Couponing Abbreviations And Lingo

Who knew that couponing could be so complicated?? It’s not really, but there are lots of terms that you’re going to want to learn in order to make the most of the deals. Here are the most common abbreviations that you will see in the couponing world:

B1G1 or BOGO – Buy One, Get One Free. You may also see B2G1 or B1G2, etc. (which would mean Buy Two, Get One Free or Buy One, Get Two Free respectively.)

CAT – Catalina Coupon. This is a coupon that you receive from a Catalina machine after you make a purchase at a participating store, thus the name. Stores include Walgreens, Target, Jewel-Osco and various other stores that you may have in your area. At Walgreens, the Catalina machine is the machine from which you’ll get your Register Rewards. Catalina is a third party company that works with specific stores and brands to produce coupons. These coupons can be either manufacturer’s coupons or store coupons, so be sure to look at each individual coupon. You can stack additional manufacturer’s coupons with the store coupons produced from the CAT machine, so this would be an ideal opportunity for extra savings.

ECB – Extra Care Bucks. This is a CVS store coupon that prints out at the end of your receipt during participating CVS purchases. This coupon is good for one month and valid on any future purchase at CVS (other than restrictions: lottery tickets, milk, money order, gift cards, stamps, pseudoephedrine and alcohol). You may use as many ECB as you have available toward the same transaction.

ETS – Excludes Trial Size. Verbiage that is typically found printed on coupons.

EXP – Expires. You may see this in reference to when coupons expire (i.e. Use $1 Colgate coupon from 2/11 RP (exp 3/31)

GC – Gift Card

GM – General Mills. This is a coupon insert that is distributed in the Sunday newspaper on the occasional weekend.

MIR – Mail In Rebate

OOP – Out Of Pocket

OYNO – On Your Next Order

P&G – Procter & Gamble. This is a coupon insert that is distributed in the Sunday newspaper on various weekends.

PSA – Prices Start At

Reset – This means that a coupon that was previously released is now available to be printed again by everyone. (It can once again be considered brand new.)

RP – Red Plum insert. This is a coupon insert that is distributed in the Sunday newspaper on various weekends.

RR – Register Reward. This is a CAT coupon (see above) that is printed out at the end of participating deals at Walgreens. It is a manufacturer’s coupon that is good for two weeks, but it is redeemable only at Walgreens. This coupon is good on any future purchase EXCEPT for the purchase of the same brand you received it from should you be expecting another RR to print. (i.e. You cannot use a RR to pay for a Colgate Toothpaste if you received it when purchasing Colgate Mouthwash. The RR that you are expecting from the second purchase will not print.)

SS – Smart Source insert. This is a coupon insert that is distributed in the Sunday newspaper on various weekends.

Stack – This means that you can use multiple coupons on top of each other (i.e. a Target store coupon, a Target Cartwheel coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon may be stacked to save on the same item.)

WYB – When You Buy (I use this one A LOT)

YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary. This means that the deal or coupon will work at some stores, but may not at others. It will all depend on your store and that specific manager/cashier.

Have a couponing specific abbreviation that I forgot to post here? Please leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list!