TARGET!!!!!
Okay, sorry, had to get that out of my system. Due to the holiday week and some travel, my first "series" is really only going to be three posts long, but I have definitely saved the best for last (in my opinion).
I LOVE TARGET!
I know, I'm a dork. That's okay. I love it, my kids love it, we go to Target two or three times a week sometimes.
I used to pay full price at Target. Hey, their prices are pretty reasonable. Sometimes I'd luck out and find something on sale and be really excited, but it wasn't a criteria for shopping there really. I got attached to Target in my endeavors to avoid other stores in my area that I don't like. I didn't care if I paid more for the items if it meant I didn't have to go to other stores.
Hubby isn't a believer in store credit cards, so even though I pointed out that Target's credit card gives 5% off of every purchase, he wasn't excited about me getting one. Then, Target came up with something wonderful - the Red Card Debit Card. It is a debit card that pulls directly from your bank account like your regular card, and you get 5% off right there at the register every time you use it. I signed up, and I have not paid full price at Target since that day! Today, I saved $3.52 on my groceries just by using my Red debit card. That may not seem like much, but this year I have saved $132.86. That would have more than covered our electric bill for the month of June!
The debit card is great, but it's not the only way to save at Target. Coupon stacking is my other big like about Target. If you can find a manufacturer coupon and a Target coupon for the same item, Target will take both. Currently I have a $2 manufacturer coupon for Pampers and a $2 Target coupon for Pampers. I will pay just $5.22 for a jumbo pack after coupons and Red card savings. I look every week at www.target.com/coupons to see what coupons they have available. They have coupons for every department, which can lead to some pretty great deals (you can read about my Target clothes shopping experience here). You can usually use coupons for clothes and such on clearance items as well. I also love that my Target is so coupon friendly. Other stores here will not take the time to look over your order and try to figure out your coupons - if it doesn't scan, you're out of luck. The people at Target always read over my coupons and accept them if they can.
Finally, Target has pharmacy rewards now. They used to extend to just Red Card holders, but now anyone can sign up. For every five prescriptions you fill, you will receive an extra 5% off coupon in the mail. I often use these to go grocery shopping, saving even more money. Most of the big name pharmacies in my area are a hassle to deal with, so I really love using the Target pharmacy.
My total at Target today before my coupons and my Red card was $84.33. After my coupons and 5% off, my total was $68.01. I saved $16.32. My best deal was saving $1.95 on Gerber baby food - I got 8 packs of 2nd Foods for the price of 6. Other great deals I have found:
$7.56 for two bags of Starbucks coffee (Reg $7.98/ea)
a shirt for $3.61 (Reg $10)
and a bottle of shampoo and conditioner for $2.74 (Regular $3.89/ea).
I'm not an extreme couponer. I won't even buy the Sunday paper to get the coupons. Target just makes it that easy to stretch your dollar. It's like giving your money super powers (Stretch Armstrong, anyone?). Okay, that might have been a little corny, but with 5% off every time you go (without having to sign up for a credit card), there is just no reason to pay even the reasonable full prices at Target!
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
It's Silly to Pay Full Price at... Kohl's.
Day 2 of the "It's Silly" series!
I don't do a bunch of shopping at Kohl's, but I always think of it when I need something specific. Particularly clothes for myself or the kids, or gifts. I have mixed feelings about shopping there. Kohl's is one of those stores where items are never actually sold at the tagged price. Everything is always "on sale" and the "sales" rotate throughout the store. If you hit the right department on the right week, you can save 40-50% off the ticketed price of an item, but if you hit it on the wrong week you may only save 20% off that item. Their base prices on items like housewares and toys are also inflated, sometimes to the point that even their sale prices aren't as low as you would pay for the same item at Target or another retailer. However, I still find that I can get some great deals at Kohl's, for two reasons:
Clearance: I cannot go into Kohl's without finding racks and racks of clearance items in almost every department, which makes it a prime target for clothes shopping for myself and the kids. I never spend a lot on my own clothing. My everyday clothes get what I call "mommed up" really fast. I don't wear my nicer clothes often enough to justify a large expense for them. The kids just grow too fast. I find deals like maternity pants on clearance for $4.60, t-shirts for me on clearance for $2.80, and items for the kids for $4 or less. I have found decorative items on clearance for 70-80% off as well.
