see the savings they promise because I don't normally buy name-brand items at the grocery store. So really, if I was stateside and bought only name-brand items, I'm sure our grocery bill would be higher to begin with. But add to that the fact that our overseas commissary (not actually affiliated with DeCA, but generally sourced from DeCA products) adds a significant surcharge on to commissary prices to cover the expense of shipping, and prices for food here can be a bit silly. Take for instance peanut butter which is currently running over $8 for a 40 oz container, or Cheez-Its which run just shy of $4 per box. Do I think I'm getting ripped off? No, I'm sure the commissary is charging me a fair price relative to what they pay for these things, but it doesn't make it much easier to bear.
Cereal generally starts at $5 per box and goes up from there; canned goods (vegetables, beans, etc) start at $1.50 per can. I've honestly mostly stopped paying attention to the prices when I shop since we don't have any alternative. As much as I hate to pay those prices, we have to eat something. Some people ship in food in large quantities (www.amazon.com or buythecase.net), but I've often found that once I add in shipping - if required - the prices aren't that different than what I'm paying at the commissary. So I've just essentially given up trying to save money on food.
And now for the (potentially) helpful portion of this. We as a family need to make much better use of our consumables allowance the next time we go overseas. While we can't make up for the ridiculous prices on things like meat, cheese, and yogurt, we can at least ship cases of cereal, lunch-box treats, crackers, canned goods, and spaghetti sauce. With those items alone, I'd save quite a bit (since we go through them so quickly). One member of our family - who shall remain nameless - made the executive decision that we didn't need to ship these items because "they are available at the commissary", but I really think next time I need to put my foot down. There's a big difference between "available" and "reasonably priced". I could be concerned with pesky things like expiration dates on all this food purchased in advance, but over half the items I purchase here are either expired, or close to it, so really, what's the difference. I have cheddar cheese in my freezer downstairs that has a best buy date of sometime mid-2011. I'm not kidding. While I am thankful most days that these things ARE available, I feel a bit... annoyed that because the military gives us a consumables allowance, they feel no need to give us any sort of COLA that would be commensurate with the actual expenses we incur just shopping for groceries.
Sadly, I feel like this information might only be useful if we come back here to Dhaka, as each country has their own type of commissary. For example, our friends in Sri Lanka do not have any refrigerated or frozen items available. Then again, some other countries in our region tend to have more things available to them on the economy. I feel like we have altered our diet while living here to make best use of the foods that are available, and I'm sure we would do the same in any new location. Here's hoping we can continue to remain flexible and do our best to make use of the opportunities available to us.
