The Frugal Files: Know Your Lingo, Coupon Lingo!!

Hey frugalicious divas and the men who love us and love to save!! Welcome back to The Frugal Files!!

This past weekend has been such an awesome one. I taught my very first Coupon Workshop at the 2nd Annual Natural & Beauty Expo of NW Ohio, along with my best coupon buddy Tasha, of I LUV 2 COUPON!! Be sure to visit us there and join the group. It’s where we talk about saving and couponing daily. We share the steals and deals, the ups and downs and pictures of our store hauls and stockpiles. It’s a great place to be!!

It was my pleasure to share the stage with Tasha, as she is the Coupon Guru!! I credit her with teaching me MOST of what I know about couponing. She even put together my first coupon binder and later upgraded me to my second and she’s an all around great frugalicious diva and Belle!!

The people in the workshop brought so much energy; they were involved and truly sponges to the knowledge we were sharing. There were couponers and aspiring couponers alike in the room and it made for a great class. The workshop was only 45 minutes, so we crammed in as much information as possible. We created what was called The Countdown to Couponing, giving the run down on the 10 most important things to know about this art we call Couponing.

People often see my Facebook and Twitter posts and ask me how to save, how to get things free and how to coupon. Such vague questions we always need to narrow own, but I’ve found for those most interested in couponing, they just want to know where to start. One of our first pieces of advice is to LEARN THE TERMS. We speak English and we usually are able to decipher what each of us are saying to each other, but when it comes to couponing, there’s an entirely different lingo. I thought we’d explore those today. Here’s a list. Some are self-explanatory and some, a little more complicated.

Coupon Lingo

$1/1, $1/2: One dollar off one item, one dollar off two items, etc.
2/$1, 3/$2: Two items for one dollar, three items for two dollars, etc.
B1G1: Buy one item get one item free
B2G1: Buy two items get one item free
Beep: Register may beep when a coupon is scanned, sometimes due to error. Most times cashier will have to enter the coupon amount manually
Blinkies: Grocery/drugstore coupon dispensers with blinking lights

Catalina: Coupon that prints out during or after a transaction, like money, to use on next transaction

CRT: Cash register tape; CVS coupons that print with receipt

DND: Do not double
ECBs: ExtraCare Bucks; CVS loyalty rewards system
ETS: Excludes trial size; a restriction usually found on coupon

Exp.: Expires              

GC: Gift card
IP: Internet Printable, coupons that can be printed at home from the internet, usually two per computer are allowed. *Warning* These cannot be copied to make more!!

IVC: Instant Value Coupon, Walgreens coupons found in ads/monthly booklet
MIR: Mail-in rebate                          

NLA: No longer available; usually referring to internet printable coupons
OYNO: On your next order
OOP: Out of pocket                         

OOS: Out of stock
Peelie: Peel-off coupon found on product packaging
PG: Proctor & Gamble Inserts found in Sunday newspaper once or twice monthly           

RP: Red Plum Insert usually found in Sunday newspaper       

SS: Smart Source Insert usually found in Sunday newspaper and weekly “junkmail”

PSA: Prices starting at
R: Regional coupon; will be listed after insert date as applicable

RRs: Register Rewards; Walgreens' Catalina coupons

Q/MC: Coupong/Manufacturer's Coupon

SCR: Single Check Rebate, Rite Aid monthly rebates program

Stacking: Using bot a MC and a store coupon on one item

Tearpad: Pad of coupons attached to a display that you can tear off and use

UPC: Universal Product Code, the bar code on every product that scanned at the register

+UP Reward: Rite Aid Rewards Program

WYB: When you buy

YMMV: Your mileage (or manager) may vary, meaning some stores might give you a deal and others may not

Hopefully this helps when trying to figure out what's what about the couponing language. I'm always up for a coupon discussion, so if you have any questions, comments or concerns, be sure to contract me!! Until next time, stay frugalicious!!

Frugalicious Diva

Follow Me on Twitter at @FrugaliciousDva