Coupon Lingo

Talk the Talk of Coupon Lingo

The world of using coupons may be new to some of you, or you may have been using coupons for a long time.  But as you may have noticed, some words keep popping up over and over.  It’s helpful to be fluent in coupon lingo, and we want to offer up our best explanations for you.

• BOGO: This is an abbreviation for Buy One, Get One Free.  It means you purchase one item and you receive a second item at no charge.  You can find BOGO manufacturer’s coupons as well as BOGO sales.

• One per purchase:  You will find this term on some manufacturers coupons and it means you can use one coupon per item.  So if you have 4 bottles of dressing and 4 coupons, you are using one per purchase.  You do not need to check out separately for each bottle of dressing/coupon.  Be sure to check the store’s policy as they may limit the amount of identical coupons you can use in one transaction.  One of our local grocery stores limits you to 3 identical coupons, so for the example above about the 4 bottle of dressing and 4 coupons, I would check out one time with 3 coupons & 3 bottles and then check out a second time with the 4th coupon and the 4th bottle.  Each store may have different policies.

• One per transaction:  This means one per order; if you have a BOGO coupon for bar soap and it states “one per transaction” then you would only be able to hand the cashier one of these coupons before you check out.  If you had additional coupons, you would need to check out separately for each coupon.

• Stacking coupons:  This refers to when you use a manufacturer’s coupon in addition to a store coupon on one item.  Some stores such as Target, Walgreens and Rite-Aid have their own coupons that you can combine with manufacturer’s coupons to get more bang for your buck.  This is particularly beneficial when you stack your coupons while the item is on sale.  You want to be sure the coupons are for the same item, so you do not have any problems at check out.

Common coupon abbreviations:

You’ll see online coupon experts use some of the following terms and abbreviations often, including The Thrifty Coupon Couple.  The more you coupon, the more they will become part of your vocabulary!

BOGO or B1G1:  Buy one, get one free
B2G1:  Buy two, get one free
DEAD:  An expired deal or offer
Expiration Date:  The date a coupon or offer ends
FAR:  Free after rebate
GM:  General Mills
IP:  Internet printable (as in coupon)
MQ:  Manufacturer’s coupon
MIR: Mail in rebate
NED:  No expiration date
OOP: Out of pocket, the amount of money you actually spend on the transaction
P&G:  Proctor & Gamble (one of the companies that produce coupons found in the weekend newspapers)
RA:  Rite-Aid
RP:  Red Plum (one of the companies that produce coupons found in the weekend newspapers)
RR:  Register Rewards (Walgreen’s “money” that you receive from transactions performed at Walgreens and good towards your next purchase)
SS:  Smart Source (one of the companies that produce coupons found in the weekend newspapers)
TMF: Try me free
UPC:  The scan code on a product
UPS:  Sometimes called +UPs,.  It is Rite-Aid’s “money” that you receive from transactions performed at Rite-Aid when you scan their Wellness Plus card.  The money is good towards your next purchase
WAGS:  Walgreens
Wellness Plus:  Rite-Aid’s shopper card that you can sign up for in the store or online free of charge.  When you scan it, the advertised sale prices are valid.
WM:  Wal-Mart
YMMV:  Your mileage may vary, meaning that the deal works for some people, but depending on your store’s policies it may or may not work