Getting Started

Here are some common things to know to get started:

First thing to get you started is you need to get coupons, the ones in newspaper “inserts”, the printable kinds, and the “high value” mailed ones. To get printable coupons go to smartsource.com, redplum.com, coupons.com all great couponing sites.  I will tell you when great mailable coupons are out there, I will also highlight some great printable coupons, but I can’t get you any inserts, sorry! I would suggest getting atleast 4 newspapers (or coupons) from your neighbors, work, friends, and family. There are two other ways of getting newspapers. 1. Ask your delievery person if they have extra (mine does and always gives me some, I in turn give her a few items from my stockpile every week- win/win 🙂 2. Go to your local gas station late Sunday/Early Monday and ask for just the inserts, they will still get credit for turning in the rest of the paper. A few local gas stations to me are more than willing, they do not mind at all!

Now some stuff you should know:

Coupon Lingo- What it all means

The inserts:  there are 3-4 different kinds of inserts to be found in your Sunday paper

SS: The SmartSource insert.  Among other things, this is where you find the General Mills coupons,

RP: the RedPlum Insert.  In many areas, the RP & the V are one and the same

V: the Valassis insert.  In many areas, the RP & the V are one and the same

P&G: the Proctor & Gamble insert.the only place where you can get coupons for Tide, Pantene,etc.

IPs: “Internet Printable”.  IPs are the coupons that you can find online.  Printing IPs require the installation of a “Coupon Printer” on your computer.  Please don’t fear installing this program.  The tracking cookie that it contains is in order to limit your printing of each coupon to 2 times per computer.
WYB: shorthand for “When You Buy”
OYNO: shorthand for “On Your Next Order”
Catalina: “Save $10 on your next order when you buy $20 in participating products”, it means that you receive a coupon for $10 at checkout.  The coupon is printed not from the register, but from that little 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”.
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 to 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.
OOP:  shorthand 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.
ECBs:  stands for “Extra Care Bucks” and is specific to CVS.  CVS’s Extra Care Buck program is a great way to get most of your toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo and many cosmetics for free.
The CVS coupon machine: this is the price scanner that many newer CVS stores have   It looks like any other free-standing price-checker that you see at Target, etc. You scan your CVS card at the scanner, very often it will print out extra CVS coupons for name-brand products.  If you have a manufacturers coupon for that item as well, you can use both of them at the same time to further reduce your costs! It also will spit out X/XX coupons too!
RRs:  Walgreens version of an ECB program and it stands for “Register Rewards”.
BOGO, B1G1, B1G2F: different ways to say “Buy One Get One Free” or “Buy 1 Get 2 Free”
MIR:  shorthand for “Mail In Rebate”
PSA: shorthand 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
Peelies:  these are coupons that you can often find stuck to the product itself.
Hangtag/Winetag: these are usually found on bottles (salad dressing, beverages, oils, etc)
Tearpad: can be found anywhere.  they are simply pads of coupons found near the product display

For Stockpiling 101 click HERE

For Couponing Rules click HERE