Coupons 101

I was reminded by a friend of mine today, that not everyone knows all the terms and acronyms that I use throughout some of my posts, so I thought I would try to compile a list. Please comment here or on any post if there is something else that I missed, and I’ll add it to the list. I will possibly add a quick reference guide to one of the sidebars later, too.

General Store Deal Terms:

• FAR = Free after rebate
• QP = Coupon
• OOP= Out of pocket – how much you pay in cash
• GC = Gift Card
• wyb = when you buy
• B1G1 = buy 1 get 1 free
• Overage = you make money on the transaction. Most stores don’t allow you to get overage from coupons alone on the sale price, but you can get overage if you are paying for the item with a coupon and then get ECB’s, RR’s, or a rebate back from the purchase.

Rite Aid:

• SCR = Single Check Rebate – what Rite Aid calls their monthly rebates

Walgreens:

• RR = Register Rewards – a coupon that will print at the register when you purchase a required number of advertised items. For example, last week, I purchased 2 Nabisco cookie items and a gallon of milk (as advertised) and received $3 RR when I paid for my items. These RR’s can be used on your next purchase. They usually expire within 2 weeks, and you cannot use them to pay for a purchase where you are buying the same things again (if you want to receive more RR’s). For example, I could not use the RR’s from the previous example to buy more Nabisco cookies and milk.

CVS

• CVS ECB card = CVS’s loyalty card. You need to have one of these to get the advertised savings in their ad.
• ECB = Extra Care Bucks – if you purchase certain advertised items, ECB’s will print out when you pay for your order. There is usually a limit on how many items you can purchase for ECB’s in a week/month. You can use these ECB’s to pay for future purchases at CVS. They usually don’t expire for about a month.
• CRT = coupon that prints either at the register on your receipt or at one of the machines in the store that will print coupons when you scan your ECB card

Coupon References:

• RP = Red Plum newspaper insert
• SS (or S) = Smart Source newspaper insert
• P&G = Procter & Gamble newspaper insert
• GM = General Mills newspaper insert
• Tearpad = coupons found throughout a store, most likely near the item
• Blinkie = dispersed from dispensers with blinking lights in the aisles at the grocery stores (mostly Kroger in MI, Dominicks and Jewel in Chicago).
• Printable = coupon that you print yourself on a printer
• Catalina = a coupon that prints out on the catalina machine (a small printer next to the cash register). At Walgreens, this is where the Register Rewards print. But, it can print other coupons too, usually based on the items that you purchased.

How a Coupon is Referenced:

• 8/3 RP (10/26) $1/1 = the coupon is from the 8/3 Red Plum newspaper insert. It expires on 10/26 and it’s for a $1 off 1 item.