What does "overage" mean in couponing?

Overage is when the value of your coupon exceeds the value of the item. For example a $2 off coupon for a product that only costs $1.75 results in 25c overage.

Some stores allow this, some do not.

Some stores will adjust the value of the coupon to the price of the item if their register beeps to alert them to this. You will still get the item for free but with no overage.

Some stores will allow it if there are items in your transaction to absorb the overage. Purchase the $1.75 item and a 35c pack of gum. Use your $2 off coupon and pay 10c. You absorbed your overage with the second item.

Walmart does not require you to have items in your transaction to absorb overage. If you bought the $1.75 item and used a $2 coupon they would give you 25c back!

Another way overage occurs is if you stack a store coupon with a manufacturer coupon.

Learn more about coupon terms.

Getting Started at CVS

Here's a few things you need to know about CVS if you've never "coupon shopped" there before.

Getting started at CVS:

• You need an Extra Care card to get advertised prices.  They are free and you can apply in store.  You will need to have this scanned every time you make a purchase (prescriptions included!)  

• You can stack Manufacturer coupons with CVS store coupons.

• CVS store coupons come in the form of a CRT (cash register tape - prints at the end of your receipt), or you may get sent some by e-mail (if you provide your e-mail when you sign up for your Extra Care card) and stores now have a "coupon center" which is a price checker machine that will print coupons if you scan your Extra Care card!  Don't just stop at one scan.  I can usually get coupons from two scans a day.  Some days I get lucky and get coupons on my third scan!

• CVS has Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) - These come in the form of quaterly ECBs which is 2% of all your purchases for the quarter and $1 for every 2 prescriptions filled.  Extra Care Bucks also come from weekly deals.  Items that generate ECBs will be listed in the ad.  You can use coupons on ECB sales.  This sometimes results in products for free or even a profit.  For example, if they put toothpaste on sale for $3 with $3 ECBs back, that's FREE toothpaste!  But if you had a $1 off coupon or that toothpaste, you would pay $2 for the toothpaste, but get $3 ECBs back!  You just made $1 because you got back $1 ECB more than you spent!  Extra Care Bucks print at the end of your receipt when you purchase the appropriate items.

• ECBs you earn can be used like cash toward your purchase.  But you cannot apply them towards the sales tax on your purchase.  So if I had a $3 ECB and a $4 ECB and my total was $7.22, I'll ask for my subtotal.  Because if my subtotal is only $6.50, I don't want to use $7 ECBs.  I will lose 50c.  I would use my $4 ECB and pay $3.22 out of my pocket.  ECBs have to be used in their whole amount towards your subtotal.  You will not get change back on ECBs.   See the bottom of your ECB for restrictions (like not being able to use them on prescriptions, tobacco and alcohol.

• All ECB deals listed are limit one per card when listed on the blog unless otherwise specified

• Use your reusable bag and Green Bag Tag to earn more ECBs!!   Learn more here. 

• CVS does not double coupons, ad match or accept competitor's coupons.

Winn-Dixie's coupon policy and tips

Winn-Dixie's Coupon Policies

• To get the best deals, sale prices and the ability to receive and use store coupons, you must get a Winn-Dixie Reward Card. They are free and you can apply online and receive it in the mail.

• If you are expecting or have a child under two you can sign up for their Baby Club. You can sign up for that online too but you must have your reward card first. Being a Baby Club member will get you special discounts and more coupons. Read more about those here.

• The registers at Winn-Dixie print catalina coupons. There are two kinds of these coupons. Most are manufacturer coupons. I buy a lot of baby products and cat food at Winn-Dixie so most of my catalinas are from Gerber, Pedilyte and Purina. I have also gotten Kellogg’s catalinas too. These are all manufacturer coupons.

• The registers also print out $/$$ coupons. For example get $10 off a $50 purchase. In fact, these should print once per week per reward card. But they are not valid until the next week. (In this case Wednesday through Tuesday is considered a week because that is the way their ads run). So each week you shop there you will get a $10/$50 coupon good for the next week. You may only use one of these per purchase. The one exception to this is your $10 from getting 200 Baby Club points. That is treated like cash and is $10 off any purchase exceeding $10.
TIP: Give the cashier your $/$$ coupon FIRST before all other coupons. (Give Baby Club Rewards second.) If you other coupons make your total lower than the amount to qualify for the $/$$ coupon then you can’t use it. Smart shoppers would get as close to $50 in products without being under $50 and use their $/$$ coupon first. Then with remaining coupons (and smart shopping!) could easily bring the total to $20 or better!

• Winn-Dixie doubles all manufacturer coupons up to 50c everyday!  Except in Florida, parts of Louisiana and some coastal Alabama stores.  Matchups on this blog will reflect double coupons.

• Buy one, get one free sale items ring up this way:  First item rings up full price, second item rings up free.  If you only buy one of the items it will ring up full price, not half price.  So make sure you get BOTH items to take advantage of the deal.

• Stores will (should) allow you to use coupons on BOGO items. For example if Kellogg’s cereals are Buy One Get One Free and I have two $1 off coupons for Kellogg’s, I can use them. Or if I have a coupon that says “$1 off this when you buy that” and I have a coupon on that, I can use it. Your store may vary on this. I had to have a discussion with my WD’s store manager after I was treated very rudely by TWO cashiers. The manager whole-heartedly agreed with me and said that it was his policy that the cashiers take any coupon unless there was blatant fraud involved. He assured me that he would talk to his staff, gave me his business card should I have any more trouble so I could call him and I’ve since had no trouble out of the cashier’s there. It never hurts to question the cashier (and the front-end manager and the customer service manager…) The only one who’s opinion matters on the coupons is the STORE MANAGER.