Coupons: Kohl's has one of the loosest coupon policies I know of. I often get $10 off a $10 purchase cards in the mail. These are good on anything in the store, including clearance prices, and you do not have to buy anything more than the $10 covers. I am also on their e-mail list and get 15% off coupons (and occasionally 20% off) in my e-mail. Again, these are good on everything in the store. Where many stores have policies where you can only use one coupon at a time, Kohl's lets you use these discounts in conjunction with one another. If you go during a time where they are doing their Kohl's Cash promotion, you can use your coupons to get your discounts, and then for every $50 you spend you earn a $10 Kohl's Cash coupon to use on your next visit. When you go to redeem the Kohl's Cash, you can use multiple KC coupons on one purchase - and, if you have a percentage off coupon, you can use it too.
So I guess this entry should really be you should never pay "just" sale price at Kohl's. If you do your research and know what a reasonable price is for the toys and housewares, you can find great deals. Shopping the weekly ad and looking for extra discounts can net you some serious savings on clothes. Even when I don't need anything, I find ways to take advantage of Kohl's $10 off of $10 coupons. That's a $10 toy we could put in the box for Toys for Tots at Christmas, for example. Last year I was able to donate four extra toys by doing this!
Do you have a Kohl's near you? What do you shop for there?
I don't do a bunch of shopping at Kohl's, but I always think of it when I need something specific. Particularly clothes for myself or the kids, or gifts. I have mixed feelings about shopping there. Kohl's is one of those stores where items are never actually sold at the tagged price. Everything is always "on sale" and the "sales" rotate throughout the store. If you hit the right department on the right week, you can save 40-50% off the ticketed price of an item, but if you hit it on the wrong week you may only save 20% off that item. Their base prices on items like housewares and toys are also inflated, sometimes to the point that even their sale prices aren't as low as you would pay for the same item at Target or another retailer. However, I still find that I can get some great deals at Kohl's, for two reasons:
Clearance: I cannot go into Kohl's without finding racks and racks of clearance items in almost every department, which makes it a prime target for clothes shopping for myself and the kids. I never spend a lot on my own clothing. My everyday clothes get what I call "mommed up" really fast. I don't wear my nicer clothes often enough to justify a large expense for them. The kids just grow too fast. I find deals like maternity pants on clearance for $4.60, t-shirts for me on clearance for $2.80, and items for the kids for $4 or less. I have found decorative items on clearance for 70-80% off as well.
Coupons: Kohl's has one of the loosest coupon policies I know of. I often get $10 off a $10 purchase cards in the mail. These are good on anything in the store, including clearance prices, and you do not have to buy anything more than the $10 covers. I am also on their e-mail list and get 15% off coupons (and occasionally 20% off) in my e-mail. Again, these are good on everything in the store. Where many stores have policies where you can only use one coupon at a time, Kohl's lets you use these discounts in conjunction with one another. If you go during a time where they are doing their Kohl's Cash promotion, you can use your coupons to get your discounts, and then for every $50 you spend you earn a $10 Kohl's Cash coupon to use on your next visit. When you go to redeem the Kohl's Cash, you can use multiple KC coupons on one purchase - and, if you have a percentage off coupon, you can use it too.
So I guess this entry should really be you should never pay "just" sale price at Kohl's. If you do your research and know what a reasonable price is for the toys and housewares, you can find great deals. Shopping the weekly ad and looking for extra discounts can net you some serious savings on clothes. Even when I don't need anything, I find ways to take advantage of Kohl's $10 off of $10 coupons. That's a $10 toy we could put in the box for Toys for Tots at Christmas, for example. Last year I was able to donate four extra toys by doing this!
Do you have a Kohl's near you? What do you shop for there?
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
It's Silly to Pay Full Price at.... Hobby Lobby.
For the first day of my "It's Silly" series, I am going to tell you why it is silly to pay full price at Hobby Lobby.
Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite stores. I love going in there! They have everything from furniture, to home accents, to any kind of craft supplies imaginable. The store has a simple layout that is fairly similar from store-to-store, it's clean and smells nice, and the selection is amazing. An extra bonus for me is that they are a Christian company, which shows in the fact that a) they are closed on Sunday so that their employees have time to worship or just spend time with their families, and b) they play instrumental hymns and Christian music over the intercom. I can't go in there without humming along to whatever I hear.
Being a fan of saving money gives me even more of a reason to love Hobby Lobby. They do a great job of rotating their sales schedule. I have looked, and have yet to find an actual schedule, but it seems about every 3rd week or so I go in there and scrapbooking supplies are on sale. Last week was a bonus because it was scrapbooking paper, stickers, and stamping supplies. This week scrapbook albums and page kits are on sale. The rest of the store seems to rotate as well, and it would surprise me to see any one department go a month without being featured in the weekly ad.
