Couponing 101

This will be an in-depth Beginner’s Guide to couponing. On this page you will learn FOUR Major points::

*Coupon/Qpon Lingo

*Types of Coupons and Where to Find Them

*How to Use Coupons to the Max

*Organization

Each Section Title will be Big and Bright, so you can scroll down and find what you’re looking for, or what you need.

#1 Coupon/Qpon Lingo

In the world of today it’s no doubt texting is sometimes easier than writing everything out fully… Let’s face it, “WE ARE LAZY!” LOL :) Acronyms and Abbreviations are a must know in the couponing world or else you might get terribly lost and give up, but I don’t want that for you!! Let’s give a sample of what you might see:

IE. $3/4(ets)MQ-SS6/10(exp.7/31)=TOoP -$.31

Do you know what that means?

Well, let’s try to break it down some…

$/#=A ‘dollar amount($)’ followed by a ‘slash(/)’ and then a ‘number(#)’ usually means Money off a certain number of products($3/4 is $3 off 4 products)

ETS=Excludes Trial Size

MQ=Manufacturer’s Coupon

SS6/10=Anytime you see SS,RP,P&G followed by a number-slash-number it is telling you: what insert it was in and the date it came out

(exp.7/31)=Tells you when it Expires

TOoP/toop/TooP=Total Out of Pocket: What you Actually Have To Pay (a dollar amount will follow)

Here are a few more I use often!

Q= Coupon NLA= No Longer Available
YMMV= Your Mileage May Vary(it may work at this store, but not at that one)
WYB= When You Buy
SQ(PQ/TQ/WFQ …etc)= Store Coupons(Publix/Target/Whole Foods) GAB/YAB=Publix Green and Yellow Advantage Buy Flyers(located on the info center by the front door)
BOGO(free/50%off)= Buy One Get One(free/50%off)

B#G#free= Buy a certain number of items and get a certain number of items free
MM =Money Maker- You get money back in cash or store credit
RR/ECB =Register Rewards (walgreens)/Extra Care Bucks (CVS)
P&G/SS/RP =These are the coupon inserts found in Sunday’s paper: Proctor & Gamble, SmartSource, and Red Plum

$/$$= A certain amount of money is taken off when you buy a large amount of money (ie. $5/$30= $5 off $30 worth of products)

IPs=Internet printed coupons(described more farther down)

PDF=A different type of Internet printed coupons(described more farther down)

WUC= I am referring to WeUseCoupons.com, a coupon website I love!! :)

I have a note with this one, only because I’ll probably never use it, but I have seen this on coupons lately. The problem is that often times it also has a STORE Name on it too:

MFR –means –Manufacturer… As in Manufacturer’s coupon, so it is a MQ not a SQ and therefore cannot be paired with another MQ…

So now that you can Talk the Talk, 

you can Walk the Walk!!

If there is anything you do not understand you can email me @ coupondancer2011@hotmail.com or leave a message in 

the post that confuses you.

More Coupon Lingo can be found out @ WUC

#2 Types of Qs and Where to Find Them

Truthfully, there are only TWO types of coupons:

Manufacturer’s Coupons—The Manufacturer’s pays the stores back

And

Store Coupons—The Store pays itself, basically

Where to find them is a whole other story! They are EVERYWHERE! So keep a look out!

--#1. Sunday Newspaper- Every week, except for holiday *sometimes* the following are in Sunday’s or sometimes Saturday’s Early Edition Newspapers

SmartSource

Proctor and Gamble

Red Plum

These hold mainly MQs, but sometimes there are a few SQ as well. A few times there maybe be a whole store coupon insert too. Check weekly for the Sunday Insert Preview!

--#2. The Store- Go to Customer Service and ask if they have any current coupon booklets or if they have some sort of Info Center in the store. Always keep your eyes open and look around for coupon displays… The following are different types of coupons that can be found In Store:

Taster Qs= You know sometimes you go to the store on the weekend and you see a little old lady handing out samples. 9 times out of 10 they have a stack of coupons to give out! You can score tons of coupons from these people if you’re really nice because truthfully they can only go home if they give them all away!!

Hang Tags= Can be found on bottle neck Items, anything from wine to soda to ketchup to juice.

Tearpads= Can be found on any shelf in the store. It’s a thick pad of about 100 coupons. Often times they have nice long expiration dates, meaning take a few and hold on until a really good sale comes!

Peelies= Are basically a sticker on the product that you have to peel off to use. Usually says something like “Save $1 on this product NOW!”

Blinkies= Are small black square machines located on the shelves near the product the coupon inside the little black box is for. They have a small red blinking light that shows they still have coupons inside. Take one coupon, and another shoots out immediately, take the second one, and then you have to wait 90seconds before a third is produced from the machine… This somewhat regulates how many coupons one person gets… These are always MQs produced by SmartSource.

Inside Products= Keep an eye out for products you buy and specially marked boxes/products that say “Savings inside!” And you should look at ANY box item you buy, JUST IN CASE! I’ve found many coupons this way!!

Most of the InStore Coupons that you can find could be either
 a MQ or SQ! So keep your eyes open!