• Overage is generally allowed. Meaning that if I have a coupon for $2 off a product that’s only $1.95, $2 will still be taken off of my total. But remember, stores will not give you money back from overage. Example, if you had two products totaling $3.50 and coupons for $4 off – don’t expect them to open the register and give you 50c back – throw in a candy bar to do what we call “absorb the overage.” Occasionally, a coupon that's worth more than the product will beep and then they'll check and see that the coupon exceeds the price and they will get a manager to override and change the price. You will get the item for free with no overage.

• Winn Dixie does not ad match or take competitor's (other store's) coupons.

Rebate Tips

• Read all rebate forms carefully, noting the qualifying products/sizes, purchase period (between xx/xx/xx and yy/yy/yy), and what is necessary for the rebate (form, receipt, actual UPC off of product, etc)
• Always make sure any items you are submitting for different rebates are NOT on the same receipt! This may mean doing separate transactions at the store or getting items on different shopping trips. (Items for the same rebate can be purchased together - some may even require two items to be purchased in the same transaction to qualify) If I'm purchasing something that I know I want to send in a rebate on, I will write "rebate" next to it on my shopping list.
• Mail in the rebate ASAP to make sure you don't miss out on it! I usually send mine in within a day or two of purchasing the products.
• Keep a copy of the rebate form, your receipt and UPC. (99% of the time, rebates will require ORIGINALS, no photocopies. But I do keep a photocopy of all the info in case my rebate doesn't arrive in a timely fashion.
• Keep ALL your receipts! You never know when you may come across a rebate you didn't know about for a product you just purchased! (Like me and the new P&G rebate!)

See all Rebate Posts.

Coupon Basics

New to couponing? Let me help you out a bit.

First, let's talk about the coupon lingo you see all over the blogs...

Here's the basics:

• BOGO or B1G1 - Buy one, get one, I prefer using BOGO because it's faster to type ;)
  
• CRT = Cash Register Tape, a coupon that prints at the end of your receipt
  
• ECBs = Extra Care Bucks, rewards at CVS. See CVS posts for more on them and how to get/use them
• MFC = Manufacturer Coupon
• MM = Money Maker, sometimes you can make money off of a coupon if it exceeds the cost of the item, or if you are getting a rebate, RR or ECB back for purchasing the product. In the case of a coupon being more than the item costs, just make sure you have an item in your transaction that absorbs your overage because a store will not give you money back if the coupon exceeds the item price.
• OOP = out-of-pocket, meaning what you have to pay for an item or transaction before ECBs, RR, or rebates
• Q = a common abbreviation for "coupon"
  
• RR = Register Rewards, rewards (coupons) from Wal-Greens. See Wal-Greens posts for more on them and how to get/use them.
• WYB = when you buy

Sunday coupons come in different inserts in the paper. Each insert has a name and we have an abbreviation for all of the inserts...

• RP = Red Plum
• SS = Smartsource
• P&G = Proctor & Gamble
• GM = General Mills

(P&G and GM are abbreviations you are likely to see other places, not just when talking about inserts since they are commonly discussed companies)

Now, how to decipher a post about an ad item with coupon matchups (this varies from blog to blog, but once you understand the basics you'll understand it anywhere. So I'm going to show you how I do it...)

Here's an example:

Kraft Mac-N-Cheese - 50c
Q: 30c/1 (10/18 RP) (exp 12/31/09)
=20c

It's the name of the product and how much the advertised price is. Just below it you will find a list of available coupons (sometimes there will be more than one). Next to each coupon will be the name and date of the insert where you will find the coupon. Next you will see the expiration date of the coupon. Some bloggers do this for every coupon. I only do it for coupons that are expiring soon just to help you see that you might want to go ahead and do this deal because it may be the only one before the coupon expires.


Hope this helps you get started!

How to Organize your Coupons

To save serious money, you have to be seriously organized.

And NEVER throw a coupon away before it's expiration date. You NEVER know when you might use it - even if it's not a product your normally buy, you may be able to get it for free or better with the coupon!

Here's how I organize my coupons:

I go through my weekly inserts and clip the coupons that I know I'll use because they are on products I use regularly and coupons that I like to use on double coupon days at local stores.
I file these in an accordion coupon holder by category. This coupon holder stays in my purse or car so that I always have it with me.

Then I keep the inserts intact and write the date in marker on the outside of them and file them in a pocket folder. I have several pocket folders and I put one week's worth of inserts per pocket. So essentially, 1 folder can hold 2 weeks.
By doing it this way, when I see a good deal online and it says there is a coupon in the 10/4 Smartsource insert - I know exactly where to go to get that coupon!!


When I make my grocery list, I write it out on a business sized envelope and put my coupons inside. Before I started using an envelope, I would always fumble and drop coupons while I was shopping. Using an envelope is great!


There is an article at A Full Cup on different ways to organize your coupons. You should check it out. There is no one way that works for everyone. Check out the article and see which one might work the best for you. You will have to sign up with A Full Cup to see the article, but it's completely free. I just signed up a few weeks ago and am learning so much. There are helpful articles and forums to chat with others about deals and couponing.