Q&A: Coupon explanations

Monica wrote with the following question...

When you post something like this: Kleenex: .89 7-day coupon; use with .50/3 or $1/5 coupon from 1/27 insert. What exactly does that mean? What insert date are you referring to? Newspaper inserts? Do I need to be saving all the newspaper inserts to make sure I have coupons?

First, yes, I would highly recommend saving your newspaper inserts. Find the system that works best for you. Some people clip all the coupons immediately, others file the coupon inserts and cut the coupons as they discover sales. I tend to promptly clip the ones I'll probably use, then save the others to mail to military families.

As far as translating the sentence into plain English, here's a stab at it:

.89 7-day coupon: There is a store coupon in the weekly Walgreens flier, making Kleenex .89 a box.

Use with .50/3 or $1/5 coupon from 1/27 insert: .50/3 means there is a coupon for .50 off three items (in this case, boxes of Kleenex); 1/27 refers to the date--January 27.

Monica, thanks for asking for an explanation--does that answer your questions? It's easy to get caught up in the jargon of any business and forget that it may sound like gibberish to people. :-)