So I am really excited about my finds this week.  I spent a little more this week then I usually do but there was a couple reasons for this. 

First, I normally don't do any shopping at Rite Aid, but this week there were quite a few freebies and one deal, the John Frieda Hair products that I really needed. I didn't have any UP rewards to roll and I didn't want any left over because I will likely not be back there for quite a few weeks. That means I go ahead and spend them all in one shopping trip.
Second, I took my 14 year old along for the trip and along with the 2 slim jims or meat sticks, the gummy bears, the caramels and the candy corn you see in the picture, she also got a nail polish and a mascara for coming along.  That's another reason I like my couponing......I have money left over to spoil my kids from time to time.  :) 
Thirdly, I also purchased 4 of my Sunday papers in these transactions.

I shopped at Walgreens and CVS this week as well and did multiple transactions in Rite Aid and CVS to keep my OOP down. What you see is the combination of shopping at all three stores.

The retail value of all of this was $139.82 and I spent $40.51 OOP, I have $4 in Walgreens Register Rewards left over, $6 in Extra Care Bucks left over, and I have about $11 coming back in rebates from RiteAid. So my net cost for this trip was $19.  That is not bad for all that I came home with that you see in the picture plus the nail polish, mascara, and the 4 newspapers.

Here's what I got this week.

• Listerine Mouthwash
• Tic Tac big pack
• Hall Apple Cider Cough Drops
• Cover Girl eye shadow ( I actually needed a new eye shadow so I was especially excited about this.)
• Cover Girl tinted moisturizer
• 3 bags of Fun Size candies (preparing for Halloween, I usually end up spending about $25  on  candy...not this year!)
• Pur-Absorb Iron supplement 28 pk (my 16 year is actually in need of this and it was a $15.99 value completely free!)
• movie snacks for my 14 yr old (2 meat sticks, 1 bag gummy bears, 1 bag of caramels, 1 bag of candy corn)
• 1 bottle of the crackle nail polish
• 1 liquid eyeliner
• 1 box of Playtex Gentle Glide tampons (two teenage girls in the house so these won't last long)
• 1 bottle of Chloraseptic throat spray
• 1 box of Cepacol throat lozenges (stocking up for winter, we usually go through quite a few bags of cough drops)
• 1 bottle of hand sanitizer
• 1 blistex lip ointment
• 1 bag of Burt's bees honey cough drops
• 1 box of Prep H Totable wipes (not something we actually need at the moment, but it was a money maker for me and I can donate either to a family member or other charity such as a homeless shelter.)
• 2 bottle of Frizz-ease Straight Fixation (my 16 yr old uses this almost every day and normally it's about $5 a bottle)
• 1 Scope mouthwash
• 1 Zarbees Child Cough Syrup (again this was a money maker and I will donate this to one of my family members with small children)
• 1 Emergen-c Immune Shots (I've actually tried these before and found that they are a great feel better boost during winter blahs)
• 2 pkgs carefree pantyliner
• 1 bottle of Robitussin  (I actually got this at Lowe's Foods on clearance and with a coupon it cost me $2.19. I've had some terrible allergies this year and went through one whole bottle already so I decided to take advantage of the sale and purchase this bottle before I run out.

My tip for you this week is that you don't always get everything for free, but with a little organization you can score some GREAT deals on things you already use and need.

A good starting foundation for couponing.

I want to give you some tips about couponing.

First, you need to be very organized so that you don't end up wasting your time looking for coupons you know you have and can't find. You need to be organized with your storage of your products too. You don't want to be purchasing product that you don't need or that will expire before you use it, so it is important to organize your pantry and your bathroom closets/cabinets so you know what you have on hand.

Second, you need to make sure that you understand the program and the coupon policy at the store you are going to be purchasing your products. I recommend starting with one store and starting to coupon at that store first and then once you have mastered it there, branching out to another store. Print the coupon policy for that store and learn it and take it with you. If you don't understand the policy, ask questions before you get to the register.

Third, though some let this take over their lives and become a job for them, most of us do not have that kind of time. If you watch TV for 1-3 hours a week then you have time to coupon, but I recommend using sites like southernsavers.com and coupondivas.com to match up your coupons to the sales and create your shopping list for you. This saves me so much time that I would otherwise have to spend going over the circulars. To be accurate and never miss any deals you would have to keep a detailed up to date price list of items all the time.

These three tips are the foundation for successfull couponing.