If you can plan your project out a few weeks in advance, and don't have a time limit, you can easily buy everything you need at Hobby Lobby on sale. For example, I knew that I was going to be making save-the-date cards for my sister's upcoming wedding. I took advantage of the scrapbooking sale last week to get my supplies together. Of course, sometimes you need to do something last minute, but that doesn't mean you are stuck paying full price! If you visit Hobby Lobby's website, they almost always have a 40% off coupon for any one regularly priced item. Occasionally the coupon is only 25% off, and occasionally they have item-specific coupons, but it never hurts to look! The best part is you can print a coupon, but if you forget, you can pull up the website coupon on your smart phone and the cashier will honor it. I also did some research - furniture is ALWAYS marked 30% off at Hobby Lobby, and I was always bummed that I couldn't use a coupon because it was marked down. Not so! If your item is on sale for 30% off, you can forfeit the 30% discount and use the 40% coupon.
The only way they could make Hobby Lobby better, in my opinion, is to give a percentage off your entire purchase type coupon every now and then, one that you can use on sale and clearance items. Still, there is never a reason to pay full price on your entire purchase at Hobby Lobby! I am making my sister's save-the-date cards for about 50 cents per card, as opposed to the 80 cents per card it would have cost had I paid full price for all of the supplies. When you have a big project, little savings add up!
Do you have a Hobby Lobby near you? What has been your best find?
P.S. For the longest time this was not an option, but you can now shop HL online! Click here to go to their online store!
Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite stores. I love going in there! They have everything from furniture, to home accents, to any kind of craft supplies imaginable. The store has a simple layout that is fairly similar from store-to-store, it's clean and smells nice, and the selection is amazing. An extra bonus for me is that they are a Christian company, which shows in the fact that a) they are closed on Sunday so that their employees have time to worship or just spend time with their families, and b) they play instrumental hymns and Christian music over the intercom. I can't go in there without humming along to whatever I hear.
Being a fan of saving money gives me even more of a reason to love Hobby Lobby. They do a great job of rotating their sales schedule. I have looked, and have yet to find an actual schedule, but it seems about every 3rd week or so I go in there and scrapbooking supplies are on sale. Last week was a bonus because it was scrapbooking paper, stickers, and stamping supplies. This week scrapbook albums and page kits are on sale. The rest of the store seems to rotate as well, and it would surprise me to see any one department go a month without being featured in the weekly ad.
If you can plan your project out a few weeks in advance, and don't have a time limit, you can easily buy everything you need at Hobby Lobby on sale. For example, I knew that I was going to be making save-the-date cards for my sister's upcoming wedding. I took advantage of the scrapbooking sale last week to get my supplies together. Of course, sometimes you need to do something last minute, but that doesn't mean you are stuck paying full price! If you visit Hobby Lobby's website, they almost always have a 40% off coupon for any one regularly priced item. Occasionally the coupon is only 25% off, and occasionally they have item-specific coupons, but it never hurts to look! The best part is you can print a coupon, but if you forget, you can pull up the website coupon on your smart phone and the cashier will honor it. I also did some research - furniture is ALWAYS marked 30% off at Hobby Lobby, and I was always bummed that I couldn't use a coupon because it was marked down. Not so! If your item is on sale for 30% off, you can forfeit the 30% discount and use the 40% coupon.
The only way they could make Hobby Lobby better, in my opinion, is to give a percentage off your entire purchase type coupon every now and then, one that you can use on sale and clearance items. Still, there is never a reason to pay full price on your entire purchase at Hobby Lobby! I am making my sister's save-the-date cards for about 50 cents per card, as opposed to the 80 cents per card it would have cost had I paid full price for all of the supplies. When you have a big project, little savings add up!
Do you have a Hobby Lobby near you? What has been your best find?
P.S. For the longest time this was not an option, but you can now shop HL online! Click here to go to their online store!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Children's Place Monster Sale
Recently I said in a post that I never buy clothes for full price, or even for sale price only, because I only buy clothes where I can use coupons. Today, the hubs gave me an hour of mommy time and I spent it checking out The Children's Place at our local mall. Right now, they have their semi-annual Monster Sale going on. That's 50% off already reduced merchandise and many other special prices throughout the store. I needed shoes for school and underwear for my oldest. Here's what I found:
Brown lace up boot/loafer looking shoes. Original price $22.95, marked down to $18.99. 50% off already reduced merchandise, plus 20% off coupon, for a sale price of $7.99
I didn't do AS well on the underwear, it is regular $6.95/3 pack. It was on sale for $5.99 and with the 20% off coupon each pack rang up $4.81, for a total of $9.62/6 pairs. It's 11.99 for a 7 pack at Target, so I guess I did okay.
