Abbreviations & Lingo...

Using a combination of coupons and sales has become a way of life for me and my family. I have found that a lot of the language that comes with it is natural for me now and I tend to forget that some of you are newbies and don't know the "language".

Someone asked me for some abbreviations recently and I quickly realized I didn't have them posted anywhere here on my blog. I did a list up for some classes that I've done, but somehow managed to overlook you all here... my sincerest apologies!!

I have listed many of the commonly used abbreviations for coupons/savings talk and you can find some lingo at the end of the post. If you see something somewhere and don't know what it means, or if I use an abbreviation I don't have listed here... please ask me about it, I'd be happy to try and help you!

I tend to use the Newspaper abbreviations the most here and avoid the others to make it easier for everyone to understand, but you will find other bloggers that use many of the others as well. Sometimes they offer an abbrev. list, sometimes YMMV ... just had to do it!!

Abbreviations

Newspaper inserts
PG - Procter & Gamble
RP - Red Plum
V – Valassis
GM-General Mills

Other Abbreviations...
AYM- All You Magazine
B1G1 or BOGO - Buy 1 Get 1
CRT - Cash Register Receipt
DCRT - Dated Cash Register Receipt
DND - Do Not Double
FAR - Free After Rebate
GC - Gift Card
GDA - Good Deal Alert
HBA - Health & Beauty Aids
MFG/MFR - Manufacturer
MIR - Mail in Rebate
NED - No Expiration Date
OAS - On any size
OOP - Out of pocket
OYNSO - On your next shopping order
POP - Proof of purchase
RC - Rain Check
UPC - Universal product code
WYB - When you buy
YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary

CVS
ECB - Extra Care Bucks

Walgreens
RR - Register Reward (like a catalina)
IVC - Instant Value Coupon (coupons in advertisement)
ESR - Easy Saver Rebate - They are no longer offering rebates in the EasySaver Catalog as it has been discontinued. I have seen some items in the store with tags under them that tell you a rebate form will print at checkout.

Lingo

Catalina - A coupon that prints when your receipt prints. Sometimes these are triggered by a specific purchase, other times they are random. These are usually MFG coupons.
Filler - An item purchased to make a deal work. Usually when you need a certain # of items or a certain dollar amount to qualify for the promotion.
Overage - When an item is better than free
Stacking - When you use a Manufacturer & store coupon on the same item. Can also refer to combining a sale with a coupon & a rebate... stacking deals.

Have I missed something that you see frequently? or... something that you've seen once or twice and you don't understand and you don't see it here? Let me know!! :)

Rite Aid 101... Guest Post

I don't live in an area where I have easy access to a Rite Aid, so I asked here for someone who would be willing to share what the know about shopping Rite Aid.

I'm happy to say that Elise, an avid organizer who lives in Ohio with her family, has given us a great resource for learning to shop at Rite Aid. You can find Elise over at Organizing for Everyone. Be sure to visit her as she has lots of great organazing & frugal tips to share! Thanks Elise!

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Shopping at Rite Aid can be a great way to snag free
or low cost items to add to your stockpile of frequently used items.
 

In my deal shopping, I’ve learned a few tricks for making the most of your Rite Aid experience. 

Each month, Rite Aid publishes a circular of items you can purchase and then submit your receipt to receive a rebate. Sometimes the item is free after rebate, other times you just get back a portion of the purchase price. You can use a manufacturer’s coupon when purchasing these items, though, so you can often get them for free or cheap (or even make money on them when they’re free after rebate) when you use a coupon and then submit for the rebate. 

Also watch for sales - an item that isn’t free after rebate might go on sale that month, making it free after rebate. This catalog is similar in size and look to a weekly store circular -- don’t be confused if you’re familiar with Walgreens’ rebate program, since their monthly rebate catalog is significantly smaller in size than Rite Aid’s. The circulars are usually located at the front of the store. 

Rite Aid offers a Single Check Rebate each month, so don’t ask for your rebate before the end of the month.

Once you request the rebate you cannot submit any more receipts for that month. You can request your rebate either by snail mail or online. Even though you don’t want to request your rebate until the monthly rebate period has ended, you can enter your receipt information online throughout the month. I like to do that so I don’t lose a receipt or forget to input one if I have a stack of them at the end of the month. And look for deadline dates -- after a certain point you can no longer receive rebates for past month’s purchases. 

