Getting the lingo down is half the battle while the other half of the battle is knowing your store policies. Go to our store guides for detailed information on store policy to help you along.
The coupon inserts: there are typically 3 different inserts to be found in your Sunday newspaper
SS: The SmartSource insert found in most Sunday newspapers. Among other things, this is where you find the General Mills coupons such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Pillsbury, Chex, Nature Valley, Green Giant and Progresso. These have been the best deals lately.
RP: The RedPlum Insert found in most Sunday news papers. Sometimes there will be 2 RedPlum inserts.
P&G: the Proctor & Gamble insert. This comes out once a month. Typically the 1st Sunday of each month, but P&G follows their own schedule. This is the only place where you can get coupons for Tide, Pantene, Pampers and a few others.
The rest of the story…
IPs: short for “Internet Printable”. IPs are the coupons that you can find online. Printing IPs require the installation of a “Coupon Printer” software on your computer. This program is your friend. The tracking cookie that it contains is in order to limit your printing of each coupon to 2 times per computer. More computers = more coupons. IPs have become a bit of an issue with some stores due to the fact that there are a number of people out there trying to defraud the stores and manufacturers using altered coupons or printing more than the allowed amount per computer. This practice could eventually end the coupon game if it continues. Don’t be tempted to copy or alter coupons as it is dishonest and could wreck a very good thing.
WYB: short for “When You Buy”
OYNO: short for “On Your Next Order”
Catalina: These cause a lot of excitement among couponers. When you see a sale worded something like “Save $5 on your next order when you buy $20 in participating products”, it means that you receive a coupon for $5 at checkout. The coupon is printed not from the register, but from that small white machine sitting next to the register. That machine is made by the Catalina Company and the coupons themselves have come to be called a “Catalina“. Some people also refer to a Catalina as a “Cat”
OOP: short for “out of pocket”. This is the cash that you physically pull out of your wallet. It is the cost of your purchase after all coupons, Catalinas, ECBs and RRs have been subtracted.
Rolling the Catalina: the ability to do this is why couponers get so excited about Catalinas. It simply means that you split your transactions in order to minimize your out-of-pocket costs. Let’s say that you are looking at a deal listed as “Save $10 OYNO WYB $20 and you have enough coupons to do that deal several times. There are two reasons that you want to split your transactions in to 3 $20 transactions. The first reason is that, in most cases, if you buy $60 in one transaction you will still only get a $10 Catalina (it depends on the deal, not the store). But if you split your transaction, you can minimize your out-of pocket costs by using the Catalina generated in one transaction to pay for the next.
ECBs: stands for “Extra Care Bucks” and is specific to CVS. First, you must have a CVS Extra Care card. Every 3 months your Extra Bucks will print on your store register receipt, or visit CVS/pharmacy online to print your Extra Bucks.
SCRs: stands for “Single Check Rebate” . These rebates are offered at Rite Aid stores. See the Rite Aid store guide for more information.
VV: Video Value Coupon. Rite Aid has what they call Video Value Coupons. You receive coupons after viewing a short video comercial. Get your Video Values here.
The CVS “Boyfriend”: this is the price scanner that many newer CVS stores have. It looks like any other free-standing price-checker that you see at Meijer, etc. The reason people like it is because if you scan your CVS card at the scanner and very often it will print out extra CVS coupons for name-brand products. If you have a manufacturer’s coupon for that item as well, you can use both of them (stacking coupons) at the same time to further reduce your costs!
RRs: Walgreens version of an ECB program and it stands for “Register Rewards”. You don’t need a card to get Register Rewards. Certain items will trigger a Register Reward that prints at the cash register for use on your next purchase.
BOGO, B1G1, B1G2F: different ways to say “Buy One Get One Free” or “Buy 1 Get 2 Free”
MIR: short for “Mail In Rebate”
PSA: short for “Prices Start At”
Blinkie: sometimes you will find a little machine hanging on the shelf in the supermarket aisles that dispenses coupons. These are called Blinkies because the machine usually has a little red blinking light on it
Hangtag/Winetag: these are usually found on bottles (salad dressing, beverages, oils, etc)
Peelie: these are coupons that you can often find stuck to the product itself.
Tearpad: can be found anywhere. They are simply pads of coupons found near the product display
Let me know if I missed any!
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