This may be pretty basic for many of my readers, but I know when I first starting using coupons and following deal blogs, I had no clue what a coupon match-up was!  So, for those of you who are new to the world of couponing, you may wonder the same thing I did — what in the world is a coupon match-up?

Very simply, it is matching a store’s sale price with a coupon.

For example, you may see something like this in my weekly Dillons post:

• Totino’s Pizza Rolls or Party Pizza – 95¢  
  ~$1/5 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza Products 2/13/2011 GM Insert (exp 5/7/2011)
  ~$0.50/3 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza products 2/13/2011 GM Insert (exp 5/7/2011)
  ~$0.40/2 Totinos Pizza Rolls Cellfire eCoupons
  ~$0.40/2 Totino’s Rolls Snacks
  Final Price:  From 55¢ each WYB2

At the top, you’ll find the item and sale price.  Directly underneath, you’ll see the coupons available for the product.  Then, I compute the final price using the highest value coupon (If it is a Dillons or Apple Market ad, I go ahead and double those coupons when I calculate the final price).

Let’s break down the actual coupon listing:

~$1/5 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza Products 2/13/2011 GM Insert (exp 5/7/2011)

• $1/5 — You’ll need to buy 5 Totino’s Crisp Party Pizza products to receive $1 off
• 2/13/2011 GM Insert — You’ll find the coupon in the General Mills insert from February 13, 2011 (check out more coupon abbreviations and lingo here)
• (exp 5/7/2011) — The coupon expires on May 7, 2011

Next up in Coupon Basics, I’ll share how to make your own coupon match-ups!