There is a language of coupons. Truly! I actually had to look up MANY of the terms before I got the hang of it. There are some well known ones and some obscure ones but I will use these to describe methods and deals so you need to familiarize yourself with the terminology before we proceed with our Coupons 101 lessons! (Heather… you were reading my mind!)

Blinkie – Coupon dispensers in the aisles of many grocery stores
BOGO / B1G1 = Buy One Get One Free
BTFE = Box Tops for Education – the little rewards on the tops of many products that earn money for schools
CATS = Catalinas – the printers located at Walgreens, Meijer, etc that print out a small thin register tape type coupon. (Register Rewards are Catalina’s). These are named for the company that produces the printers- the Catalina company
CRT – Cash Register Tape – A coupon that prints on your Receipt. (CVS ECB’s are CRTs). These can be found at many places… Kroger- on the backs of receipts, CVS and Target on the bottom of receipts, etc.
DND – Do no Double – Many of the online Q’s have this stated on the top.
ECB – Extra Care Bucks – Printed at CVS, these work like gift certificates to spend on your next CVS purchase, same day, next order, next week. Watch your expiration dates on these… they generally expire quickly (within 2 weeks or so!)
ES = This is officially dead but you will see me reference it every now and then. This was the monthly mail in rebate program through Walgreens that was done away with last month.
FAR = Free after Rebate
FSOT = For Sale or Trade
GM = General Mills
HT = Hang Tag
IP = Internet Printable
ISO = In Search Of
MFR = Manufacturer Coupon
MIR = Mail in Rebate
NED = No Expiration Date
NIB = New in Box
OOP = Out of Pocket
OYNO = On your next order
P&G = Procter and Gamble Saver – Coupon pack that is released monthly on the FIRST Sunday of the month (unless a holiday) that has most of the Q’s for P&G Products for the month. The majority of these Q’s EXPIRE THE SAME MONTH!
Peelie = Coupon you peel off a product
Q = Coupon
RP = Redplum – Coupon Insert in Sunday Paper
SS = SmartSource – Coupon Insert in Sunday Paper
Stack = Using a STORE coupon WITH a MFR coupon to double up on savings. Most stores allow this.
Store Q = A store specific Q such as the clippables from WAGS weekly paper or ones mailed to you from Kroger or Target that CANNOT be redeemed at any store. Now there is a gray area in SOME Q’s- if it states ANYWHERE on the Q- Manufacturer Q then it IS good at ANY store regardless of the logo listed on it! Even better sometimes places like Meijer will MATCH store Q’s!!!
WT = Wine Tag – the tag that hangs from the neck of any product and boasts a coupon.
WYB = When you buy (ex. Get $1 back WYB 3 products)
YMMV = Your mileage may vary. Meaning… it may or may not work in accodance with the mood of your cashier or rules of the store!

I will resume the Coupon 101 posts this weekend as I will be sitting on a beautiful beach in Negril starting tomorrow!!!

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