Ways to save! Big!

I like to save. I like to spend. Those notions really don't seem to fit but you can make trade offs to make them work. Let's talk about Target. It's the store you run into to buy a mop and end up spending $100+ on who knows what. I've done, you've done it. You know you have! There are methods to keeping your Target shopping extravaganza to a minimum.
The Target Red debit card gives you 5% off your purchases. Because it is drawn directly out of your checking account, you will likely watch your total a bit more carefully.
Target Cartwheel. Hmmm. I don't like this app. It generally offers 5% and sometimes up to 20% off an item. You can print off the barcode or just show it to the cashier from your smartphone. That is, if you remember...
Target coupons. These are found on the Target website and are printable. There are a smattering of different product coupons from clothing, grocery, health and beauty to toys. You can get a couple of reprints from each coupon.
Manufacture coupons. These are just the usual coupons, found in newspapers, magazines etc.
Target text coupons. Text the code word and you will periodically receive coupons for various things. It's basically the same barcode procedure as Cartwheel.
Target coupon books. I rarely get these but they feature more Target coupons.
Now, for the hard part. You don't want to spend ALL of your money at Target, right? Then, the trade off is time. Gathering, printing, cutting blah, blah. Make a list, I repeat, make a list and stick to it. Mark what kind of coupons you have.
For instance, say you need Kleenex. You have a .75 manufacturer coupon. You have a Target coupon for .50. Cartwheel is showing a 10% discount. Organization is key. Here's an example of what my list would look like.
Kleenex-P (for paper), T (for Target), C (for Cartwheel) and TX (for text). I do this with every item or I will forget everything I have. Confusing, yes but you will save money.
I'm planning a Thansgiving grocery list for Friday. I will show you the crazy looking list and the receipt. It should prove interesting because there are literally a ton of coupons for the holidays that are out. Cartwheel has some good deals for these items, as well.
The lesson here is shopping at Target is fun but expensive. Turn your fun into getting a great deal!

Posted with Blogsy