I have to admit, I take it for granted quite often that my readers know what B1G1, ECB’s and YMMV mean. The truth is, with shows like Extreme Couponing on TLC, the world of couponing has recently become inundated with newbies! While I think that is awesome, I can’t possibly explain every single abbreviation in every single post every single time. Well not without taking 15 minutes per coupon post (I kid! I kid! Well…kind of).
So I decided to start off this Strategic Shopping series with a master list of Coupon-ese for those who are new, or who just always assumed they knew what it meant to live in the LOND (Land of No Doubles).
Email me at heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality if I missed any, or just leave a comment below:
BTFE – Box Tops for Education
CAT – Coupon that prints from a Catalina machine at the register.
CC – Concealed Cash
CH – Clearing House
CLFE – Campbell’s Labels For Education
C/O – Cents Off
CRT – Cash register tape (receipt)
DEAD – Refers to a dead deal, or that the offer is no longer valid
DND – Do Not Double
ECB – Extra Care Buck (earned at CVS)
ES – Easy Saver, seen at Walgreens rebate booklet
ETS – Excludes Trial Sizes
EX or X. – Expires on
FAR – Free after rebate
FC – First class postage stamps
FS – Free Shipping
FSOT – For Sale or Trade
FWIW – For what it’s worth
GC – Gift Card
GDA – Good Deal Alert
GM – General Mills Insert, a booklet of coupons that appears in newspapers every month or two.
HBA – Health & Beauty Section in the store
INSERTS – Coupon booklets found in the Sunday paper
IP – Internet Printable coupon
IVC – Instant value coupons – seen in Walgreens rebate booklet
MFR – Manufacturer
MIR – Mail In Rebate
MQ – Manufacturer coupon
MRP – Manufacturer’s retail price
NED – No Expiration Date
NFN – No Form Needed
NIB – New in Box
NIP – New in Package
NT WT – Net Weight
OAS – A Coupon that is good on one Purchase, Any Size
OOP – Out Of Pocket
OOS – Out of Stock
OYNO -On Your Next Order
P&G – Proctor & Gamble (Sunday Booklet Coupons)
Peelie – Coupon found attached to a product. You have to peel it off.
POP – Proof of purchase
PP – PayPal
PSA – Prices Starting At
Q – Coupon
RC – Rain-check
RP – Red Plum (Sunday Booklet Coupons) (formerly Valassis)
RR – Register Reward from Walgreens – use as a $ off coupon on your next purchase
SASE – Self addressed stamped envelope
SCR – Rite Aid Single Check Rebate
SMP – Specially marked package
SRP – Suggested retail price
SS – Smart Source (Sunday Booklet Coupons)
STACKING – Often stores will allow the use of more than one coupon per item, IF the coupon itself does not restrict such usage. (Usually store Q + mfr Q)
SUPER DOUBLES or DOUBLES – coupons that are doubled $1 + in value (IE, a $1 coupon – $2, etc)
TEARPAD – A pad of forms/coupons found hanging from a store shelf or display
TIA – Thanks in Advance
TMF – Try Me Free – mail in rebate for full amount of product
TRIPLE COUPON – A coupon that a grocery store triples in value
TRU – Toys R Us
UPC – Universal Product Code, barcode on the product
WAGS – Walgreens
WL – Wish list
WM – Walmart
WSL – While supplies last
WUC – We Use Coupons (refers to the site)
WYB – When You Buy
YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary (“Worked for me, may not work for you”)
A big thanks to We Use Coupons for this list (taken with permission). If you would like to see the remainder of this list (which includes more forum specific abbreviations), you can click here.
Be sure to bookmark this link so you can always refer back whenever you are uncertain of something!
Be sure to check out the ENTIRE Strategic Shopping Series today!
Janelle says
April 7, 2011 at 4:29 pmCan’t wait for the rest of this series! I SOO need this right now. I feel bad for buying my diapers without my coupons for the last 2 months! Why?! LOL
Heather says
April 7, 2011 at 8:53 pmI have been buying my diapers pretty exclusively from Amazon lately.
Shanna says
July 18, 2011 at 2:25 pmMe too! I save 30% 🙂 (Amazon Mom & Subscribe and save) – I got I medium sized box of size 4’s for less than $14 🙂
Nancy B says
May 6, 2011 at 3:08 pmYet another INVALUABLE post!! It was so intimidating to try and figure out what people said…. this would have saved me a lot of errors. Going out and will be sharing yor site again–always finding people who want to know how to get started….
Robina says
July 20, 2011 at 12:48 pmOh my gosh, I would never be able to learn that list!
Heather says
July 20, 2011 at 9:47 pmOver time you will! For now though, just refer to it if you see something you don’t understand!
Pegs says
July 11, 2016 at 10:18 pmThe first step is remember to bring my coupons…