With this week's hot lysol deals at Meijer and the extreme difficulty that *most* people have had finding them (before yesterday when they started limiting!) I think this week's Teaching Thursday will be useful to focus on coupon etiquette. I have touched on this before but feel that it might need to be revisited.  There are several "rules" of couponing that you want to follow - this makes it better for everyone involved! 1.  Use a coupon the way it was intended to be used - and only for that use! If a coupon states that it is to be used on Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen cleaner, then it can only be used on that product.  You can't use it to buy toilet cleaner or spray.  Also, if a coupon specifies a certain flavor or type of a product, it can only be used on that type.  This brings to mind the Capri Sun Sunrise coupon that was out a few week's ago.  Only Capri Sun Sunrise should have been purchased with that coupon - not Roarin' waters, not other flavors, etc.  Why is this a big deal?  Who cares, right? Well - I'll tell you who it matters to!  For one, it matters to the manufacture, who is issuing coupons to increase sales of a certain type of product.   If they meant for the coupon to be used on any flavor, they would just label the coupon as "any"... the fact that they have specified a type means they are looking to drive sales on that particular product.  Another person it matters to is the store.  When stores redeem their coupons they have to show verification that the product specified in the coupon was sold.  If it doesn't meet what the manufacture meant for it to be sold on (going back to the manufactures interest in correct coupon use) then they will not be reimbursed - therefore losing money. This last point brings me to the last person that is concerned with correct use:  It matters to YOU!  As coupon users, we need to be concerned with proper (and improper!) use of coupons.  If stores are consistently burned by someone not using correctly, they are likely to begin to place limits or just flat out stop taking coupons.  This recently happened in one of my family members towns at a smaller grocery and I would not want to see that happen here! 2. Don't clear the shelves! This is especially on my heart this week as I know that a lot of people were wanting to get some of that super cheap Lysol at Meijer (myself included!).  Unfortunately, if you didn't get up at the crack of dawn on Sunday, it was mostly gone by Tuesday.  Meijer (at least in Florence) has now started limiting to two per customer to help with stocking issues.  While I completely understand wanting to get in on a great deal and build your stockpile, be sure that you are leaving enough for others.  Buying 10 of a product when there are 400 on a shelf isn't so much a concern, but buying 10 when there are only 11 on the shelf is a concern.  Some stores will also let you do a special order, so if you are wanting a large quantity either special order for that or plan on multiple trips. 3.  Don't copy internet printables - Enough said - if they are copied they are fraud.  Don't do it!  Again, there are security measures in place on printable coupons and if they are copies of the original you will be found out.  Plus, it goes back to hurting legitimate coupon users and we don't want that! 4.  Be wary of PDF coupons - Most companies have steered away from using PDF files for their online coupon prints (although there are still some that use it!).  If you receive a PDF file from a friend or see it posted somewhere - be sure to check it out and see if it is valid.  The reason I say this concerning specifically PDF's is that you can print as many as you would like.  There is a huge list of invalid coupons listed here - and I would bet a lot of them probably came as a PDF.  Bricks coupons are mostly used now as there is a limit of 2 per computer.