PYP Blog

As a coupon'er/bargain shopper over 13 years, I've discovered (and you may have, too) that coupons and sales run in seasonal cycles. Here's a comprehensive guide to cracking the what and when is on sale. It may be a repeat for some, but I believe it is worth repeating. Hope it helps!

Seasonal Sales Cycles

JANUARY - Historically, Quaker has hot deals on cereal/all items. We see Pepsi/Tostitos go on sale mid-January (again, rebates abound for these). Other items of note this time of year are chili, side dishes, anything for hearty/warm meals.
• Post-Holiday Sales
• White Sales
• Sports and Weight Loss Equipment
• Computers
• Winter Apparel and Accessories
· Organizers, Rubbermaid totes, shelf organizers, planners, filing cabinets

FEBRUARY – many of the same food items as January
• Electronics
• Floor Coverings
• Housewares
• Furniture
• Candy and Chocolates

MARCH - Frozen food month. You'll find many stores are offering free freezers or fill-a-bag deals. Between March and April, look for spring cleaning deals, so many cleaner items will be on sale. With Easter, looks for eggs, ham, Kraft products to cycle into good sales. Paper products like towels, napkins, plates are starting to come on strong. Beverage items.
• Spring Apparel and Accessories
• Winter Sports Equipment
• Gardening Supplies
• Luggage

APRIL –
• Spring Apparel and Accessories
• Coats and Hats
• Paint
• Wallpaper
• Jewish Foods and Eggs

MAY -
get ready for summer! Here come loads of deals on BBQ sauce, frozen veggies, baked beans, and condiments of all kinds, summer-time meats (ribs, hotdogs, and ground beef). Also with all the holidays, look for tons of paper goods that match the holiday and pick them up after clearance. These deals generally continue through September!
• White Sale - Linens and Towels
• Spring Cleaning Supplies
• Auto Maintenance
• Home Maintenance
• Sodas & Bottled Water, Hotdogs, Hamburger Meat, Condiments, Paper & Plastic plates & cups
* Raid/Off bug repellents and sunscreens

JUNE –
• Summer Apparel and Accessories
• Pianos
• Television Sets
• Building Materials and Hardware
• Dairy Products

JULY –
• Air Conditioners
• Summer Sports Equipment
• Sportswear
• Craft Supplies
• Sodas, Hotdogs, Hamburger Meat, Condiments

AUGUST –
• White Sale - Linen and Towels
• BBQ and Patio Equipment
• Back to School Supplies
• Bathing Suits
• Fresh Fish and Vegetables
• Breakfast foods (Cold cereal-Juice-Waffles-etc)
• Cold lunch items for in lunch boxes

SEPTEMBER - back to school; time to fill up on snacks! Pudding cups, Capri suns, fruit snacks, cereal sales start up hard again, peanut butter/jelly. Also, like clockwork, there will be Prego coupons in August, and plan on getting lots and using them in a hurry before they expire in September when the spaghetti sauce goes on sale. Sauce wars between Ragu and Prego this month. Campbell’s soups will go on as well and there will be coupons in the end of August for these as well. Lunchables are on sale this time of year, too.
• Back to School Supplies and Apparel
• Gardening Supplies
• Housewares
• Bicycles
• Canned Goods

OCTOBER - Stock up on holiday foods – Stove Top, turkey, instant mashed potatoes, broth, cranberries, marshmallow, ice cream, pie shells, whipped cream, pudding. Look for great Kraft deals again this time of year. Piggyback those Kraft coupons when you can. Crackers are a biggie - going on for $1 or less a box. Lots of extra deals like $ off cheese WYB crackers. The real kicker is the after Christmas food deals! Save your coupons because pie fixings, fried onion, broth and canned green beans will be on deep discount. I got those onions for .50 a can, normally almost $4. These generally continue through December.
• Cars
• Houses
• Fishing Equipment
• Crystal, Silver, and Glassware
• Candy
· Baking/candy-making items (choc chips, sprinkles, vanilla, corn syrup, nuts, etc)

NOVEMBER -
• Winter Apparel and Accessories
• Quilts and Blankets
• Heating Devices
• Turkey, Sweet Potatoes
• Canned goods (soup, chicken broth, condensed milk, veggies etc)
• Baking goods

DECEMBER –
• Toys
• Gift Items
• Party ware
• Post-Holiday Sales
• Party Foods, Baking Goods, and Various Meat
• Canned goods (broth, soups, etc)

Year-round after a holiday, you can always pick up cheap cookie dough and any food related to a holiday.

Continual sales are candy, popcorn, chips, anything snacky, cereal (heavier in the fall/winter, but still around in the spring).
Frozen food sales seem to centralize on a brand and the switch brands the next month. I think the manufacturers buy slot time for sales. So last month, Stouffers was on sale hard, now lean cuisine is. Save the entire frozen coupon and then keep checking back for the brand of the month.

