Target is, by far, my favorite store to shop for our household. There are so many ways to save money on brand name products that every trip costs pennies on the dollar for everything from deodorant to clothing to chicken, and I love the convenience of one stop shopping that this super store provides. Target provides one of the best examples of the "perfect storm" of couponing to get the lowest possible price. Most of the managers are informed about the coupon policies, and I hardly ever have trouble with the way that I expect a transaction to work out, as the cashiers really seem to try to make it an easy checkout. The employees are trained on the different apps that people have available, I often see employees on their lunch breaks scanning items through the store on their smart phones, and on several occasions, cashiers ask if I have the cartwheel app on my phone, so that I can save on my purchases.
Target accepts one manufacturer's coupon and one Target store coupon per item purchased, and up to four like coupons (same coupon) per transaction. Manufacturers' coupons can be found just about anywhere, from newspapers to printable coupons to in stores, as discussed in a previous post. Target has a great selection of coupons available to combine with these manufacturers' coupons. Some Target coupons can be found in-store, either at the registers/guest service/pharmacy counter, or even on the products themselves.
Although peelies are the most common form of in-store coupons on products, the meat is also discounted by a coupon on the product itself. Target sells their meat per pre-weighed package, as opposed to by the pound. For example, ground beef is frequently on sale for $2.49. When the meat is clearanced a couple of days before expiration, Target adds a sticker to the package for $1 off of the meat. This makes the meat $1.49 per pound, which is a great stock-up price in my book! Target coupons can also be found in the mail, and in the newspaper occasionally, but the best place to get Target coupons is coupons.target.com, or by clicking the "coupons" button at the bottom of the target.com page. 95% of these coupons are Target coupons, but there is a manufacturer coupon mixed in every now and then. Target's coupon policy does not allow overage to be paid to the customer, but it is up to the discretion of the cashier if they will allow any overage to apply to the rest of your groceries. Target also gives you .05 off for each reusable bag that you use, as well as 5% off of your final total when you pay with your Target Red card debit or credit card.
Additionally, Target will price match advertised competitor pricing for non-club stores (i.e. Costco), as well as internet pricing on several sites, including Amazon.com. This was a huge deal last year, when Target began to allow this during the holidays, and as all of the Amazon.com flash sales start, it will be an amazing way to save on your holiday shopping. Target does not allow a Target coupon to be used when price matching, but does allow a manufacturer's coupon to be used with a price match, resulting in a lower price than if you were to purchase online (and pay and wait for shipping!). This is one big reason why I consider Target a one-stop-shop, and why I think Target is so convenient for our family.
Because Target allows both a manufacturer coupon and a Target coupon to be applied to one item, saving money at Target is very easy without a lot of trouble. If Target has a coupon for .50 off of one deodorant (also written as .50/1), and there is a manufacturer's coupon for .50/1, deodorant that is usually $1.99 will now be .99, a 50% savings! Another great way to stack coupons that does not happen as frequently is with buy one get one (B1G1) sales. If Target is running a B1G1 sale on razors (or there is a B1G1 Target coupon available), and you have a B1G1 manufacturer coupon, then both items will be free. Yes, free. The way that this works is that one item is being reimbursed to the store by the manufacturer for the purchase of one additional razor. The second razor is free because the manufacturer is essentially purchasing the first razor, and Target is covering the cost of the second razor.
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| Two examples of Target coupons that "stack" with manufacturer coupons. |
Now although this B1G1 deal does not happen as often, it is a great way to stock up on products that your family will use over the next several months. Another great way to save at Target is their gift card deals. Target will frequently run a promotion where if you buy a certain number of items, you will get a $5 gift card. This means that your expense for each item drops by the amount of gift card that you receive. For example, Target could run a promotion where if you purchase Pantene shampoo and Pantene conditioner, you will get a $5 gift card. If the shampoo and conditioner are normally $4.99, this means that you will pay $9.98 (plus whatever your tax is), and receive $5 back for a future purchase. This means that your cost is only $2.50 for each item. If you have a coupon for $1/1 for each of your Pantene items, now you are only paying $1.50 per item, which is a 70% savings. These deals will be marked in-store with a large red and white shelf tag.
Another promotion that Target has every week is a B3G1 or a B2G1 (buy a certain number of products get a certain number of products free). My favorite part about these promotions is that you can use a coupon on the free item. For example, on the B3G1 free, you could use (4) $1/1 coupons, which really allows you to score a huge discount on your purchase! These are also marked with a red and white shelf tag. Sometimes, the tags have been removed, or were never put up for whatever reason, so always make sure to scan your purchase at the price check machine. The machine will say that there is a promotion going on with a specific item (or you could take the item to the guest service counter, and they could tell you), as well as if they have additional stock of the product.
Multiplying Your Savings with Your Smart Phone
We have already discussed several of the biggest apps available for saving money with your smart phone, and adding these to your Target shopping will help you save even more money (see How to Save Money Without Coupons: Smart Phones!). When I first walk in to Target, I always have my Shopkick app open, and I get points just for walking into the store. There are tons of items to scan for points while I am in the store, and I can use my Target gift card that I earn while shopping to help pay for my purchases on the same day!
Target also offers text only coupons that are delivered directly to your smart phone. The codes for this are updated every couple of weeks, but are usually received by texting the following codes to 827438:
OFFERS
UPUP
BABY
FRESH
PASTA
There are more codes that are added, but I would start with these. Each phone that you send these codes from will receive a set one time use Target coupons, which will be scanned directly from the phone. In addition to text offers, or mobile coupons, I use CartWheel to save up to an additional 30% on my purchases. You can add whatever items you are purchasing that have offers available to your account, and this is also scanned directly from your phone.
The final two ways to save money on your smart phone at Target are through Receipt Hog (from scanning any receipt), and through Ibotta, which will pay you money back on items that you purchase. Ibotta is probably the best app to use on a daily basis, as it will pay you a set amount, regardless of how much you actually spent on the item. This means that if you got a great deal on an item, and got it for cheap or free, that you would still get money back. I have gotten hundreds of dollars in the past year from the Ibotta app, and I highly recommend it.
In addition to the tips above, make sure to shop during off times (during the week, mid morning or late night if possible), and pick the correct cashier (see How to Prepare for Checkout With Coupons). As one of my favorite stores, I would definitely recommend starting to shop at Target with coupons, and I feel that if I had to pick one store every week to handle all of my grocery needs, it would be Target. In the next few posts, I will be going over additional stores, but feel free to post any questions so that you can prepare to conquer Target!
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