Couponing lingo decoded: BOGO, MIR, YMMV, and the rest

The first time you read a deal forum or a couponing blog, it can feel like a foreign language: 'BOGO + MIR, stack a store Q, OOP $2, YMMV.' None of it is complicated once it's translated. Here's the shorthand you'll actually run into, so the deals stop being a puzzle and start being useful.

The everyday abbreviations

Words you'll see on the deal itself

• Stack: using more than one discount on the same item (typically one store coupon plus one manufacturer coupon).
• Loss leader: an item priced below cost to lure you into the store — the front-page deals in the weekly ad.
• Catalina: a coupon that prints out of a little machine next to the register after you check out, good on a future trip.
• Overage: when your coupons total more than the item's price; most stores cap the coupon at the item price rather than paying you the difference.
• Rain check: a slip the store gives you when a sale item is out of stock, letting you buy it later at the sale price.
• Peelie / tearpad / blinkie: physical coupons found on the product (peelie), on a pad hanging near it (tearpad), or from the blinking shelf machine (blinkie) — all usually manufacturer coupons.

How to read a deal post now

Put it together: 'BOGO toothpaste, stack a $1 store Q + $0.50 MIR, OOP ~$1, YMMV' simply means — the toothpaste is buy-one-get-one, you can add a one-dollar store coupon and mail in for fifty cents back, so you'll pay about a dollar out of pocket, but it may not work identically at your store. That's it. No secret handshake.

The bottom line

Couponing shorthand is just abbreviations for buy-one-get-one, mail-in rebate, out of pocket, and 'no guarantees.' Once you can translate a deal post in your head, you can decide in seconds whether a deal is worth your time — which is the whole point.