--#3. The Internet- It has become a valuable resource to get coupons, and often time there value is higher than the ones in the newspaper. The Internet has 3 different type of coupons: two of which are MQs and one are SQs…

Store Coupons- Can be found on store websites mainly, but sometimes some Manufacturer’s will team up with one store and have a separate section of a Manufacturer’s website just for this store… for example: Kraft has done this with PUBLIX

IP Coupons- Are MQs and they can be found EVERYWHERE!! Facebook, Coupons.com, Manufacturer’s websites, store websites, etc… you just never know… IPs Have a unique code and many safe guard to prevent fraudulent coupon usage such as copying coupons… the following are ways the company and the store accepting the coupon knows how to spot a copied coupon:: 

*the spotted background behind the DATE

^just below the date is some sort of code 

(it is different everytime you print a coupon)

>The funky barcode besides the traditional barcode will,

 on most occastions, beep and not scan if the item

 for the coupon has not been scanned yet

V lastly is the border around the coupon

IP Coupons are not just called IPs because they are Internet Printed coupons, but also because they are connected to YOUR IP address! Copying coupons is Illegal and with IPs they can track who did it and arrest them.

IPs can usually be printed twice per computer, so if you have 3 computers you can print 6 coupons!

PDF Coupons- Are MQs and are usually only found on Manufacturer’s websites only!! Don’t trust those that are not! These coupons have no safe code and can be printed 100 times if you like! These are also the easiest to make fake as well! Remember if it is too good to be true, then it probably is!

--#4. The Manufacturer- Write a letter, Make a phone call, or Type an email to the Manufacturer. Tell them you LOVE the product or make a complaint… or even simple ask if they have a mailing list for coupons. This is most often how you will get coupons for FREE items!

--#5. Coupon Clipping Sites- While buying coupons from someone is Illegal, paying for someone to find the coupons for you is not… A fine line, yes, but when a great deal comes and you need more coupons they are wonderful!

Coupon Clipping Sites are websites that you can order newspaper coupons from. The one I use is The Coupon Clippers.

--#6. Dumpster Diving- I almost forgot this one… LOL… It’s exactly what it sounds like! Find a paper recycling bin and see if any newspaper inserts are inside. Please Keeping in mind Dumpster Diving Is Illegal in a lot of places… Which is why I don’t do it! :)

--#7. Friends and Family- Ask your friends and family to save their coupons for you.

TIP:: One of the first things you want to do when you start couponing is Create A Coupon Email Account! WHY? Because when you sign up for newsletters, promotional emailers, savings clubs, freebie signups, and etc they ALWAYS ask for an email address and you don’t want your regular account overfilled with junk!

#3 How to Use Coupons to the Max!

Now that you have your coupons, it’s time to start USING THEM!! We want to get the best bang for your buck! So Let’s start… The first thing you need is the Sales Ads to find the items you can use coupons on. You are now using double the savings by this match up. Next you want to see if your store has any coupons on the items, so you can triple your savings. Check out the Pic below to see a deal I did a few months ago using these methods… FYI. We call this method ‘Stacking’ because we stack a sale with a MQ and SQ and pay only pennies on the dollar!!

Doubling and Tripling coupons are easy enough I think to understand, $.35 coupon turns into a $.70 coupon, but there may be rules or limits that vary by store. I cannot be an authority on it since I live in a Land of No Doubles.

#4 Organization

There are a dozen or so different ways to organize your coupons and everyone is different, so you may like one method better than another. Long story short, start with one and only change it if you don’t like it and you can always come up with something that is just right for you.

Organization is a must though because you won’t save money if you can’t find the coupon for the item!!

At the bottom I will explain the methods, but first here are a few different organization tools that may work for you::

Accordion File- It’s a small, wallet size filer, which is perfect for someone on the go. They can range from 6 to 13 ‘pockets’ and can be bought at almost any store that sells school supplies!

Shoe Box/Recipe Box- It’s just a slightly larger form of the accordion. You make it, so you can add as many categories as you want. All you need is a Shoe Box or Recipe Box and extra Recipe Card Separators.

Tub Filer or File Cabinet- I’ve seen this a few time out and about, but mostly I think these are left at home. Most of the time I see either those who use this method might have 100s of the same coupon OR they use the Insert Method.

Envelopes- Basically you have every category organized and separated into envelopes.

Binder- I use this mainly because I need to see it or I will forget I have it. For this you will need a Binder and 3, 4, 6, 8, &/or 9 pocket holders. I prefer the3, 6, and 9 pockets. Three pockets is perfect for large and/or printable coupons, six pockets for those long thin ones, and 9 for everything else! I’m in love with my binder! Lol

There are basically only two different method(Insert or Cutting), what instruments or tools you keep them in is different and explained above…

Insert Method- On average this method is organized by the whole insert and you only cut out the coupons when you are ready to use it. Organize by insert (P&G, RedPlum, or SmartSource)and then by date. This method is great in some ways when we talk about ‘BOGOfree Glade refills-SS7/15’ you know right where to find it. Mind you, this tends to take up a lot of space and is not exactly movable. You might be at the store and say, “@#$^& I have a coupon for this at home!!” It is also hard to know when the coupons expire and it’s time to throw them out… What happens when one coupon expires next week but another on the same page is good for 3 months from now?

Cutting Method- You can just cut out the ones you know you will use or all the coupons completely. Once you’ve cut them out you need to categorize them. You can do it by: ABC’s; Store, Store Aisles, or food/nonfood categories (fresh, frozen, dry, drinks, household, laundry, oral care, soap, etc). 

Here is a little video!!