Be sure to get the Rite Aid sales ad each week.
It’s often in the Sunday paper and in some areas it’s mailed to residential addresses. If you don’t get it one of those ways, you can find it at the front of the store. The ad will tell you what’s on sale that week so you can check through your coupons and see if you can get any good deals.

There are usually store coupons in the ad, as well. These can be combined with manufacturer’s coupons, meaning you might be able to get the item free or for a very low cost. Beware of the fine print about savings in the ad, however. The ads often state the sale price of an item, then subtracts an amount and then lists the final price. It LOOKS like the item is on sale for that final price when in reality, next to the amount subtracted, it says something like “after manufacturer’s coupon in many Sunday papers.” What initially looks like a great deal combined with the manufacturer’s coupon in your file box really isn’t when you realize they’re simply subtracting that coupon for you.

Rite Aid will accept internet coupons up to the equivalent value of $5 off.
No more than one internet coupon is permitted per sale transaction. Internet coupons must have a valid barcode that scans successfully into the register; manual entry is not permitted.


At times, they offer a $5 off a $25 purchase coupon so keep your eyes open for those. You can get one for signing up for MyRiteAid.com -- you get $50 in Rite Aid coupons for signing up and one of them is the $5 off a $25 purchase. It’s free to register for MyRiteAid.com. 

Always check a few frugal blogs that detail Rite Aid deals for the week before heading out to shop. They might spot a deal you didn’t see or know of a coupon you might have missed. 

And lastly, in my area at least, Rite Aid is almost always located across the street from a Walgreens. If I stop at both in one trip, I maximize my savings as well as save time and gas.

Update: 
Elise over at Organizing for Everyone wrote to tell me that some things have changed with Rite Aid.  I still don't have one in my area, so it's harder for me to keep up on their details.  Elise noted that DealSeekingMom has all of RiteAid's policies in a printable format here.  Thanks again Elise!

Out of Creamer!!!! Yikes...

I'm a coffee drinker... no thanks to Starbucks!

Actually, Starbucks wasn't even around (at least not in my area) when I developed a taste for coffee, so I guess I can't blame them for my love of it.

It all started on my Honeymoon of all places. Hubby and were young and not refined in our tastes, but found that they served coffee with dessert at all of the dinners on the cruise. We found ourselves trying it and loving it. I remember the coffee on the cruise bringing out the richness in the elegant desserts, and the coffee itself was a wonderful brew.

Since that wonderful week, I have had a love of coffee. Starbucks didn't create the love, but has definately changed the way I look at it.

I now enjoy coffee most every morning, and because I don't eat decadant desserts for breakfast, I crave a sweet creamer in mine most times. I can still drink black, but long for the richness that the creamers bring out, Hubby would just say I'm spoiled or finicky... I say give me a great dessert and then I'd rather the coffee be black!

I like the prepackaged liquid creamers in the grocery store... Peppermint Mocha and Cinnamon Creme are probably my favorites and I stock up on them this time of year when they are on sale and there are lots of coupons for them. They do freeze quite well!

If you haven't tried those two flavors, do.... I never thought I'd like cinnamon in my coffee and found out by mistake you could say that I like it. A friend asked if I wanted creamer in my coffee and of course I said sure... then when it was so wonderful I had to ask her what kind it was I was shocked!

I do on occasion, yikes do I have to say it?, run out of creamer! I've spoiled myself enough by always having creamers available that I've found a way to make my coffee taster creamer-fied, if there ever was such a word.

Here's how... I pour my normal cup of coffee and add lowfat milk to desired creaminess. Pull out the sugar-free flavored syrup that I use for my occasional at home soda-fountain style drinks & here goes, now I'll admit I purchased myself an espresso machine with money I got a few Christmases ago and I use syrups mainly for lattes and iced coffees.

By the way... a little goes a long way, so the syrups seem to last forever!



These syrups can be found in the coffee sections of most grocery stores and are great when you need a little extra flavor in your beverages. I have found that the best place to get them in my area is TJ Max. They often have a big 25 oz bottle of DaVinci Gourmet for $5.99, when the much smaller bottle was $4.79 in my local grocery. TJ Max carries other brands as well, but find DaVinci to be a better quality syrup. One of the other brands I tried I had to use twice the syrup to taste the flavor and then it was too sweet.

