With Sunday upon us and the new week of sales starting I wanted to prepare anyone who wanted to learn the Art of Couponing. Here is a list of Acronyms I will be using so that you can follow along. It may seem overwhelming now (I have to take a break from couponing once in a while too), trust me, it will start to get easier the more you do it and soon you will wonder why you never couponed before! The amount of time and effort you put into it will really start to reflect in your bank account! And then we can start spending our money on the things we want instead of the things we need. And if you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments below - I'm sure a lot of people will have the same questions as you!
B1G1 - Buy One Get One
Catalina - This is a coupon printed out at the end of your transaction. Sometimes it is for some amount of money ($/$$) off your next purchase (OYNP) or off your next order (OYNO).
ECB - Extra Care Bucks, this is exclusive to CVS stores. They will appear on the bottom of your receipt and they are good towards your next purchase. You will hear me talking about "rolling my ECB's" and we will get in to that later - but it basically means, I no longer pay cash in a CVS store, I now just pay them with their own money! That's Right - you heard me!
EXP - Expires or Expiration date
Inserts - These are the coupons you find in your Sunday paper. There are 3 major inserts: Smart Source (SS), Red Plum (RP) sometimes referred to as Valassis, and Proctor and Gamble (PG). Every Sunday there will be a different line up. Some Sundays you will only get the SS insert and some Sundays you might get all 3.
MIR - Mail In Rebate. I thought these were a waste of time at first, but now I love getting these checks in the mail!
mq - Manufacturer Coupon
oop- Out Of Pocket. This is the actual amount of money you give to the cashier after all coupons and store credits (ECB's and +UP's, Catalina's) have been used.
Rolling Catalina's (ECB's, +UP's). This is how you save a lot of money and how you start stockpiling! Here is an example: CVS is having a sale on toothbrushes. They are on sale for $3 and they are printing $3 ECB's when you purchase one. I go to CVS and I buy a toothbrush for $3. I give the cashier a $1 mq that I got from the SS in the 10/10 Sunday paper. I pay $2 oop. At the bottom of my receipt I have a $3 ECB to use on my next purchase. I go back and buy another toothbrush for $3 and this time I pay with my $3 ECB. and if there is no limit stated on how many toothbrushes I can buy I can keep rolling my ECB's and buy as many toothbrushes as I want, and only pay $2 oop from the first transaction. What would make this an even sweeter deal is if I had more the 1of the $1 mq to use for each transaction. I have a $3 ECB and only owe $2oop after using a $1mq. So then I get to buy something else for $1 and get it for free. I get a toothbrush and a pack of gum and still owe nothing and still get a $3 ECB back!
1 toothbrush $3
1 pack of gum $1
total = $4
-$1 toothbrush mq from SS 10/10
-$3 ECB = $0 oop
FREE!
I know this sounds confusing - but I will be posting actual coupon scenarios that i do in stores and it will make much more sense then!
SCR - Single Check Rebates. This is exclusive to Rite Aid. You are going to want to save your Rite Aid receipts and enter them on the website to get money back for qualifying purchases. You can read all about it Here!
SCR - Single Check Rebates. This is exclusive to Rite Aid. You are going to want to save your Rite Aid receipts and enter them on the website to get money back for qualifying purchases. You can read all about it Here!
Stacking Coupons - Here is another great way to get things on the cheap! A lot of stores will allow you to use a mq AND a store coupon. For example, on the Target website they have printable coupons for their stores only. You may have seen them before they have a little Target sign on them - meaning they are only intended to be used in their stores. Target's coupon policy states that you can use a Target store coupon and a mq that you get in the paper to use towards an item. So... lets say Target is having a sale on Charmin toilet paper for $5. There is a printable target coupon on their website for $1 off AND there is a $2 mq from the 10/3 PG insert - you can use both coupons for that 1 product and get $3 off! That is a great reason why you should know your stores coupon policies and stack those coupons if you can!!!
vv - Video Values - these are coupons exclusive to Rite Aid. If you log onto Rite Aids web site you can watch these short little commercials to earn store coupons. When stacked with mq's these make for awesome deals! They also have coupons for $/$$, ($5/$25 purchase) that you can use with and BEFORE the rest of your coupons! This is how to get your total oop super low!
vv - Video Values - these are coupons exclusive to Rite Aid. If you log onto Rite Aids web site you can watch these short little commercials to earn store coupons. When stacked with mq's these make for awesome deals! They also have coupons for $/$$, ($5/$25 purchase) that you can use with and BEFORE the rest of your coupons! This is how to get your total oop super low!
YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary. You will see this when there is a sale at one chain that may not be at all chains. I know that Target's and Walmart's prices vary by store and region - so you may not find the same sale as me. I love to call ahead when im not sure about a sale.
WYB - When You Buy
+up - These are Rite Aid's version of ECB's. To be eligible for these store's sales and rewards money you have to sign up for their key tag rewards programs. SO WORTH IT!
I hope this helps and I will probably be adding on to this list as we go along, so if you ever come across one of my posts and you have no idea what I'm talking about - check back here and it might help to decode it! I promise, the more you coupon, the easier it gets!
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