Where Can I Save More Money? Walmart or Target

Before I answer this question, stop for a minute and make your own decision and then see if your choice changes by the end of my article.

Approximately a year ago a line by line, shelf by shelf comparison was made between Walmart and Target.  This Target-Walmart price controversy was the subject of numerous articles by top notch reporters raving that Target came out cheaper, mostly by pennies, on hundreds of items.  These reporters added that when you add the savings in, plus make use of the Target Red Card which (a Target Credit Card) which offers 5% cash back on all Target purchases (instantly at the register when you swipe the card), that Target won the price war competition and that over a year your family would save more.  So the moral of the article was that if you shop with Target you’ll save more than shopping at Walmart, right? Not so fast!

Between Walmart and Target, Walmart now has the most lenient coupon policy of any big discount store located in the United States. Have you ever heard of Walmart coupon overage?  This is a little known secret in the world of Walmart shoppers but well known in the world of extreme couponers! Well, in addition to Walmart accepting competitors coupons (provided they display the final price on the coupon – like $2.99 for example), they accept an unlimited amount of internet printable coupons AND Walmart will give you CASH BACK for coupon overage.  Coupon overage happens when you have a coupon with a higher value than the price of the item on the shelf.  You can get cash back or apply the coupon overage toward the other groceries in your shopping card.

Now to keep our article fair, we also want to take a look at the Target coupon policy, right? Ok! The Target coupon policy  states that the “Coupon amount may be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied. We can’t give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item.” Let’s take a look at what that means to the average consumer using coupons at Target & Walmart to save a little bit of money.

Poise at Walmart $2.97
Use the $3./1 coupon for Poise from the March 10th, 2013 Sunday Newspaper Smart Source Inserts
= +3¢ Cash Back!

Let’s say for instance that you have the coupon for Poise (above) that came out in the March 10th Smart Source Sunday newspaper coupon inserts for $3.00. The  package of Poise runs $2.97  at Walmart & Target. Ok, so if you buy the Poise at Target for $2.97 & get 5% cash back for using your Target Red Card your final price is $2.83.  Then you’ll submit your Poise coupon at check out and get your Poise completely FREE. Now, let’s buy that same package of Poise at Walmart.  Ok, we’ll pay  $2.97 then submit our $3.00 coupon at checkout and then what happens?  Well, you get FREE Poise just like we did at Target but we’ll also get 3¢ cash back.  That’s right – Walmart will give you the difference between the coupon and the shelf price of the Poise.

With the Walmart deal scenario you walked away with a package of FREE Poise PLUS 3¢ cash in your pocket.  In the Target deal scenario you walked away with a FREE product and nothing more. So what do you think now?  As a frugal living expert, I think Walmart and Target both offer huge saving benefits to the frugal minded consumer so I’d suggest that you scrap store loyalty and evaluate your purchases and the needs of your family from week to week and choose the store that offers the biggest savings for your family at that time.