Normally I write about food but this week I’m tossing my hat into the ring on the coupon side of the world!

I recently had my 20-year high school reunion – oye! One of the most fun things to come out of it was hanging out with my BFF from high school – Sarah. And this girl is a couponer! She showed me her bins of free stuff that she’s gotten and gave me a coupon binder to get started. So I decided to give it a whirl. I’ve been doing a little bit of the couponing at CVS – but decided to expand to CVS, Target and Walgreens this week.

I wanted to share with you because maybe there are some of you that are more new to it – or not sure if it’s really worth the effort. So here are the pics and my deals!!!

First up was Target. Sarah told me to find their online coupons – so I did. Nice thing is you can combine a manufacturer coupon with a Target coupon! (I checked their policy.) You can click on the pic to see a larger image – but here’s what I got and how much it all cost:

Vitamin Water $1.02 each – Target Coupon Buy 2 Get 1 Free (more of a splurge) = $2.04

Papermate 10-pack of Pens $1.00 – Target Coupon $1 off Papermate product = FREE

Colgate Tootbrush $2.99 – Target coupon for $1 + Manufacturer Coupon for $.40 = $1.59

Sharpie Pens $1.49 – Target coupon for $1 = $.49

Revlon Nail Polish $2.48 on clearance – Target coupon for $1 = $1.48

Tums 12 ct $1.49 – Target coupon for $1 = $.49

White shirt $3.74 on clearance – Target coupon for $3 = $.74

All total I spent $7.30 and saved $9.42!

Key learnings:

* Look for the smallest size package (ex: Tums) and use that to your advantage!

* Look for clearance (ex: nail polish, shirt) and can sometimes find something you get for nearly free!

I had more coupons but they weren’t that good of a deal on things I don’t use that often – so I left them on the shelves with the products for others to use.

Next up – Walgreens! Now with Walgreens they have the Register Rewards – where you buy something and get the RR when you check out. It’s free money to use next time you go to Walgreens. No card is needed. This one took planning ahead because I went through the ad from the Sunday paper and then found coupons to match where I could. I forgot to take a pic of my first trip – but I’ll detail here. I had to go to a 2nd store because the 1st was out of the hair things. Here we go!

Scrunci Hair Bands – On sale for $1.50 each, Buy 2 get $3 in Register Rewards = FREE

Walgreens Brand Perfection Tampons – 8 pack on sale for $1.50. Get $1.50 in RR = FREE

Irish Spring Deodorant – On sale for $3, Buy 2 get $4 in RR + Manufacturer Coupon $1 = $1

All total I spent $9.50 and came home with $8.50 in Register Rewards. I’ll use these next week on stuff in their ad so basically I got all of the above for $1!

And lastly, my old favorite, CVS! They have something similar to the RR but they’re called Extra Bucks. You do have to use the free CVS card to get them. I had $12 in Extra Bucks from last week’s purchases – so I started with that. Here are the deals:

Soft soap/Mennen/Irish Spring – Buy 3 products, get $3 in Extra Bucks

Softsoap Body Wash $3 – $1 Manufacturer Coupon = $2

Softsoap Foaming Hand $2 – $1 Manufacturer Coupon = $1

Lady Speed Stick Deodorant $2.79 – .50 Manufacturer Coupon = $2.29

Spent $5.29 – got back $3 in Extra Bucks = $2.29 for all 3!

Kotex 18 ct Tampons $3.49, Earn $2 Extra Bucks + $1 Manufacturer Coupon = $.49

Crest Pro Health Toothpaste $2.99, Earn $2 Extra Bucks + $1 Manufacturer Coupon = FREE

Renu Contact Lens Solution $7.86, Earn $6 Extra Bucks + $2 Manufacturer Coupon = FREE

Papermate 10 pack of pens $1.99, Earn $1.99 Extra Bucks = FREE

All total I spent $12 in Extra Bucks + $7 cash and came home with $15 more in Extra Bucks!

On my trip as a whole I spent:

Target – $7.30

Walgreens – $9.50 ($8.50 RR)

CVS – $6.90 ($15 EB)

Cash out of pocket – $23.70

Extra Bucks & Register Rewards for Next Week – $23.50

THAT MEANS I PAID 20 CENTS FOR EVERYTHING I GOT HERE!!!

And it’s all things I will use! I’d love to hear some of your stories of great deals you got! I’m really excited to keep the momentum going and use my free money to get more free stuff next week!

Head on over to my Food Hussy site and enter to win a set of Buffalo Wild Wings four new seasoning flavors! These are available in the store or on the site. But hey- why not try them for free!

Head on over to Food Hussy and enter to win a pair of tickets to the Cirque de Soleil OVO show at Coney Island in  April! The free tickets are for the show on Friday April 29 at 4pm.

Head on over to FoodHussy.com and enter to win a free Noodle bowl and other great coupons!