The Glossary

Does the following sentence make sense to you?
"I went to Wags yesterday to take advantage of their bogos with my IPs and MNF Qs. But at the checkout, the RR CAT machine didn't work. I thought I was being BBed, but the cashier figured it all out, so my OOP was only $1.24 for five items!"

I recommended in my last post that you can save yourself a ton of time & energy if you find a couponing network out there that finds the good deals for you. But they definitely speak their own language, so in order to take advantage of all their knowledge, you have to know what they are saying. Here are some commonly used abbreviations or words:

Q = coupon "I've got my Qs clipped and I'm ready to hit the grocery store!"
Bogo [or B1G1] = buy one, get one free "Target is having a bogo on Colgate toothpaste this week. Gotta stock up!"
CAT [or CRT] = a Catalina tape or cashier register tape. Occasionally, stores will give you a separate receipt that features store coupons; they usually bear some relation to what you've just purchased. Slightly Big Brotherish, but still can be good deals. "After I bought some strawberries at Reasor's, the checkout girl handed me a CAT for Cool Whip. I'll have to remember to use it next time!"
IP [or printable] = coupons that are printable directly off the internet. "I love all the IPs I'm finding, but I'll have to buy a new ink cartridge for my printer soon."
MQ [or MNF] = manufacturer's coupon. These are the more traditional kind, usually found in the newspaper or in-store displays. "Lots of great MQs in the Tulsa World this week."
RP/SS/P&G = Red Plum, SuperSaver, Proctor & Gamble - major companies that sponsor coupon inserts in the Sunday paper. "Everybody, check your RP for May 3rd, they had a Q for Gatorade & it's on sale at Food Pyramid this week!"
Wags = Walgreens "Most people don't realize that some of the best deals in town are at Wags."
RR = Register Rewards, a specific shopping reward program offered at Walgreens. When you buy certain products, you'll get a CAT at checkout that can be spent like cash on your next trip to Wags. "I got a $4 RR at Wags this week; I'll use it next week to buy some school supplies for the kids." [NOTE: I'll cover the glories of the RRs in my next post.]
OOP = out of pocket expense "I had $6.50 OOP at Wags this week, but I got a $5 RR, so my net was only $1.50"
MIR = mail in rebate "Don't forget to count the cost of postage when you are figuring out your total savings on a MIR."
BB = bargain blocked. Happens when you have trouble getting the deals you had planned on because of a technical difficulty (I got BBed when my IPs didn't scan at the register), a store policy (Wal Mart will not accept IPs - those BBers!), or a human obstacle (the checker didn't want to run 25 Qs in one transaction, so that BBer made me get back in line to use them all).

There are others, but with these terms, you should be able to figure out 90% of the talk on couponing forums.