What's it all mean, how to navigate through all the coupon lingo!

FAQ’s

What does it all mean?
Acronyms and Definitions:

• blinkie – in-store manufacturer’s coupon near the product, usually from a red blinking box
• BOGO – buy one, get one free
• Catalina (cat) — coupon you get with your receipt at the register; usually triggered by a specific item that you purchased
• double – store “coupon” that doubles manufacturer’s coupon value
• DND – do not double
• FAR – free after rebate
• filler – item purchased for the sole purpose of making a deal work
• GM – General Mills Sunday coupon insert packet
• IP – internet printable coupon
• loss leader — item that a store puts on a fantastic sale, usually losing money on it, in hopes that while you’re in store buying the item, you will buy the rest of your shopping list there
• NLA – no longer available
• OOP – out of pocket
• overage – the amount of money made on buying an item (profit)
• OYNO – on your next order
• P&G — Proctor & Gamble Sunday coupon insert packet
• peelie – coupon attached to an item that you can peel off & use immediately
• rolling – using a CAT or RR to pay for an item that produces a CAT or RR
• RP – Red Plum Sunday coupon insert packet
• RR – Register Rewards (Walgreen’s catalina)
• Single Check — Rite Aid’s rebate program
• SS – SmartSource Sunday insert packet
• stacking – using a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon on one item
• tearpad – pad of coupons next to an item in the store
• U – Unilever Sunday coupon insert packet
• WYB – when you buy
• YMMV – your mileage may vary (success of the attempt may vary at your store)

What does 11/29 P&G insert mean?
It refers to the P&G insert released in the November 29th Sunday paper. You can find the date on the spine of each insert pack. Same goes for Red Plum (RP), SmartSource (SS), General Mills (GM) and Unilever (U).

What are catalinas?
Catalinas are the coupons you sometimes get at the register along with your receipt at Safeway, Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Walgreens (Register Rewards). There are three types of catalinas:

1. Advertisements — they have no value to you, throw them away
2. Manufacturer’s coupons — file them in your coupon organizational system
3. $ off your next purchase coupons — keep these!

We most often refer to the third type of catalina in deal posts. They are good for a certain amount off your next transaction — use them like cash or a gift card. They print when you purchase a certain number of a specific item or a certain dollar amount of a family of products.

For promotions that give you a catalina for spending a certain amount of a family of products (example: Spend $30 in participating products, Get a $10 catalina), the target amount ($30) is almost always before the cashier scans your manufacturer’s coupons, so you will almost never actually spend $30 out-of-pocket.

Catalinas at grocery stores ALWAYS roll, meaning you can use the catalina that printed from your first transaction to pay for your second transaction and another catalina will print.

My Catalina did not print. What should I do?
Don’t bother with your store’s customer service. In many cases, they don’t even know that a promotion is running.

You need to contact the Catalina company directly. Make sure you have your receipt with you. If you indeed purchased the correct items and did the transaction the way it was supposed to be completed, they will mail you a Catalina.

888-322-3814 or coupon@catalinamarketing.com

What stores in the Pacific Northwest double manufacturer’s coupons?
Safeway’s in Oregon and SW Washington double the face value up to 4 manufacturer’s coupons up to $.50 each per transaction. The double coupon is located in the inside page of Safeway’s weekly ad that is available starting Wednesday in the store. Puget Sound, Eastern Washington and Idaho Safeway’s do not offer double coupons.

Albertsons in Oregon, Washington and Idaho periodically offer double coupons (technically “Twice the Value” coupons). These double coupons will double the face value of up to 3 manufacturer’s coupons up to $1 each per transaction. Albertsons double coupons are generally released about every other Sunday and are valid for three days. They are available in the Sunday newspaper as well as at the customer service counter.

Thriftway usually offers double coupons in their weekly ad.

How do you get so many coupons?
There are several ways to get multiple coupons.

1. Your Sunday paper - you can either buy multiple copies or get them from friends, family, neighbors, etc.
2. The internet - these are called “internet printable coupons” or “IPs.” We will always provide a link to any coupon we tell you to use.
3.  Ebay - crazy, I know, but you can totally buy coupons on Ebay, so when there's a rockin deal, you can stock up on the coupons early and get the most thrilling deals!