Now the only problem with this is I couldn't STOP once I got in there. I have a very cute 6.5 year old niece that LOOOOOVES her some Justin Beiber. And even though they only had a L (she wears a M), I couldn't pass this up:
Originally priced $14.95, marked down to $5.99. 50% off already reduced merchandise, plus 20% off coupon for a final price of $2.39. She'll love sleeping in it or even wearing it with leggings :)
And the baby clothes, oh my goodness. They didn't have anything I couldn't live without for T, but I have an 8 month old niece:
Total original cost of outfit: $36.95. Each piece was marked down to $5.99 so when you add the 50% off and the 20% off coupon, I got the whole outfit for $7.17. I bought it a size up and am putting it back for her birthday, but I also found this for right now:
Dress and bloomers, regular $24.95. Marked down to $11.99. With 50% off and 20% off coupon, I paid $4.81.
Had I bought everything for the marked price, I would have spent $113.70 before tax. Buying on clearance and sale, with my coupon, I paid $31.94 before tax. I saved $81.76 off the retail prices!
Granted there is no reason to ever pay ticketed price at The Children's Place, as they are very good about alternating their sales and they ALWAYS have coupons. But the Monster Sale is my favorite, at least until they put their jeans on sale in the next couple of weeks!
My mom shopped this sale earlier this week to get RJ some school clothes - while he doesn't have to wear a uniform until Kindergarten, I thought it would be nice and easy to buy him some interchangeable polos and easy on/off pants to be his "school uniform" for this year. My mom bought 3 pairs of pants, each regular price $14.95, and 3 polo shirts, which would have been $32.50 for all 3. Total bill would have been $77.35 for all of it, but the pants were on sale for $9.99 each and the polos were on sale for $4.99 each. With the 20% off coupon I gave her, she paid $7.99 for each pair of pants and $3.99 for each shirt. Total price before tax: $35.94.
This is why I never ever buy clothes without coupons! Tell me your favorite places to buy clothes for yourself or your kiddos! Do you use coupons?
Brown lace up boot/loafer looking shoes. Original price $22.95, marked down to $18.99. 50% off already reduced merchandise, plus 20% off coupon, for a sale price of $7.99
I didn't do AS well on the underwear, it is regular $6.95/3 pack. It was on sale for $5.99 and with the 20% off coupon each pack rang up $4.81, for a total of $9.62/6 pairs. It's 11.99 for a 7 pack at Target, so I guess I did okay.
Now the only problem with this is I couldn't STOP once I got in there. I have a very cute 6.5 year old niece that LOOOOOVES her some Justin Beiber. And even though they only had a L (she wears a M), I couldn't pass this up:
Originally priced $14.95, marked down to $5.99. 50% off already reduced merchandise, plus 20% off coupon for a final price of $2.39. She'll love sleeping in it or even wearing it with leggings :)
And the baby clothes, oh my goodness. They didn't have anything I couldn't live without for T, but I have an 8 month old niece:
Total original cost of outfit: $36.95. Each piece was marked down to $5.99 so when you add the 50% off and the 20% off coupon, I got the whole outfit for $7.17. I bought it a size up and am putting it back for her birthday, but I also found this for right now:
Dress and bloomers, regular $24.95. Marked down to $11.99. With 50% off and 20% off coupon, I paid $4.81.
Had I bought everything for the marked price, I would have spent $113.70 before tax. Buying on clearance and sale, with my coupon, I paid $31.94 before tax. I saved $81.76 off the retail prices!
Granted there is no reason to ever pay ticketed price at The Children's Place, as they are very good about alternating their sales and they ALWAYS have coupons. But the Monster Sale is my favorite, at least until they put their jeans on sale in the next couple of weeks!
My mom shopped this sale earlier this week to get RJ some school clothes - while he doesn't have to wear a uniform until Kindergarten, I thought it would be nice and easy to buy him some interchangeable polos and easy on/off pants to be his "school uniform" for this year. My mom bought 3 pairs of pants, each regular price $14.95, and 3 polo shirts, which would have been $32.50 for all 3. Total bill would have been $77.35 for all of it, but the pants were on sale for $9.99 each and the polos were on sale for $4.99 each. With the 20% off coupon I gave her, she paid $7.99 for each pair of pants and $3.99 for each shirt. Total price before tax: $35.94.
This is why I never ever buy clothes without coupons! Tell me your favorite places to buy clothes for yourself or your kiddos! Do you use coupons?
