- Coupon Lingo
- Where to Get Coupons
- How to Organize Coupons
- Strategies for a Successful Shopping Experience
Coupon Lingo - Cheat Sheet
- B1G1 or BOGO = Buy One Get One (free)
- DND = Do Not Double (usually the # on the coupon starts with a 5)
- ECB = Extra Care Buck from CVS
- ETS = Excludes Trial Size
- GM = General Mills/Coupon insert from Sunday paper
- MFR = Manufacturer
- MIR = Mail In Rebate
- OOP = Out Of Pocket
- PG = Proctor & Gamble/ Coupon insert from Sunday paper
- PSA = Prices Start At
- RP = Red Plum/Coupon insert from Sunday paper
- SS = SmartSource/ coupon insert from Sunday paper
- WYB = When You Buy
Where Do I Find Coupons?
If you're new to couponing, you may be asking yourself this question. And, here's the surprizing answer. Coupons are EVERYWHERE! You can get them
- in the Sunday Paper, The Daily Local News has Redplum and Smartsource, but the Philadelphia Inquirer has some higher value coupons.
- online. I will be offering many through this site.
- through email. Many companies send coupons through email subscriptions. If you like a product, be sure to see if the manufacturing company has any email promotions.
- on products in the store. These are also called "peelies."
- on pads at the store. These are also called "tear offs."
- in Red Boxes with a blinking light in the store. These are called "Blinkies."
- in home mailers. These often come with my ads for future sales.
- from friends. If you don't have a pet, you can trade those with a friend for something you do need.
- from places like The Coupon Clippers. Click link here or on the home page to check it out. You aren't paying for the coupon here, you are paying for them to clip the coupons out for you.
The Best Way to Organize Coupons
- Get a 3 Ring Binder.
- Buy page protectors from Dollar Tree, or a similar store. These are plastic sleeves you can put in a binder.
- Put the plastic page protectors in the binder.
- Buy the Sunday newspaper. I buy 5 newspapers/week.
- Write the date on the front of the Coupon Insert, a Sharpie works best.
- Separate inserts by name. (Proctor and Gamble, SmartSource, RedPlum, General Mills)
- Slide like inserts in a sleeve. Leave the first 4 sleeves empty.
- Label the first 4 sleeves CVS, Rite Aid, Target, Other.
- You will be putting any coupons you print off of the internet into these sleeves, by the store they correspond to.
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Strategies for a Successful Shopping Experience
OK - You've got your coupons organized and are ready to start seeing some savings. A list is my best friend. I never leave home without it. It sets you up for success and with one, you will not have to go back later in the day for forgotten milk, and you will be less likely to stray from it. Trust me, saving money feels great!
- Pick the store you are going to shop in.
- Get a plastic bag with a zipper at the top. (Dollar Tree has these as well).
- Label the bag with the name of the store you're going to. Be sure to use a permanent marker, others smear everywhere!
- Use a single hole punch and punch a hole in the upper corner of the bag with the store name facing you. (You can now put this bag in your binder to store it until you are ready to do match ups).
- Find the store Match-Up you want to use on my site, http://www.notyourmomscoupons.blogspot.com/.
- Clip out and print coupons mentioned. Be sure to write down, on a piece of paper how the deal is supposed to work out for you.
- Put the coupons in bag.
- Roughly tally up how much you are going to spend. This will give you an idea of how much dough to expect to hand over in the store and will let you know if the cashier might be making a mistake.
- Head out the door and prepare to be amazed!
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