If you like the occasional flavored fountain drink,
pick a flavor that you think you would like in both your coffee
and your sodas and you've got the best deal for your buck.

Friends love when I pull out the flavored syrups to go in their sodas,
it's a special treat like when you go to the soda fountain.

The DaVinci website also has lots of free recipes on other ways to use their syrups. Things like Gourmet Whipped Cream, Caramel Mocha Mousse & Almond Joy Italian Soda sound good to me.

Meijer 101

I have been shopping Meijer for some time and find that of the grocery stores in my area they are one of the best for shopping for deals.
My local Meijer doubles two like manufacturer coupons up to $.50, beyond that they are face value.
You can find Meijer printable coupons at mealbox for various items; some Meijer store brand and also some name brand.

To get to these coupons click on my link above and follow directions below....

When the page loads find the box to the right. In that box you will find a link toward the top that says “specials”, select "specials" and then find and select “coupons”.

You can then scroll up and down through the coupons available.

If you find one that you want just select it and you will then be asked how many you want to print.
These coupons print on one corner of the page and are quite small. One thing I’ve been doing to save on paper is to plan on printing four of each of the coupons I want and then rotate the paper in the printer after I print each coupon. This way you use four sheets of paper for sixteen coupons instead of sixteen. You’ve also got like coupons stacked to cut together this way as well. Less paper, less cutting and time saved! If you want more/less of the coupons, adjust accordingly.

Update...

You can now print more than one coupon on a page!

When you get to MeijerMealbox, get to the coupons by selecting the "specials" tab, and then the "coupon" tab. When you find a coupon you want to print simply click on the "add to shopping list" link. You can select as many coupons as you like, but once you've added them you cannot remove them.
Once you've selected all the coupons you want, go back up to the link next to "specials" and click "shoppping list". You can then select to print list or send list. Click print if you want to print and you will be given the option to print a shopping list and/or coupons. Select coupons and hit print.. your coupons will all print at once and on one page (unless of course you printed a bunch of 'em). If you want to print them later, select send and email them to yourself (you have to login to do this)

Pay attention to the coupons available. If there is one there that you think you may use, print it right away. These coupons do change at times and I’ve been caught without the coupon I wanted because I waited to print it.
Mealbox coupons typically expire two weeks from the date that you print them, so you have some time to potentially use them.
Sometimes these coupons will coordinate with a current or future sale that Meijer is having, so do keep that in mind as well if you see a coupon for something you might purchase if it came up on sale.
Also, mealbox coupons are Meijer store coupons. If there is an item you have a Meijer coupon for and an item you have a manufacturer coupon for you can use both-this is called stacking coupons.

Another great new thing at Meijer... 

If you ever shop at Meijer, you should join their new mperks program!

They have great coupons & it's easy to use.

mperks works like the electronic coupons in that you sign up online and log-in to access the coupons that you want.  Instead of loading them to your store card, they ask you for your cell phone number.  Because of this, you do have to have a phone that works with texting. 

After you've signed up, loaded your coupons, it's time to go shopping.  When you get to the checkout, you enter your cell phone number at the touchscreen (assuming you use the self check out lane) and it will automatically apply any coupons that work with your purchased items.


So far I've enjoyed getting some great discounts.  You can print your coupon list, or email it to yourself to carry with you if your phone has email capabilities.  I tend to just load the coupons I think I might use, carry my coupon box with me for my paper coupons, and just get the savings if I happen to buy those items on my list.

I have been pleasantly surprised with the program recently.  I hadn't loaded coupons in awhile and got a text message from the program saying there were two great coupons available for me.  One was something like $10 off of $80, the other $5 off of your next purchase.  I loaded them and went shopping a few days later.  To my surprise it took off both coupons since my initial total was over $80.

I've since gotten an email telling me that there was another similar coupon available to me!  It's like free grocery money!

When I first signed up I was afraid I'd get multiple texts from them, but I've been pleasantly surprised that I only get a few & they are worth knowing about usually.

I haven't yet tried to use the program through a regular checkout lane, but assume that you would just have to tell the cashier you wanted to use your mperks.  Will have to do that soon.

 

Happy shopping!