Thursday, June 21, 2012
5 things I never buy without a coupon
I have been working hard on saving money, and have been putting everything I save with coupons and my Target debit card into a savings account. So far I have saved over $100 in the past two months and have bought myself a new cell phone.
I am not one of those extreme coupon type people. I would love to be, but with two young kids at home sometimes I just think that it's not practical. However, there are some things that I never buy without coupons. Since I am a lazy couponer, if I can find these coupons then everyone can.
1) Cereal - We eat two kinds of cereal in this house: Honey Nut Cheerios, and Lucky Charms. Ever seen Bill Engval's bit about his doctor suggesting Cheerios to lower his cholesterol? He says something along the lines of "If I have to give up Lucky Charms, life isn't worth living anymore anyway!" Yup, that's my husband. I can always find coupons for either $1/2 or $1/3 by looking at coupons.com and smartsource.com. Sometimes target.com/coupons has these coupons as well. I do our shopping every pay check, so that's every two weeks, which means I need that much cereal anyway. Extra bonus - sometimes the Target check out prints out store coupons for cereal, and you can stack those with manufacturer coupons for even more savings.
2) Diapers - Okay, I kind of cheat here because *usually* I order diapers via subscribe and save with Amazon. But the boxes don't quite last me the full month. Even before I did it this way, though, I was pretty good at scouting out diaper coupons. Target alternates having coupons for all of the different brands, and coupons.com has Pampers coupons monthly right now.
3) Paper goods - I use the up-and-up brand from Target for my toilet paper and paper towels, and they always have coupons for one or the other, or both. It may only be 50 cents off, but you're already getting a good deal by going with the store brand. And the quality is actually really great, my husband prefers their paper goods over name-brand stuff.
4) Personal care items - I can always find coupons for shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, and the like. Last month I purchased Pantene shampoo and conditioner, regular $3.89 each. Paid $2.89 for both. Hooray coupon stacking!
5) Clothes. Okay, so you don't buy clothes at most grocery stores, but clothes probably should have been the number one on my list. I never pay full price for clothes. I don't usually pay *just* sale price for clothes. I shop sales, with coupons. Last year, in September, I got my niece two swim suits, cover ups and matching hats, a pair of sunglasses, and an outfit for a total of about $25. Yay clearance with an extra 50% off and a coupon for an extra 15% off!
I'm by no means an expert, but these five things are by far my easiest things to buy with coupons. Feel free to share what you never buy without coupons! :)
I am not one of those extreme coupon type people. I would love to be, but with two young kids at home sometimes I just think that it's not practical. However, there are some things that I never buy without coupons. Since I am a lazy couponer, if I can find these coupons then everyone can.
1) Cereal - We eat two kinds of cereal in this house: Honey Nut Cheerios, and Lucky Charms. Ever seen Bill Engval's bit about his doctor suggesting Cheerios to lower his cholesterol? He says something along the lines of "If I have to give up Lucky Charms, life isn't worth living anymore anyway!" Yup, that's my husband. I can always find coupons for either $1/2 or $1/3 by looking at coupons.com and smartsource.com. Sometimes target.com/coupons has these coupons as well. I do our shopping every pay check, so that's every two weeks, which means I need that much cereal anyway. Extra bonus - sometimes the Target check out prints out store coupons for cereal, and you can stack those with manufacturer coupons for even more savings.
2) Diapers - Okay, I kind of cheat here because *usually* I order diapers via subscribe and save with Amazon. But the boxes don't quite last me the full month. Even before I did it this way, though, I was pretty good at scouting out diaper coupons. Target alternates having coupons for all of the different brands, and coupons.com has Pampers coupons monthly right now.
3) Paper goods - I use the up-and-up brand from Target for my toilet paper and paper towels, and they always have coupons for one or the other, or both. It may only be 50 cents off, but you're already getting a good deal by going with the store brand. And the quality is actually really great, my husband prefers their paper goods over name-brand stuff.
4) Personal care items - I can always find coupons for shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, and the like. Last month I purchased Pantene shampoo and conditioner, regular $3.89 each. Paid $2.89 for both. Hooray coupon stacking!
5) Clothes. Okay, so you don't buy clothes at most grocery stores, but clothes probably should have been the number one on my list. I never pay full price for clothes. I don't usually pay *just* sale price for clothes. I shop sales, with coupons. Last year, in September, I got my niece two swim suits, cover ups and matching hats, a pair of sunglasses, and an outfit for a total of about $25. Yay clearance with an extra 50% off and a coupon for an extra 15% off!
I'm by no means an expert, but these five things are by far my easiest things to buy with coupons. Feel free to share what you never buy without coupons! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)