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Welcome to the Couponing 101 for beginners series. Check out what you may have missed HERE.
To understand the deals you have to understand the lingo! Today we will cover coupon doubling, freebies and money makers. I will also define all the abbreviations. Once again any questions leave a comment or email me at TheFrugalNavyWife@gmail.com
I want to state all sales examples are sales I have taken advantage of before but may not be available right now.
Coupon Doubling
Coupon doubling is when a store will double the amount of the coupon. So a coupon that is worth $0.50 is now worth $1. Not all stores do this so you will want to check with your local store. The stores that do double will have a limit. Some stores double coupons up to $0.50 that means a coupon with a $0.50 value is worth $1.00 but a $0.51 coupon is only worth $0.51. Many store double up to $0.99. Some stores will do special events and double up to $1.00 or even triple coupons on certain days.
The way you get double you value is you hand your cashier your coupons he/she will scan them you will see something like this:
Manufacture Coupons -$0.50
Coupon Double -$0.50
In most cases the store takes that extra $0.50 hit to get you in the store.
You might notice a lot of coupons say ‘Do Not Double’ (DND) this is the way the manufacture tells the store they will not reimburse them a doubled amount. That doesn’t mean your coupon won’t double. Want to know the secret to be able to tell if your coupons will double or not? Look at the numbers under the bar code. Go grab a coupon, go ahead ill wait……
Ok look under the bar code the first number is either a 5 or a 9. If it is a 5 the coupon will double. If it is a 9 it will not double. The coupons that normally start with a 9 are store coupons, Catalinas, and blinkies. Most every other coupons will start with a 5 and will double if the amount is correct.
Click to enlarge pictures
Neat trick huh??
Freebies
Who doesn’t want free stuff. Do you want to walk out of the grocery store only paying tax? You might be thinking but I have never seen a store giving away free items won’t they be LOSING money.
The answer is no they won’t lose money but most stores won’t advertise free items either with the exception of Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens. Their freebies will look a lot like this
Crest Pro Health Toothpaste 4oz $2.00
Get a $2.00 ECB/UP/RR (depending on the store more on these later)
= FREE
This $2 can be used like cash on your next order.
Here is a picture of a Freebie example with out needing a coupon, you pay $1 and get that $1 back in an UP Reward.
Now for the un-advertised freebies. Even CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens have un advertised freebies as do Wal-mart, Target, Kmart and all grocery store. Yes that is right is said ALL grocery store.
Here is how it works, there are a few ways you can get freebies!
First is by Coupon Doubling
Coffee Mate Liquid Coffee Creamer on sale or $1.50
Used a $0.75 of 1 coupon
Your store doubles your $0.75 coupons to make it worth $1.50
Your item is free!
Still with me? Go back and re-read that and take a minute to comprehend it.
The next way to get freebies is a bit more complicated.
Here is the sale:
Buy 4 Lysol Wipes at $1.50 and get a $2.00 Catalina/UP/ECB/RR to use on your next order
OK do the math, 4 Lysol Wipes will cost you $6 if you minus the $2 you will get back to use like cash on your next purchase at that store, 4 Lysol wipes are $4 or $1 each right?
Here is how to make this free!
Buy 4 Lysol Wipes at $1.50 and get a $2.00 Catalina
There is a $1.00 of 1 Lysol Coupon out.
So here is how the deal will look
Buy (4) Lysol Wipes at $1.50 = $6.00
Use (4) $1.00 of Lysol Coupon
Pay $2.00 and get a $2.00 catalina back making it free.
See how that works. You can take it a step further and if you have a $2 catalina from last week you can use it and pay nothing out of pocket.
There is one more way to get an un-advertised freebie. That is with a store coupon
Crest Toothbrush $2.00
Use a $1.00 off Manufactures coupon PLUS
use a $1.00 off store coupon
= FREE
Here is a picture of how this would work, keep in mind not every item will tell you if there is a manufactures coupon right in the ad.
Special K Cereal BOGOat $4.75
use BOGO manufactures coupon
= BOTH FREE!
Got all that? Again go back and read it again.
Money Makers
Lets take those freebies one step further and make money off of them! No the store isn’t going to hand you back cash no matter how much you please and beg.
When we say that you are making money we mean after your get the item and use your coupons that the money back (ECB/UP/RR/Catalina) is more hen what you paid out of pocket.