Frozen pizzas go on sale in the fall and then again the spring; not often in the summer because people don't want to turn their ovens on in the summer.

By all means, this isn't everything that you can get on sale, but if you follow the cycle and stock up (I never buy BBQ sauce in the winter), then you can get where you have enough on hand and only need to refill when the items are in season. The result is that you spend less and less with each successful cycle.

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Sources: Various numerous sites on the internet over years of time from an obsessive compulsive cpn-er

See PYP's forum of hints/helps for ideas and discussion.

Does this sound like Latin to you?

"Help! I'm IVDSO the mfr. .75/1 Kraft coupons from SS 4/16. H: Doublers from Albertsons 4/16 and assorted MIRs and beer rebates. PM me?"

If that made your head spin, you're not alone. Even us veteran couponers remember a time when that kind of talk made us feel like we had just walked into, well, strange-coupon-talkville. Don't worry though. Here's your language dictionary to help you make meaning of this crazy coupon code. The next post will address some of the forum related and PYP specific terms so that you'll be able to follow any conversation you stumble across. Enjoy, and we look forward to having you be fluent in the language of massive savings! As always, comment with any questions and I'll be sure to answer quickly.

TYPES OF COUPONS:

Blinkie: A manufacturer coupon that is found in red or black machines with blinking red lights on them attached to store shelves.
Catalina/Register Rewards/ECB/Checkout Coupon: These all refer to a coupon that prints from a small machine next to the cash register when you buy certain products. Different stores call them different names, but they're all the same thing.
Doubler: A coupon which allows the consumer to have the discount provided by a manufacturer (mfr.) coupon doubled. Thus, a couponer might say that she "combined doubler with a 75 c/o coupon to get a 1.50 discount.
Hangtag: A manufacturer coupon hanging around the neck of a product.
Mailer: A store or manufacturer coupon that was mailed to consumers.
Mfr/mfg: A manufacturer coupon, usually found in the newspaper insert.
MIR: Mail-in rebate, a piece of paper that must be filled out and mailed to the company, usually with your cash register receipt, in order to get a check for the advertised discount.
Insert coupon: A coupon that was found in the inserts in the Sunday newspaper.
Peelie: A manufacturer coupon in the form of a sticker on a product.
Printable: Coupon that can be printed from the Internet. Printable coupons cannot be photocopied.
Store Coupon: A coupon offered by the store as opposed to the manufacturer. These are most often found in store flyers and advertisements, and can also be received in mailers. Store coupons can generally be combined ("stacked") with manufacturer (mfr.) coupons.
Winetag: A coupon found on a wine bottle. Winetags are either NWPN (no wine purchase necessary, meaning that you don't need to buy a bottle of wine to use the coupon) or WPN (wine purchase necessary, meaning that you must buy wine in addition to the advertised item in order to use the coupon).

COUPON-USE VOCABULARY
B1G1: The coupon offer is that when you buy one of an item, you get a second of that item for free.
c/o: The coupon item is for cents off the item, as in "75 c/o" or a "c/o coupon"
OYNO: On your next order. Describes register reward/catalina coupons which are good for a discount on your next purchase at the store that dispensed the coupon.
PG: Proctor and Gamble insert. Usually distributed on the first Sunday or each month, but sometimes more often.
Rolling a catalina or register reward coupon: Buying an item which triggers (causes to be printed) a coupon good on the same item that caused the coupon to print, and then using that coupon to purchase the item at a discounted rate, thus causing yet another coupon to print.
RP: Redplum insert. Less commonly distributed than the Smart Source insert, the Redplum insert is not available in all areas.
Stack: Using a manufacturer coupon with a store coupon on the same item for a greater discount. Manufacturer coupons cannot be stacked with each other.
SS: Smart Source coupon insert. This is the most commonly distributed and usually the largest insert.
TMF: Try me free. A mail-in rebate (MIR) for the full cost of the item, intended to let the consumer try to item for free by refunding the customer the full cost of the item.

TERMS RELATED TO STORES, PROMOTIONS AND SALES
AC: After coupon. The advertised price is available after the use of a store coupon (defined above), usually found in the store's weekly ad.
Albies: Albertsons
B1G1: As with coupons, this indicates that the promotion is to buy one of an item and get a second of that item free.
FM: Fred Meyer, an Idaho-based Kroger store.
RC: Raincheck, a paper which states the the store will honor the advertised price on a sale item they were out of.
WSL: While supplies last, meaning no rainchecks will be given on the sale item.
WM: Wal-Mart
YMMV: Your mileage my vary. The success of the deal will depend on factors like sales and coupon policies at the store.

Ready for more? See Couponese 102: Social and Trading Lingo