Remember that toothpaste deal from earlier? it can easily be turned into a money maker here is how:
Crest Pro Health Toothpaste 4oz $2.00
Use $1.00 manufactures coupon
Get a $2.00 ECB/UP/RR/catalina (depending on the store more on these later)
You Pay $1.00 but you get $2 back!
You can use Mail in rebates to make money on deals also. Yes it take times to fill them out but they are SOOOO worth it!
Here is a deal i made some good money off of a few weeks ago
I found a better coupon they they were advertising!
Mortin PM 20ct $3
Buy 1 get a $2 UP
There was a $6 off $2 coupon in the Sunday paper
So for every 2 that you buy they are FREE so the UP rewards make you money, $2 per bottle!
Well i bought 10! I MADE $20!!!
Here is another one i am excited about
Again i found a better coupon then they were advertising!
Tylonal Precisse patch or cream $5
Buy 1 get $3 UP
Use $6 off 2 coupon
For every 2 that you buy you pay $4 out of pocket but you get $6 back a profit of $2!
Does this make since to everybody?
Rebates
These were really popular when our mom’s were couponing but did you know they are still around?
I want you to take full advantage of these! You put a few minutes into them and get a decent return. A lot of the rebate now a days are for around $10 some more, some less. Some rebate you send it you get a book of coupons back, or a cook book or a free gift.
Rebates works like this. You have a rebate form that say “Buy $25 worth of P&G Products and get $10 back” (or they are also famous for their $100 coupon book!) or “Buy 3 Olay Products get $5 back” A recent one i sent in for was “Buy 3 Aveeno or Clean and Clear products receive a coupon for a free Aveeno lotion” I was able to the the Clean and Clear products free with coupons and and UP reward at Rite Aid so i now will get a free lotion too! If i pair it with the rite deal i might make money off that lotion with an Catalina/UP/ECB/RR!
To send in a rebate they normally ask for a copy of your sales receipt with the items circled and some times they want the proof of purchase (the UPC bar code) or just the UPC numbers. They take about 4-8 week to get your rebate in return.
I can generally get about 2 rebates or more a month and that just ads to the money i am able to use for my deals that much less out of pocket.
Now the rebates that off coupon book like P&G offers ARE WORTH IT! They normally put out at least one book a year if not more. They offer over $100 worth of high value coupons for their products. In their last coupon book so far i have been able to use their coupons to get 3 Free bottle of dish soap, 3 free pack of pads, and 3 free rolls of paper towels. That pretty much ads up to the cost of what i had spend to get the booklet (though i used coupons on all those items too.)
Lingo
Next you need to learn the lingo to make since out of these deals! I made a post a while back on Lingo you can see HERE
But here is the list! Let me know if I left anything out!
Sunday inserts:
P&G: Procter and Gamble Sunday insert
RP: Red Plum
SS: SmartSource
V: Valassis
GM: General Mills
Other needed 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.
$5/$25: $5 off when you spend $25 or more (these amounts may vary)
B1G1: Buy one item get one item free
B2G1: Buy two items get one item free
Blinkies: Grocery/drugstore coupon dispensers with blinking lights
Cat: Catalina coupon, prints from a separate machine when your receipt prints
Closeouts – These are typically greatly reduced items that the store does not plan on re-stocking. Also known as Clearance
CRT: Cash register tape, usually used when referring to CVS coupons that print with receipt
DND: Do not double
DND5: Coupon says Do Not Double, but the bar code starts with a 5, most computers will still double it
ECBs: ExtraCare Bucks, CVS loyalty rewards system
EXP: Expires or Expiration Date
FAR: Free after rebate
IPQ: Internet printable coupon
IVC: Instant Value Coupon, Walgreens’ store coupons found in ads and In store coupon booklet
MFR: Manufacturer
MQ: Manufacturer coupon
MIR: Mail-in rebate
NED: No Expiration Date
OYNO: On your next order
OOP: Out of pocket
Peelie: Peel-off coupon found on product packaging
PSA: Prices starting at
Regional: Coupon value only distributed to a certain area
RRs: Register Rewards, Walgreens’ Catalina coupons
SASE: Self Addressed Stamped Envelope
SCR: Single Check Rebate, Rite Aid monthly rebates program
Tear Pad: Pad of refund forms or coupons found hanging from a store shelf or display
UPC: Universal product code, bar code
+UP: Rite Aids Up rewards card coupons, they print at the bottom of your receipt
WSL: While Supply Lasts
WT: Wine tag, no alcohol purchase necessary to use these coupons
WYB: When you buy
YMMV: Your mileage (or manager) may vary, meaning some stores might give you a deal but others might not
